Afrin

This is a very tense situation, which could potentially open-up a dangerous new front in the Syrian war. The worst result would be a direct military confrontation between Turkey and Syria.
RT International reports…
“Syrian pro-government forces are expected to help Kurdish militias defend the city of Afrin. It follows an alleged deal between Damascus and the Kurds. Under the agreement, pro-Assad troops will help Kurdish fighters repel Turkey’s offensive in the region.”

(MEE) — Syrian government forces are to enter the northern Kurdish enclave Afrin “within hours” to help repel a Turkish offensive, Syrian state media said on Monday, after a deal was struck between the Assad government and Kurdish authorities. “Popular forces will enter Afrin within hours,” Ikhbariya said, citing its own correspondent. The state news agency SANA […]

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Multiple reports emerged on Friday claiming that Turkish troops used shells containing poisonous gas in their attacks in Afrin, hitting the town of Aranda with such shells, and hospitalizing six civilians with breathing problems. Details are still scant, and there are no details on what chemical they were exposed to, but similar accounts have been made […]

American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expecting an extremely difficult confrontation with NATO ally Turkey, where President Recep Erdogan has increased his Anti-American rhetoric, essentially threatening US troops in Syria. The Turkish government roundly hates the Kurds, and fears that the American aid to the ones in Syria will result in their helping Turkish Kurds push for their own independence.
Erdogan is reported giving a strong threat:

(ANTIWAR.COM) — The leadership of Turkey, Iran, and Russia have all agreed to attend an upcoming summit in Istanbul on the topic of Syria, with the date for the meeting to be decided soon. Looming large over this is US relations. Those three nations have met in the past on trying to get a peace process going […]

By M K Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline | February 13, 2018 The Turkish President Recep Erdogan scaled up his rhetoric against Washington dramatically as the countdown begins for the visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Ankara on February 15. Addressing the Turkish parliament on Tuesday, Erdogan hit hard that the US should […]

Sarah Abed is an independent journalist and political commentator.  She covers a broad range of issues relating to the Syrian war, Kurdish issues in Iraq and Syria, as well as U.S policy in the Middle East.  The following is an account of Sarah’s conversations with Aramean Christians living under Kurdish rule in occupied northern Syria, as well as her personal take on the issues surrounding those conversations.  MintPress News could not independently verify the information given by Sarah’s sources.  

(MEMO) — Syria’s US-backed Kurds are getting indirect help from an unlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region of Afrin: President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-government forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each other elsewhere in Syria and Damascus opposes the Kurds’ demands for autonomy. But in Afrin, they have a common enemy and a mutual interest […]

Dr Can Erimtan
21st Century Wire
Turkey’s Tayyip Erdoğan (aka the Prez) is now once again performing a delicate war-dance with his partners Russia and America, with President Putin (aka the Czar) clearly supporting his southern neighbour while the U.S. President Trump appears as clueless as ever.

As I predicted a few days ago, the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria has prompted an urgent telephone call between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan.
The Kremlin’s summary of the call does not make clear who initiated the call.  However most likely it was the Russian leader.