In an extraordinary twist illustrating the fantastic complexity of the Syria conflict, news agency reports confirm the presence of both US and Russian troops in the Kurdish controlled Syrian town of Manbij.
Just a matter of days after John McCain made an “unusual” trip to Syria and Turkey, the Turkish government has cut off water supplies from the Euphrates River into northern Syria, violating international conventions on water rights.
Kurdish Fighters take positions at the top of Mount Annan overlooking the Tishrin dam, after they captured from ISIS militants, south of Kobani, Syria December 27, 2015. (Photo: Rodi Said)
The Kremlin has confirmed that Turkish President Erdogan is travelling to Moscow on 9th and 10th March 2017 for a summit meeting with Russian President Putin and with other top officials of the Russian government.
(MPN) While few might consider being a diplomat a life-threatening or even dangerous job, that trend may be quickly reversing — that is, at least for Russian diplomats.
Louis XIV ruled France from 1643-1715. During his long reign, he became known as the archetype of western absolutist monarchism. In many ways, it is surprising that his reign lasted for so long as he waged war upon war, the vast majority of which he lost, some of which he lost very badly.
In hindsight, because Louis’ wars bankrupted the French treasury, his reign paved the way for the French Revolution of 1789. Discontent just took several decades to fully boil over.
A week after Turkish President Erdogan declared victory for the Turkish army in its fight with ISIS for the strategically important town of Al-Bab in northern Syria, it has been confirmed that ISIS has driven back the Turkish troops besieged the city, inflicting on them heavy losses.
Days after confirmation was received that the ISIS fighters in Al-Bab have been surrounded by the Syrian army from the south and the Turkish army and its Jihadi allies (the so-called “Free Syrian army”) from the north, news reports confirm that pressure on the ISIS fighters in the town is growing.
On the 21st of September 2016, ISIS encircled a Turkish military contingent in Al Bab, killing 16 Turkish soldiers. Two of them were burnt alive in a ISIS propaganda video.
Turkish President Erdogan vowed revenge for the attack and consequently Turkish troops have been engaged with ISIS in the Al Bab region of Aleppo Governorate ever since.
Some Turkish forces who remain in Syria were recently accidentally fired upon by the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation. Three Turkish soldiers were killed and eleven are reported wounded.
The modern Turkish Republic was founded on 23 October 1923.
It was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a man who wanted to break fully from the Ottoman past and forge a new nation-state based on the principles of secularism, modernity, and education that would include a Latin script for the Turkish language.
Perhaps most interestingly, he was also a man who forged a good relationship with Vladimir Lenin of the Soviet Union after centuries of war between Ottoman Turkey and Tsarist Russia.
