WAR Regional conflict brewing in the Mediterranean

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'A volcano': Arab grievances in Syria's Deir Ezzor pit US allies against each other​


By Sean Mathews​



Among the thousands of fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) streaming into Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor to put down an uprising by Arab tribes are female fighters from the Women's Protection Units (YPJ).

“It’s a big insult,” Hifl Abboud Jadden al-Hifl, a tribal elder whose nephew, Ibrahim al-Hifl, is on an SDF wanted list as the public face of the fight to oust the Kurdish-led alliance from the oil-rich region.
“They put them in our hometown just to send a message that our women will get you,” he told Middle East Eye over a phone interview.
The comments are a sharp reflection of the acrimony brewing between two US allies in a forgotten corner of Syria: the SDF and Sunni Arab tribes that fought together with the US-led coalition to remove the Islamic State militant (IS) group from the region.
Now, long-standing complaints about corruption and political disenfranchisement at the hands of the SDF have erupted into violence that is destabilising the US-controlled part of Syria.

​

“Anyone who was watching the deteriorating situation in Deir Ezzor wouldn’t have been surprised by this,” Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Syria told MEE.
“Arab grievances against the SDF go back years. Instead of the US addressing those concerns and moving Kurds out of Deir Ezzor and bringing in local Arab leaders, it sat on its hands,” he added.
'We have no problem cooperating with the international coalition'
- Sheikh Amir al-Bashir, a leader of Deir Ezzor’s Baggara tribe
Click to expand...
The fighting broke out on 27 August when the SDF detained Ahmad al-Khabil, better known as Abu Khawla, the controversial head of the Deir Ezzor military council, amid suspicion he was conspiring to oust the SDF from the region, MEE has previously reported.
But analysts and tribal leaders tell MEE that the fighting in Deir Ezzor speaks to wider grievances of the region’s Sunni Arab majority against Kurdish rule.

'People can't buy bread'​

“The people of Deir Ezzor are suffering. Corruption is everywhere," Mahmoud Meslat, a Syria expert at Oberlin College who hails from a prominent Arab family in the region, told MEE.
"People can’t even afford to buy bread and they are being totally ignored by the coalition,” Meslat added.


Syrian Democratic Forces in al-Dhiban in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria, on 4 September 2023 (AFP)
The uprising in Deir Ezzor is not against the US, tribal leaders from the al-Hifl and Baggara tribes told MEE. Their main demand is an end to SDF rule and the creation of an independent military council made up of local Arabs that can coordinate security and economic assistance directly with the US.
“We have no problem cooperating with the international coalition, but it must be under the leadership of people in the region and with a total rejection of SDF forces,” Sheikh Amir al-Bashir, a leader of Deir Ezzor’s Baggara tribe fighting the SDF alongside the al-Aqeedat tribe, told MEE.
As of Tuesday, the fighting in Deir Ezzor centred around the towns of al-Hawaij and al-Diban, two bastions of support for the al-Aqeedat. In telegram channels affiliated with the tribe viewed by MEE, audio messages have called on tribal members in Turkey and other parts of Syria to join the fight against the SDF.
'What the US has done so far is try to pretend none of the fighting happened'
- Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria
Click to expand...
“The tribal region has become a burning volcano. It’s like a rolling ball of fire that won’t stop unless our demands are met,” added Bashir, who spoke with MEE via WhatsApp from his base in Sanliurfa Turkey.
Deir Ezzor is a fertile, resource-rich region that is home to some of Syria’s only oil fields. The US maintains military bases at the Conoco gas field and al-Omar oil field. Deir Ezzor was the last major stronghold of IS. In 2017, the SDF fought alongside local Arab tribes with US backing to remove the group from the province.
Today, Deir Ezzor is split along the Euphrates River. The US and its allies hold the eastern bank, while Syrian government forces and their Russian and Iranian allies control the west. Because of its position next to Iraq, it sits on lucrative smuggling routes, the control of which has enriched local commanders.
Tensions between the Arab community and SDF have been simmering since the defeat of IS.
The tensions are partly economic. In interviews with MEE, leaders of the Baggara and Akaidat tribes complained of widespread corruption and accused the Kurdish-led group of hijacking Deir Ezzor’s natural resources.


A child suffering from cholera receives treatment at Al-Kasrah hospital in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, on 17 September 2022 (AFP)
The US-backed SDF is a multiethnic Syrian force, but its backbone is the Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG. The Syrian YPG has close ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long war for independence against Turkey.
“The biggest problem in Deir Ezzor is the dominance of the PKK party and its control over the military and civil bodies in the region,” al-Bashir of the Baggara tribe told MEE, adding that the region’s economic resources were being diverted to fund the PKK and that drug smuggling was rampant.
The US’s ties to the SDF are a major irritant in relations with Nato member Turkey, which views the SDF as an extension of the PKK. While the US considers the PKK a terrorist organisation, it refuses to cut ties with the SDF, which Washington sees as its most effective ally against IS remnants.

