05-02-2017, 10:11 PM
*** 3-May-17 World View -- US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey's military
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa
****
![[Image: g170502b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170502b.jpg)
Boy sits on a tank turret amidst the destruction of Syria's war (AFP)
There are three different sets of forces operating in Syria: The
Syrian regime + Russia, Turkey + the Free Syrian Army (FSA) comprised
mainly of ethnic Syrian Turkmens, and the US-led coalition + the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comprised mostly of Kurds from the
People's Protection Units (YPG). Today, these three forces are united
by their common enemy, the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL
or Daesh).
On Tuesday, the US-backed SDF said that it had recaptured 90% of the
city of Tabqa from ISIS. Tabqa is 45 km west of Raqqa, which is the
ISIS stronghold, and the main objective of the current operations to
defeat ISIS. ISIS captured Raqqa in January 2014.
The victory is significant because it further establishes the Kurdish
YPG as the most effective fighting force in the region against ISIS.
Al Jazeera
****
**** US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey's military
****
As we reported last week,
Turkey's
warplanes in Syria struck Kurdish militias known as the People's
Protection Units, or YPG, who are allies of the US-led coalition
fighting ISIS. The YPG said that Turkey's airstrikes, which took
place on Tuesday of last week, killed 20 of its fighters and wounded
18 others, and caused extensive damage to YPG headquarters and nearby
civilian property.
The US military considers the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),
comprised mostly of YPG Kurds, to be the most effective fighting force
in the region against ISIS, but the YPG has links to the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), which has conducted numerous bloody terror
attacks in Turkey, and an on-and-off civil war for decades. As a
result, the US considers the YPG to be an ally, while Turkey considers
them to be an enemy.
To protect the Kurds from the Turks, US troops in armored vehicles on
Friday started patrolling Kurdish areas in Syria as a kind of "buffer"
between the Kurds and Turkey. Video from the area shows vehicles with
US and Kurdish flags together.
A statement from the US military says:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Coalition forces are conducting joint patrols along
> the northeastern Syria-Turkey border to assess reports from both
> the SDF and Turkey regarding skirmishes and cross-border fires
> between their respective security forces.
>
> The patrols’ purpose is to discourage escalation and violence
> between two of our most trusted (counter-ISIS) partners and
> reinforce the U.S. commitment to both Turkey and the SDF in their
> fight against ISIS.
>
> We ask both of our partners to focus their efforts on ISIS. ISIS
> poses the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region,
> and indeed the entire world."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Turkey's president Tayyip Recep Erdogan says that he'll meet with
President Trump on May 16th, and he'll say that US support for the YPG
Kurds must end, and that the Turkish attacks on YPG Kurds will
continue:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"This needs to end. Otherwise we will have to take the
> matter into our own hands. It is better for them to live in fear
> than us being worried [about terror attacks from the
> PKK]."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Erdogan said that Turkey needs to "drain the swamp," and that Turkey's
military will solve the (PKK) terrorism problem by itself if the US
refuses to do so.
As I've said in the past, the factions fighting in Syria today -- the
US, the Syrian regime, Russia, the Kurds, the Turks, and the
"moderate" regime opposition -- all these factions are united today
because they're all fighting the common enemy, ISIS. But once ISIS is
defeated in Raqqa, ISIS's headquarters, then all bets are off.
AP and Anadolu (Turkey) and Daily Sabah (Turkey)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Turkey, Free Syrian Army, FSA, Turkmens,
Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Kurds, People's Protection Units, YPG,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Tabqa, Raqqa, Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, Tayyip Recep Erdogan
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa
- US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey's military
****
**** Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa
****
Boy sits on a tank turret amidst the destruction of Syria's war (AFP)
There are three different sets of forces operating in Syria: The
Syrian regime + Russia, Turkey + the Free Syrian Army (FSA) comprised
mainly of ethnic Syrian Turkmens, and the US-led coalition + the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comprised mostly of Kurds from the
People's Protection Units (YPG). Today, these three forces are united
by their common enemy, the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL
or Daesh).
On Tuesday, the US-backed SDF said that it had recaptured 90% of the
city of Tabqa from ISIS. Tabqa is 45 km west of Raqqa, which is the
ISIS stronghold, and the main objective of the current operations to
defeat ISIS. ISIS captured Raqqa in January 2014.
The victory is significant because it further establishes the Kurdish
YPG as the most effective fighting force in the region against ISIS.
Al Jazeera
****
**** US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey's military
****
As we reported last week,
Turkey's
warplanes in Syria struck Kurdish militias known as the People's
Protection Units, or YPG, who are allies of the US-led coalition
fighting ISIS. The YPG said that Turkey's airstrikes, which took
place on Tuesday of last week, killed 20 of its fighters and wounded
18 others, and caused extensive damage to YPG headquarters and nearby
civilian property.
The US military considers the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),
comprised mostly of YPG Kurds, to be the most effective fighting force
in the region against ISIS, but the YPG has links to the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), which has conducted numerous bloody terror
attacks in Turkey, and an on-and-off civil war for decades. As a
result, the US considers the YPG to be an ally, while Turkey considers
them to be an enemy.
To protect the Kurds from the Turks, US troops in armored vehicles on
Friday started patrolling Kurdish areas in Syria as a kind of "buffer"
between the Kurds and Turkey. Video from the area shows vehicles with
US and Kurdish flags together.
A statement from the US military says:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Coalition forces are conducting joint patrols along
> the northeastern Syria-Turkey border to assess reports from both
> the SDF and Turkey regarding skirmishes and cross-border fires
> between their respective security forces.
>
> The patrols’ purpose is to discourage escalation and violence
> between two of our most trusted (counter-ISIS) partners and
> reinforce the U.S. commitment to both Turkey and the SDF in their
> fight against ISIS.
>
> We ask both of our partners to focus their efforts on ISIS. ISIS
> poses the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region,
> and indeed the entire world."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Turkey's president Tayyip Recep Erdogan says that he'll meet with
President Trump on May 16th, and he'll say that US support for the YPG
Kurds must end, and that the Turkish attacks on YPG Kurds will
continue:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"This needs to end. Otherwise we will have to take the
> matter into our own hands. It is better for them to live in fear
> than us being worried [about terror attacks from the
> PKK]."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Erdogan said that Turkey needs to "drain the swamp," and that Turkey's
military will solve the (PKK) terrorism problem by itself if the US
refuses to do so.
As I've said in the past, the factions fighting in Syria today -- the
US, the Syrian regime, Russia, the Kurds, the Turks, and the
"moderate" regime opposition -- all these factions are united today
because they're all fighting the common enemy, ISIS. But once ISIS is
defeated in Raqqa, ISIS's headquarters, then all bets are off.
AP and Anadolu (Turkey) and Daily Sabah (Turkey)
Related Articles
- Turkey's warplanes strike Kurdish militias fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq (26-Apr-2017)
- Turkey returns to war with the Kurdish PKK (03-Aug-2015)
- Turkey, Syria, Kurds, ISIS converge on a major military confrontation in al-Bab (26-Nov-2016)
- Turkey's 'Operation Euphrates Shield' turns into full-scale invasion of Syria (26-Aug-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Turkey, Free Syrian Army, FSA, Turkmens,
Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Kurds, People's Protection Units, YPG,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Tabqa, Raqqa, Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, Tayyip Recep Erdogan
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
