Contents tagged with Syria

  • Turkey to expand military operation on Syrian border

    Turkey intends to expand its military operation against the Kurdish militarized groups known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) along Turkey’s entire border with Syria, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday January 26, DW reports.

    “Operation Olive Branch will continue, until all the set objectives have been achieved,” the president said, emphasizing that the Turkish forces would “liberate” the city of Manbij from “terrorists”, as well as all the other territory along the …

  • Russia sends new batch of military equipment to Syria

    Russian cargo ship Inzhener Trubin loaded with military equipment passed through the Bosphorus, as reported by observers tracking the movement of ships.

    It is reported that the destination of the vessel is the Syrian port of Tartus.

    Pictures show at the least two dozen GAZ, ZiL, KamAZ and UAZ trucks on the deck of the ship.

    The cargo within the hull holds is not known but the sources assume that it could be weapons such as tanks and artillery.

    This is the third such shipment to be delivered …

  • Kremlin: Meeting on chemical weapons in Paris directed against Russia and Syria

    The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to a meeting to investigate chemical attacks in Syria called the “International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons”, which took place on January 23 in Paris.

    As noted in the statement of Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, the tone of the meeting was anti-Russian in nature, and Russia itself was not invited to it. Along with this, according to the diplomat, preparation for the meeting was carried out secretly.

    “When we began …

  • US reconnaissance aircraft flies near Russian bases in Syria

    A U.S. Air Force Boeing RC-135V strategic reconnaissance aircraft flew along the coast of Lebanon and Syria, where the Russian Khmeimim Airbase and the Russian Navy technical material base in the port of Tartus are located. This was posted by MilRadar, which tracks the movement of military aircraft, on its Twitter account.

    The American aircraft, with the onboard number 64-14845 and call sign SIMMS76, flew over international waters along the Syrian and Lebanese coasts.

    In addition, it was …

  • Pentagon: US may stop supporting Kurds in Syria

    Pentagon spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Turkish news agency Anadolu in an interview that the US will stop supporting the Syrian Kurds’ People’s Protection Units (YPG) if they attempt a military operation in the Afrin region, instead of fighting the Islamic State.

    “We are only training and supporting forces who are fighting ISIS. The Pentagon does not give orders to the forces that are active on the ground. If there is an attempt at a military operation not directed against ISIS, …

  • Washington: U.S. will not accept Russia’s proposal for a new mechanism for investigating the chemical attack in Syria

    Washington will not accept Moscow’s proposal to create a new mechanism for investigating chemical attacks. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said this on Tuesday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council which was convened to discuss the situation in Syria.

    “The U.S. will not accept any proposal from Russia if it will counteract the progress of the international community to find the truth,” said Haley. According to her, the U.S. “will resume the joint investigation of …

  • Lavrov: Russia will oppose regime change in Syria

    Russia will resist the attempts of the United States-led coalition to implement plans to change the regime in Syria, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

    The minister drew attention to the fact that some Western countries are trying to inflate the “scandalous atmosphere” of the situation in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib, ignoring the concentration of militants and groups of the Al-Nusra Front.

    “The U.S. and the coalition led by them are eager to spare the Al-Nusra Front, saving the group …

  • Erdogan: Turkey has an agreement with Russia concerning Kurdish-held Canton of Afrin

    Turkey does not intend to desist from carrying out operation “Olive Branch” in the Syrian region of Afrin, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as reported by the local newspaper Yeni Safak. According to Erdogan, Turkey also has a certain agreement with Russia in this regard.

    “Turkey does not intend to back down from the operation in Afrin, and has an agreement with Russia,” Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara.

    However, he emphasized that Turkey does lay claim to Afrin territory.

    “ …

  • Syrian Kurds say they forced Turks to retreat from Afrin

    During the course of persistent fighting, Syrian Kurds forced Turkish troops and pro-Turkish militant groups to retreat from their territory, said spokesman for Syrian Kurdistan in Moscow, Rodi Osman, RIA Novosti reports.

    “Turkish forces and groups associated with them attempted to cross over to the territory of the Syrian city of Afrin, accompanied by aircraft and missile strikes. However, the Syrian Democratic Forces struck at five positions [Turkish soldiers and Syrian armed opposition]. In …

  • Turkish Prime Minister: Russia did not object to our operation in Syria

    Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed the beginning of the ground operation in Syria. Ankara said the goal is the creation of a security zone on the Turkish-Syrian border.

    The politician promised that “anyone who provides military support to Kurdish forces in Afrin, including the United States, will be targeted by the Turkish armed forces.”

    He also said that the operation will include four stages, as reported by NTV television channel. First, a 30-kilometer “safe zone” will be …