Rounding up related news articles:1st: US, Keep Your Word on Kurd Withdrawal from Manbij:
Çavusoglu said: "The U.S. and the President Barack Obama personally promised that PYD members in the SDF would be withdrawn to the east of the Euphrates River. Now the U.S. must keep its promise, and we expect them to. We are maintaining our communications regarding this matter."Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu reminded U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday that he had personally made a promise to withdraw the Syrian PKK affiliate Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed People's Protection Units (YPG) to the east of the Euphrates once the Manbij operationHe said he and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag will pay an official visit to the U.S. to convey a new document including evidence of Gülen's involvement in the recent coup attempt.
Surely Obama lied! Turkish leadership and citizens have to know this? 2nd: Three Step Road Map for Syria:
Yildirim said the time had come for Turkey to mend relations with Syria Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has suggested a three-pronged road map for a solution to the five-year-old war in Syria.“It will be a solution that will absolutely preserve Syria’s territorial integrity,” Yildirim told Turkish daily Karar in an interview published on Aug. 15. “Therefore, a state structure like the PYD [the Democratic Union Party] in this country [Syria] will be out of the question,” said Yildirim, referring to Turkey’s objection to the PYD and its military wing, the People’s Protection Unit (YPG), which has created a federation for the peoples of northern Syria.In the second stage, Yildirim said the new era would not feature a state structure in which any of Syria’s sectarian, ethnic or regional formations has supremacy over the others. “Namely, a structure will be formed that will eliminate the main defect of the current bloody problem in Syria,” he said. “As there will be no sectarian structure, this also means that [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad will not be there in the long-run.”
Assad stays. Yildirim cannot influence any long term outcomes for Syria or Bashar al Assad- What is more interesting is that Turkey has changed it’s tune regarding Assad having to go. Clearly Assad is staying, what happens in the long run is anyone’s guess, but, most important no demand for Assad to go (which was a much more NATO friendly demand)3rd: Turkey and Iran Pledge Cooperation over Syria- Ties in with the adjusted road map.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said however, that despite differences Turkey and Iran "would strengthen co-operation for a lasting peace in Syria."Zarif said the two countries converged on the need "to maintain Syria's territorial integrity, the need for the Syrian people to designate their own future.""We all need to stand against the extremism of (the Islamic State group) and al-Nusra," he added.The Iranian minister also welcomed recent moves by Turkey and Russia to patch up ties that were soured by Turkey's downing of a Russian plane near the border with Syria in November."Iran always had good relations with both Turkey and Russia. All of the countries in the region must co-operate to bring peace in Syria and fighting against extremism," Zarif said.
WaPo spin that is oh so familiar..and always applied to others, elsewhere. But never to those that abuse their own populaces to the extreme while claiming they stand for freedomUS/Canada and other NATO occupied nations4th: In Turkey and elsewhere, strongmen blame foreign 'enemies' for their own troubles: WaPo mentions Turkey, Russia and China but doesn’t mention the US- Where WaPo is based and their spin/ perception management, emanates freely from.
"One of the enduring rules of autocracy is that a strongman (Obama) must not admit something is amiss inside the kingdom. Instead, troubles come from enemies outside (AQ/ISIS)In Turkey over the past few weeks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reacted to the failed July 15 coup attempt by looking for enemies abroad. He has pinned the revolt on his one-time ally, the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and denies being behind it. “They represent a dangerous scapegoating, a practice also favored by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Erdogan met this week. No doubt, more foreign "enemies" will appear as democracy continues to retreat around the world. There is only one remedy - to call out illiberal strongmen on their fictions and, wherever possible, counter them with the truth"
Pot meet Kettle.5th:Wonder where this Turkish fella was heading once he got into Syria?Who might he have been connecting with?
Turkish servicemen detained chief prosecutor in Erzurum province, who was put on the wanted list after the coup attempt in Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria, according to local media.Turkish military detained Ekrem Beyaztas, chief prosecutor in Erzurum province, who was put on the wanted list after the thwarted July coup, as he tried to cross the Syrian-Turkish border in the province of Kilis, local media reported.Turkish servicemen detained Beyaztas late on Sunday after he ignored warnings to stop at a border checkpoint, according to Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper.The Turkish authorities have started judicial and administrative proceeding against the prosecutor, the media outlet added, citing a statement by Kilis Governor's Office.
6th: Coincidentally at the Turkish Syrian border we get a car bombing!Same day as the arrest- connected? Can’t be sure- but, still worth mentioningFinally: Russia flying long range bombers out of Iran:
Russia’s long-range Tu-22M3 bombers delivered their first airstrikes on terrorist targets in Syria operating from an Iranian airbase. Moscow and Tehran cooperation in Syria is “strategic,” confirmed the head of Iran’s National Security Council. The long range bombers with full bomb payload took off from Hamadan Airfield to attack Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front facilities in Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor and Idlib provinces.
The strikes have eliminated five major terrorist weapons depots and training compounds in the area as well as three command posts and a significant number of terrorists, the Russian Defense Ministry said.The long-range bombers were covered by Su-30sm and Su-35s jet fighters which took off from Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase in Syria.The number of military aircraft deployed at Hamadan Airbase has not been disclosed
Moscow and Tehran signed a military agreement allowing Russian aircraft to station at Hamadan Airport in western Iran.Tehran has agreed to share its military facilities and capacities with Moscow, confirming dedication to strategic cooperation in fighting against terrorism in Syria, Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani told Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.The core benefit for the Russian Air Force is a drastic reduction in flying time to terrorist targets in Syria.Russian long-range bombers delivered airstrikes in Syria from a base in Mozdok, Russia, and had to cover a distance of about 2,000km to get to Syrian airspace. Now that distance is reduced to some 700km, so time-sensitive airstrikes can be delivered immediately and more cheaply.
It appears Russia, Iran and Turkey are cooperating "to fight terrorism"News on Crimea? Feel free to share some? Hubby was keeping me in the loop a little bit, but, I've no time to delve into it- There is just so much happening!!!! Just in case you missed any interesting happenings the past couple of days..