Turkish Peace Operations in Syria (Operation Olive Branch) Updates & Discussions

[-------]

Weapons being stocked for coming days offensives.

 

[SouI]

We are bombing Afrin right now.

Source? Sounds too good to be true!

 

[OguzSenturk]

civilian escapes going on from cerablus into Turkey

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1075516695829385

They are not escaping from Cerablus, Cerablus is under Turkish control. They are escaping from ISIS and YPG controlled areas as Anadolu Ajansı reported it

 

[CrimsonFury]

Lol I hope YPG insists on staying west...this upcoming lesson won't be forgotten by anyone in the region.

 

[f1000n]

 

[SouI]

Lol I hope YPG insists on staying west...this upcoming lesson won't be forgotten by anyone in the region.

Do you know if we bombed afrin too? We will eventually have to push them into the east of the river as well and the chance we have right now in our hands is unfindable!

 

[CrimsonFury]

Do you know if we bombed afrin too? We will eventually have to push them into the east of the river as well and the chance we have right now in our hands is unfindable!

I think we fired arty at Afrin. We will take it after our deadline expires. TAF is gearing up for a necessary massacre of scum

 

[T-Rex]

#FROMTHEFRONT#MAPS 24.08.2016 - 4,302 views

4.9 (8 votes)
Turkish-led Forces Clashing with US-backed SDF in Northern Syria – Reports

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Reports have appeared that Turkish-backed militants from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), supported by Turkish artillery and tanks, engaged the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) south of the city of Jaralbus in Syria’s Aleppo province.

After seizing Jaralbus from the ISIS terrorist group, the Turkish-led forces advanced further south, taking the villges of Dashtan and Al Shamel. In turn, the SDF gained control over Mazaleh, Yussif Bay north of Amarinah.

This situation lead to clashes between the Turkish-backed groups and the SDF. Pro-kurdish sources reports that Turkish artillery and tanks are supporting the FSA units in this fighting.


Click to see the full-size map

https://southfront.org/turkish-led-forces-clashing-with-us-backed-sdf-in-northern-syria-reports/

 

[500]

Life returns tp Jarabulus, the first free town in Syria secured from Assad's genocide barrel bombers:

 

[OguzSenturk]

Life returns tp Jarabulus, the first free town in Syria secured from Assad's genocide barrel bombers:

Good progress! I hope rebels will set up one police forces and ambulance service. Fighters and police should be divided, and police candidates should be native Jarablus citizens. That is how to rule regions with high public trust

 

[LeGenD]

A Complicated Alliance With Turkey

The Turkish military incursion into Syria that started Wednesday with American air support is about as good an illustration as there is of the exasperating complexity of Washington’s foreign affairs.

The stated purpose of the offensive is to clear Islamic State militants from one of their last remaining strongholds and supply lines on the Syrian-Turkish border. That goal, and getting Turkey more involved in the fight against the Islamic State, is obviously in America’s interest. But it also adds more complications.

A major Turkish priority through much of the Syrian conflict has been to keep Syrian Kurds away from its borders for fear that they will bolster Kurdish insurgents in Turkey. So in addition to pushing the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, back from its borders, Turkey’s drive to clear the militants from the border town of Jarabulus is intended to prevent Syrian Kurds, who are America’s most reliable allies in Syria, from moving into the town.

The competing goals in Syria are only one source of tension that has driven Turkish-American relations to a new low. The growing authoritarianism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has aroused considerable unease in Washington and other Western capitals, as has his far-reaching crackdown on political foes after the failed coup last month. Washington’s slow response to Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric, who now lives in Pennsylvania and is regarded by Ankara as the mastermind of the plot, has only heightened anti-American feelings in Turkey.

In this welter of conflicting interests, the Obama administration is right to focus on combating ISIS and on trying to keep relations with Turkey from deteriorating further. Turkey is home to the Incirlik Air Base, which is critical to American air operations in Syria. Moreover, Turkey, along with Russia and Iran, has to be part of any solution to the Syrian civil war.

Vice President Joseph Biden Jr.’s visit to Turkey on Wednesday, coinciding with the start of the ground operation, was intended to smooth the troubled relationship. He struck a conciliatory tone by apologizing to Mr. Erdogan for not visiting after the failed coup attempt, saying nothing in public about the government’s crackdown, maintaining that the United States took seriously Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Mr. Gulen and endorsing Turkey’s insistence that the Kurds stay east of the Euphrates River.

There are those who may have preferred that Mr. Biden say what most American officials really think: that Mr. Erdogan’s roundup of coup plotters looks like an attempt to silence any opposition, that Turkey has behaved outrageously in failing to stop conspiracy theories depicting the United States as a co-conspirator in the coup attempt, that Turkey has produced little evidence to warrant Mr. Gulen’s extradition and that Mr. Erdogan’s autocratic behavior is making him an unreliable ally.

