Turkey’s interior minister on Monday said that three people were killed after rockets hit the Turkish district of Karkamis, near the Syrian border, in an attack likely carried out by Kurdish militants.
The rocket attack came a day after Turkey launched massive airstrikes in northern Iraq and Syria against Kurdish groups for their alleged role in a recent bombing in Istanbul. Dozens were reported killed in the strikes, including members of the US-backed Kurdish-led SDF.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the SDF fired rockets into Karkamis on Monday from a Syrian border town. The group hasn’t taken credit for the attacks but did vow to take action in response to Turkey’s airstrikes.
The SOHR said there were more Turkish airstrikes on Monday, but they haven’t been confirmed by Ankara. According to The Associated Press, the Turkish Defense Ministry did confirm that it launched fresh artillery strikes.
The rocket attacks are a sign that Turkey’s operations in the region will continue, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signaled that he is preparing a ground offensive. “There is no question that this operation be limited to only an aerial operation,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“How many troops from the Land Forces should be involved here will be decided together by our relevant units, our Defense Ministry, and General Staff. We do our consultation, and then we will take our steps accordingly,” Erdogan added.
Turkish officials have accused the US of complicity in the Istanbul bombing for backing the SDF in northeast Syria. Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, blamed Western support for the Kurdish groups for Monday’s rocket attacks.
“These attacks show once again that the Western support for this terror group in the name of fighting other terror groups like ISIS is a total failure. You cannot fight terrorists with terrorists,” Altun wrote on Twitter.
I’m not sure that Altun is altogether accurate, with regard to “terrorists fighting terrorists”… You must know your enemy like yourself…
It is worse than that. It is Middle East, watch for games underfoot. UK and US have from the beggining funded a virtual cornucopia of Islamic movements in Syria, capitalising on tge oresence of two million Iraqi refugees US has sent packing following the destruction of Fallujah, Tikrit and other Saddam Hussein’s Sunni belt. Their poor living conditions were tapped into, but the end game was not to ket them run the show. To that end, Uk and US supported former “Al-Qaeda”, Nusra Front — got rebranded after loosing Aleppo into HTS. You know the guys with “White Helmets”. How quickly we forget. But we support them today, with some success. In Idlib, HTS has managed to subdue all assorted militant groups through control of food UN supplies to Idlib. Turkey’s plan to absorb militants under its command came to an end by HTS actions. UK and US are still supplying HTS via UN traffic.
Second manuever by US was to pick winners among Kurds, sending into exile leaders that opposed working for US. And third mive was to consolidate Sunni mostly Iraqis in Raqqa region and along the border into ISIS. This was the work of Saudi intellugence and Wahhabi establishment under former Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed Bin Nayaf, US and UK collaborator since his days of being junior official in his fathers Minustry of the Interior. His neteoric rise to lead the Ministry and US push to have him rsised to Crown Prince, facilitated the entire structure of Islamic State, a Caliphate stradling Syria/Iraq border, and under Saudi control.
That was not US olan however. Saudis learned that hard way. US intended ISIS to be no more than a place holder, same as HTS in Idlib. The real objective was to arm Kurds to “fight ISIS”, defeat them and establish Kurdish state not just in Syria, but to link up with Turkish PKK and newly formed PKK affiliates in Iraq, challenging power of Peshmerga. Eventually get Iranian Kurds into the fold.
Such a mega state would forever alter Middle East. Divide Levant from Gulf states, and Levant from Iran. This would end infrastructure conectivity except in US interests. And would strenghten Israel by not being isolated in sea ifvSrab states. Kurds are already ethnically cleansing areas under control.
Saudi Arabia has learned a butter lessin, Crown Orince MBN was ousted in June 2017, immediately after Trump made it clear that he would fight ISIS. But he did not trust Kurds.
Now Biden is back to Hilary plan — Kurdistan consolidation.
This is bringing Turkey back into the mess as the only one in a position to oppose it.
Turkey made mistake in hoping Idlib would naturally disolve itself by bradual absorbing into local governance like Russia facilisted reconciliation programs, It faiked because UK and US in the name of UN support for Idlib strenghemed HRS. So much so — that they punched into Afrin to resurect smuggling route to Turkush Kurds, Russia and Damascus made a mistake by trying to play nice and protect Kurds,
Both these games have played themselves out, Turkey has to come up with the pllan with Damascus on Idlib, only prevent refugee flow into Turkey. Damascus and Russia accomidated Kurds way, way too much. Time to collaborate with Turkey. Kurdish populstion started to believe that US can deliver statehood.
Turkey did not accept US message of sympathy following terriorust attack, US is blamed for supporting secessionist movements in Turkey, Iraq and Syria. And in the nineties Clinton arned Iranian Kurds resulting in a decade long war.
We are back implementing Clunton’s vision for Middle East and Black Sea. But this time around all the illusions, all the bennefit of the doubt ince given to US — are gone.
Beautiful.
Question? Where are they getting the rockets, or the money to get them?
Tit-for-tat warfare is now a major mode everywhere.
Where are they getting the money to get the toys? Better yet, who is really behind it?
I want this game in real life. It looks interesting. I become bored playing Minecraft all day
oK.MARTIALGIPHY.COM/Q5385p