US denies Syrian state media report that Turkey has begun anti-Kurd offensive

[struggle4progress]

By TOI STAFF and AGENCIES
7 October 2019, 11:33 pm

A US official denied Syrian state media reports that Turkish forces began bombing Syrian Kurd positions in northeast Syria on Monday evening, and rejected claims of a full American military withdrawal from the area.

Turkey does not appear “as of now” to have launched a military offensive, the official said, according to Reuters ...

https://www.timesofisrael.com/turkey-starts-bombing-kurds-in-syria-as-us-pulls-out-report/

[struggle4progress]

1. Turkey begins an offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syria

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS and BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 9:08AM

AKCAKALE, Turkey — Turkey launched a military operation Wednesday against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria after U.S. forces withdrew from the area, with activists reporting airstrikes on a town on Syria's northern border.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the campaign, which followed an announcement Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump that American troops would step aside in a shift in U.S. policy that essentially abandoned the Syrian Kurds. They were longtime U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group.

"Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area," Erdogan said in a tweet.

He added that Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Syrian National Army, had launched what they called "Operation Peace Spring" against Kurdish fighters to eradicate what Erdogan called "the threat of terror" against Turkey ...

http://www.startribune.com/is-militants-hit-us-backed-kurdish-fighters-in-north-syria/562596552/

[bdamomma]

16. Operation Peace Spring????

you wouldn't know what peace is you bastards.

[struggle4progress]

2. Turkey launches incursion into northern Syria

By ZIA WEISE
10/9/19, 3:59 PM CET Updated 10/9/19, 4:24 PM CET

... Turkey has previously said it wants to create a buffer zone along its border reaching at least 30 kilometers deep into Syria.

Much of the Syrian territory along the border is currently held by the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia that became a crucial partner of the West in defeating the Islamic State ...

https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-incursion-into-northern-syria-kurdish-forces/

[struggle4progress]

3. Erdogan announces military offensive in northern Syria

October 10, 2019 — 12.30am

... A Turkish security source said the military operation into Syria began with air strikes.

Turkish howitzers also started hitting bases and ammunition depots of the Kurdish YPG militia ...

Several large explosions rocked Ras al Ain, just across the border across from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar, a CNN Turk reporter said. The sound of planes could he heard above and smoke was rising from buildings in Ras al Ain, he said.

People were fleeing the town, witnesses said ...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/turkey-begins-military-offensive-in-northern-syria-erdogan-announces-20191010-p52z9j.html

[struggle4progress]

4. What is the situation in north-eastern Syria?

Michael Safi
Wed 9 Oct 2019 10.14 EDT
Last modified on Wed 9 Oct 2019 10.58 EDT

Who is in control in north-eastern Syria?

The region makes up more than a quarter of the entire country and is the largest area outside of the control of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and his allies. It is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which comprises militia groups representing a range of ethnicities but its backbone is Kurdish, an ethnic group of about 30 million people spread across the Middle East who have been fighting for their own state for more than a century.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Wednesday announced an invasion of territory with the intention of forcing the SDF out of at least a 20-mile “safe zone” below its border, or from as far south as Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor ...

With US support, including arms and airstrikes, the Kurds managed to beat back Isis and went on to win a string of victories against the radical militant group. Along the way the fighters absorbed non-Kurdish groups, changed their name to the SDF and grew to include 60,000 soldiers.

“Without [the SDF], President Donald Trump could not have declared the complete defeat of Isis,” said Gen Joseph Votel, the American commander of operations in Syria who struck the alliance with the Kurds in 2015. The SDF suffered 11,000 casualties in the battle against Isis ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/what-is-situation-north-eastern-syria-turkey-kurds

[Lock him up.]

5. Is it the ''don't believe what you see or read'' episode now?

[Mike 03]

6. This is crazy

CNN and other organizations seem to have reporters on the Turkish border. Are we really going to be told "nothing is going on?"

Also where are Jim Mattis and Joseph Dunford (former chair of joint chiefs)? I know they have to be apoplectic.

[tblue37]

10. He has to keep a lid on it, because his great & unmatched wisdom doesn't want to

know that Turkey has done anything "out of bounds" that he might have to respond to by "obliterating" Turkey's economy as he promised he would.

[2naSalit]

7. K&R for visibility

[Newest Reality]

8. Ministry of Truth?

Now it gets to making facts a matter of controversy and conjecture? I just try to remember that US is now Trump's reality TV show and it is spreading.

Minitrue decides what is true.

There are are also tweets and videos from over there that indicate otherwise.

WTF.

[tblue37]

11. Baghdad Bob is in the house. nt

[DrToast]

13. No, just people posting old articles

[struggle4progress]

15. I consider the sequence and timing here quite informtive

[Mike 03]

9. There's now photographic evidence of mortar attacks thanks to CNN.

What an insult to our intelligence.

Link to live updates:

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/syria-turkey-military-offensive-dle-intl/index.html

EDIT: Changed "bombings" to "mortar attacks" but not really sure what is going on.

[DrToast]

12. That article is from two days ago

Maybe check the date on things before posting?

[struggle4progress]

14. Yes -- it is from two days ago. But please note:

as soon as Trump announced his Syria withdrawal, there was widespread concern for the Kurds, together with official Administration pooh-poohing of concern (such as my OP here)

And then it only took about another 24 hours for the Turkish attack to begin

[DrToast]

17. Look at how many people in this thread thinks it was from today

Maybe you didn’t intend that, but people sure misunderstand the point you were trying to make.

[struggle4progress]

18. I posted the date with every article I posted in this thread