The Obama administration is right to make efforts to keep relations with Turkey from worsening. Turkey is an important NATO ally in one of the most volatile corners of the world, and a repository for allied nuclear weapons. Washington has made clear how highly it regards its alliance with Turkey. But that should not give Mr. Erdogan carte blanche to violate human rights or suppress his political foes.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/opinion/a-complicated-alliance-with-turkey.html?_r=0

 

[usernameless]

A Complicated Alliance With Turkey

The Turkish military incursion into Syria that started Wednesday with American air support is about as good an illustration as there is of the exasperating complexity of Washington’s foreign affairs.

The stated purpose of the offensive is to clear Islamic State militants from one of their last remaining strongholds and supply lines on the Syrian-Turkish border. That goal, and getting Turkey more involved in the fight against the Islamic State, is obviously in America’s interest. But it also adds more complications.

A major Turkish priority through much of the Syrian conflict has been to keep Syrian Kurds away from its borders for fear that they will bolster Kurdish insurgents in Turkey. So in addition to pushing the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, back from its borders, Turkey’s drive to clear the militants from the border town of Jarabulus is intended to prevent Syrian Kurds, who are America’s most reliable allies in Syria, from moving into the town.

The competing goals in Syria are only one source of tension that has driven Turkish-American relations to a new low. The growing authoritarianism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has aroused considerable unease in Washington and other Western capitals, as has his far-reaching crackdown on political foes after the failed coup last month. Washington’s slow response to Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric, who now lives in Pennsylvania and is regarded by Ankara as the mastermind of the plot, has only heightened anti-American feelings in Turkey.

In this welter of conflicting interests, the Obama administration is right to focus on combating ISIS and on trying to keep relations with Turkey from deteriorating further. Turkey is home to the Incirlik Air Base, which is critical to American air operations in Syria. Moreover, Turkey, along with Russia and Iran, has to be part of any solution to the Syrian civil war.

Vice President Joseph Biden Jr.’s visit to Turkey on Wednesday, coinciding with the start of the ground operation, was intended to smooth the troubled relationship. He struck a conciliatory tone by apologizing to Mr. Erdogan for not visiting after the failed coup attempt, saying nothing in public about the government’s crackdown, maintaining that the United States took seriously Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Mr. Gulen and endorsing Turkey’s insistence that the Kurds stay east of the Euphrates River.

There are those who may have preferred that Mr. Biden say what most American officials really think: that Mr. Erdogan’s roundup of coup plotters looks like an attempt to silence any opposition, that Turkey has behaved outrageously in failing to stop conspiracy theories depicting the United States as a co-conspirator in the coup attempt, that Turkey has produced little evidence to warrant Mr. Gulen’s extradition and that Mr. Erdogan’s autocratic behavior is making him an unreliable ally.

The Obama administration is right to make efforts to keep relations with Turkey from worsening. Turkey is an important NATO ally in one of the most volatile corners of the world, and a repository for allied nuclear weapons. Washington has made clear how highly it regards its alliance with Turkey. But that should not give Mr. Erdogan carte blanche to violate human rights or suppress his political foes.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/opinion/a-complicated-alliance-with-turkey.html?_r=0

The amount of verbal diarrhea in this article is just too much, won't even bother correcting it.
If you want to follow more unbiased English news about Turkey, you can follow dailysabah and hurriyetdailynews. Anything but biased and subjective mainstream western media trash.

 

[LeGenD]

The amount of verbal diarrhea in this article is just too much, won't even bother correcting it.
If you want to follow more unbiased news about Turkey, you can follow dailysabah and hurriyetdailynews. Anything but biased and subjective mainstream western media trash.

My friend, I am not judging Turkey in these matters. I admire US and Turkey for different reasons. Turkey has as much right to pursue its objectives in the region as other stakeholders. We perceive Turkey as a brotherly nation (we relate to it on religious and cultural grounds).

What fascinates me is that Turkey have got the best of both worlds in modern times (Islamic identity and NATO membership). This geopolitical position enables Turkey to pull strings even in Washington, something that no other Islamic state is capable of.

It is sometimes wise to look at things from the perspective of other stakeholders in the region. In this manner, you can understand their mindset and plan a solution for an issue accordingly. Harboring Anti-American feelings do us no good in the long-term. A state should learn to leverage its diplomatic relationship to its benefit instead, when necessary.

US and Turkey certainly have a complicated relationship at the moment; the article (that I cited) brings this fact to our attention and is very well put in that context. New York Times is one of the media outlets that I take seriously due to its professionalism and reputation.

However, I am willing to look at things from a strictly Turkish perspective as well and understand their grievances. If you want to bring something to my attention, you are welcome to do so.

 

[CrimsonFury]

To hell with NYT, they speak as if they have influence...they can shove their recommendations where the sun doesn't shine. Here is an article that Id take seriously: http://www.businessinsider.com/3-ways-the-us-and-turkey-can-do-business-together-2016-8

 

[LeGenD]

Business Insider is also a good source. What is the most professional Turkish media outlet?