Occupied by the Kurdish YPG way back in August, the status of the city of Manbij has been a major source of tension with neighboring Turkey, which has warned that the Kurds aren’t allowed west of the Euphrates and have to abandon the city immediately.
The YPG reinforced the city, then promised to leave it, then insisted they were never there to begin with. Today, the YPG once again announced their intention to withdraw from the city, claiming they have ensured ISIS will never be able to return.
US officials were eager to endorse the comment, saying the most recent of a series of YPG promises to leave Manbij amounted to a “milestone” in the US-backed capture, declaring that the US is “proud” of the support they provided in capturing the city.
Turkey invaded Syria after Manbij fell, and has repeatedly threatened to move into Manbij to expel the Kurds. These pledges to leave seem to buy the YPG a little time, but the more times that the promises don’t pan out, the less credible each new assurance is going to seem.
I don’t understand the writer’s point. Are we meant to sympathise with the fascist regime In Turkey and hope the Kurds leave? This article seems crtitical of the YPG (calling them liars, basically) but not critical of the jihadist supporting government in Ankara.
The writer’s point is: Here’s what’s happening.
You’re meant to: Read it and be more informed than you were before reading it.
Are you seriously trying to say that writers don’t make points, Mr Knapp? All writers have an angle. What’s this guys angle, is my question…
RussinOz,
It’s a news story, not a commentary. Certainly the author has a bias, but it’s still reportage, intended to inform rather than particularly to persuade.
I remember reading an article in the Daily Mail that was headlined “Lonely Divorcee duped by Refugee.” There was a sad looking picture of the lady and a picture of the refugee laughing with his friends next to it. That wasn’t an opinion piece either, yet the reader is clearly meant to think “Refugees = Bad” after reading this ‘news story’ Minus the pictures I detect similar attempts to influence here too. That is the nature of my original question. Reportage is not merely to inform, some of it is also to influence the reader to think certain things and feel certain ways.
Bingo!
If Syrian Kurds don’t belong in Manbij, where do the Turks get off thinking they do?
Mabij is a Syrian town not Turkish and the ONLY reason there is trouble there is because the Turks helped establish Daesh.