Russia's troop deployments near Syria’s Lebanese border are causing friction with Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah, which said the Russian move had been uncoordinated with them. The situation was resolved on Tuesday when Syrian army soldiers took over three positions where the Russians had deployed near the town of Qusair in Homs province, a non-Syrian military commander told Reuters. “It was an uncoordinated step. Now it is resolved,” said the commander, adding Hezbollah fighters were still located in the area. “The Syrian army … is deploying at the border.” Read More
The Turkish military could soon launch operations to clear Kurdish rebel bases in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Monday. "It is not a matter of operation, but a matter of timing. Qandil is no longer a faraway goal for us," Soylu said, referring to the mountainous area of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Iraq-Iran border, a hideout for the leadership of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has fought Ankara since 1984. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Tuesday that Turkey now has 11 bases in northern Iraq. Read More
The bilateral road map for the contested Syrian city of Manbij negotiated by Turkey and the United States will remove US-backed Kurdish fighters from the area, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday after talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington. Cavusoglu said the implementation of the road map, including parameters for withdrawing Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and setting up local governance structures, “should take less than six months” as US-Turkish military patrols take over security. “We will begin to get rid of one of the issues marring our ties with the United States,” Cavusoglu said of the planned road map. A joint readout of Monday’s meeting, however, made no mention of Kurdish withdrawal from Manbij. Read More
The Turkish air force bombed several villages in northern Iraq on Tuesday, destroying 16 targets and killing at least six Kurdish militants, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday. As part of an effort to root out safe havens of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, the Turkish army advanced nearly 16 miles into Iraqi territory over the past few days toward the group’s outposts in the Qandil Mountains. “Qandil is next, Sinjar is next. We will face up to whoever is threatening, disturbing my country,” Erdogan said during a campaign rally ahead of June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections. Read More