Contents tagged with Kurds

  • Kremlin confident that Turkey will conclude Syria operation soon

    The Russian government predicts that Turkey will soon start wrapping up its military operation in north-eastern Syria, since the Syrian Kurds have agreed to postpone their self-governance plans, and Kurdish fighters will now be patrolling the border alongside Syrian government troops.

    Last week it seemed like Russian President Vladimir Putin actually condoned the Turkish operation in north-eastern Syria, but insisted on his own red lines. According to analysts and Russian officials, one of his …

  • Erdogan: we are in constant contact with Putin

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey has no problems with Russia in connection with the operation launched by Ankara in Syria, reports RIA Novosti news agency.

    "We have no problems with Russia, and we are in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin," said Erdoğan at a meeting with Turkish media editors-in-chief in Istanbul on Sunday.

    Erdoğan said that if there is any problem, he and Vladimir Putin have a phone conversation within 24 hours and then take the necessary …

  • Kurds agree to accept Syrian government protection against Turkey

    The Syrian Kurds have reached an agreement to have government forces stationed along the border with Turkey, the Kurdish autonomous administration announced in a statement distributed by the Firat news agency.

    The goal of the agreement with the Syrian government is to oppose Turkey’s aggression, the statement notes.

    It also states that Syrian soldiers will be deployed along the border in order to assist the Syrian Democratic Forces, which mostly consist of Kurdish fighters.

    “In the last five …

  • Kremlin: Russia and Turkey have different views on status of Kurds in Syria

    Russia and Turkey did not come to an agreement as to which Kurdish units in Syria should be considered as terrorist, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Vietnamese and Chinese television channels. 

    "We don’t see eye to eye as to what Kurdish groups should be designated as terrorist. Turkey has a special position. We understand its concerns but there is a need to separate the wheat from the chaff and figure out which Kurdish units are extremist and pose a threat to …

  • Media: the US transferred military equipment to Syria

    On Tuesday, February 5th, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that the United States transferred about 150 trucks with armored vehicles and generators to the Kurdish-controlled territory of Syria.

    At night trucks loaded with armored personnel carriers, working equipment and generators crossed the Simelka checkpoint on the Iraqi-Syrian border, Anadolu says.

    On Tuesday, the trucks reached the US logistical centers in the Syrian districts of Harap Ishk and Sarrin, which Americans share with the …

  • Surrender without a fight: Kurds abandon Syrian Manbij

    The military advisors of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have withdrawn from the Syrian city of Manbij. This was reported in a YPG statement distributed by the Kurdish news agency Firat on June 6. The YPG is leaving the city in accordance with a US-Turkey agreement reached on June 4.

    “At the request of the military council of Manbij, a group of military instructors from our forces remained as advisers, this took place in coordination with the international coalition… Now, after two …

  • Canadian opposition demands weapons intended for the Kurds in Iraq be sent to Ukraine instead

    CTV reported on Monday that the Conservative Party of Canada, which currently serves as Canada’s Official Opposition party, has proposed that the country’s government transfer lethal weapons previously intended for delivery to the Kurds in Iraq to Ukraine instead.

    "They [the ruling Liberal Party of Canada] have been allowing these weapons to sit in storage and collect dust and, meanwhile, the violence in Ukraine has taken on a new spring offensive," conservative politician James Bezan claimed. …

  • Kurds report that Syrian government forces are in Afrin

    The statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Turkish military stopped the advance of Damascus-backed troops into the city of Afrin is untrue, spokesman for Kurdish self-defense forces Reyzan Hedu told RIA Novosti.

    “The forces sent (to Afrin) are directed by the Syrian government, from the command of the Syrian army. Erdogan turned out to be a bad traffic policeman today, saying that he stopped the movement of Syrian forces that were heading to Afrin. That statement is not …

  • Kurds report death of two European nationals during fighting against Turkish army

    The People’s Defense Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia in Syria, has reported the deaths of two volunteer fighters, a citizen of France and a citizen of Spain, in battles against the Turkish army over the canton of Afrin in northern Syria.

    "Our comrades Kendal Breizh and Baran Galicia, two of our internationalist fighters…were martyred in the clashes with the occupiers…on February 10," the YPG official website reported.

    The real names of the deceased fighters are Samuel Prada Leon (a citizen of …

  • Syrian government forces may be deployed in Afrin within next two days

    In the next two days Syrian government forces will be deployed along certain stretches of the Turkish border and in the Afrin province, where the Turkish Armed Forces are carrying out Operation “Olive Branch”, announced Bardan Jia Kurd, spokesperson for the administration of the self-declared Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

    An agreement has finally been reached with Damascus, Reuters reports. The Kurds have their first ally in the war with Turkey, whereas before, as they themselves put it, the …