US mediation​

Critics have also accused the SDF of governing undemocratically and violently suppressing peaceful protests.
The staunchly secular, Kurdish majority SDF has also clashed with the traditional and more conservative Arab population in Deir Ezzor. There are reports the SDF has attempted to draft Arab women into its ranks and has tried to prevent the re-settlement of Arabs to Deir Ezzor by forcing them to have a Kurdish sponsor to live in the area.
Critics say the US has failed to address the concerns of its Arab partners. Bassam Ishak, a representative in Washington DC of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the civilian counterpart of the SDF, denied the government in the autonomous Kurdish region was specifically targeting Arabs and said complaints about corruption should be addressed peacefully.
'The tensions today are a byproduct of the US’s inability to define what the ‘counter-IS mission is'
- Gregory Waters, Syria expert, Middle East Institute
Click to expand...
On Sunday, senior State Department official Ethan Goldrich and Major General Joel Vowell, who heads the coalition against IS, released a statement saying they had met Arab tribal leaders and SDF commanders and agreed to "address local grievances" and "de-escalate violence as soon as possible and avoid casualties”.
But in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Musab al-Hifl, one of the leaders of the Akaidat tribe fighting the SDF, said no members of his tribe, one of the largest in Syria, were present at the gathering.
“Basically what the US has done so far is try to pretend none of the fighting happened and dozens of people haven’t been killed. They think they can just go back to square one,” said Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria and noted sceptic of the US military presence.
“I don’t see any evidence that the US is willing to address the Arab’s calls for reform,” Ford said, adding that he believed the US was siding with the SDF over the tribes. “I don’t see the US threatening to cut off arms supplies to the SDF. It’s clear they have empowered one side of the conflict.”
Experts say the US’s approach to the fighting speaks to the bigger question of what the US’s endgame is in Syria.

'Take it by force'​

US troops arrived in the northeast in 2015 as part of Operation Inherent Resolve to eradicate IS. Although the so-called "caliphate" was territorially defeated in 2019, around 900 US troops and more military contractors remain in the region where they train the SDF and carry out raids on IS sleeper cells.
Critics of the mission have dubbed it another of America’s "forever wars". Because US casualties are low, the US presence has drawn little public attention and congressional efforts to end it have failed to gain traction.


SDF special operations troops and US-led coalition take part in military exercises in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, on 25 March 2022 (AFP)

While the official justification for the US footprint remains the defeat of IS, experts say the US is unwilling to withdraw its troops because Syria and its Russian and Iranian allies would likely step in. The Bashar al-Assad government has publicly stated its aim is to drive the US out of Syria.
The US is also concerned that a pullout could lead to a fresh Turkish incursion against the Kurds. Turkey has carved out a big chunk of northern Syria where it backs Arab rebels. Ankara’s military and administrative footprint dwarfs that of the US.
'We don’t want the Iranians or Russians here. The only thing keeping them out is the US flag'
- Hifl Abboud Jadden al-Hifl, Akaidat tribal elder
Click to expand...
“The tensions today are a byproduct of the US’s inability to define what the ‘counter-IS mission is,” Gregory Waters, an expert on IS in Syria and non-resident scholar at Middle East Institute, told MEE.
“The US says it’s not in Syria for state-building so it refuses to wade into internal Kurdish-Arab disputes that it doesn’t consider an immediate threat to the anti-IS operation,” he added.
Meanwhile, with the fighting raging in Deir Ezzor, Washington’s foes sense an opportunity.

Hifl Abboud Jadden al-Hifl told MEE that he has urged fighters to reject outreach from Assad and Russia. “I don’t want the Iranians or Russians in Deir Ezzor. The only thing keeping them out is the US flag,” he told MEE.
Kurdish officials accuse the Syrian government and its Iranian allies of fuelling the conflict. The al-Hifl tribe has ties with Damascus and an Iranian-backed faction of the Baggara tribe, led by Nawaf al-Bashir, has supported the uprising. On Tuesday, al-Aqeedat sources told MEE Ibrahim al-Hifl, who has been leading the fight, fled to Syrian government controlled territory.
In an interview with Al Arabiya on Monday, the SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi said the US-led coalition had conducted air strikes against fighters in support of the SDF.
Hifl Abboud Jadden al-Hifl confirmed to MEE that air strikes against fighters trying to cross the Euphrates from Syrian government-held territory have taken place.
A spokesperson for US Central Command referred MEE to press statements condemning the violence but didn't mention air strikes.
Waters said Assad has been trying unsuccessfully for years to flip Deir Ezzor’s Sunni tribes, but doesn’t have the resources amid an economic crisis. Damascus is struggling to address protests in government-controlled parts of the country.
The tribes lack the SDF’s heavy weaponry, but Ford cautioned the US against banking on an SDF military victory to restore order.
“The SDF taking Deir Ezzor back by force doesn’t end this. The tribal grievances are still there," the former ambassador said.
www.middleeasteye.net

'A volcano': Arab grievances in Syria's Deir Ezzor pit US allies against each other

Arab tribal leaders tell MEE the US-backed SDF's failure to address local grievances sparked bloody fighting
www.middleeasteye.net www.middleeasteye.net
 
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Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid

BREAKING: A delegation of the Israeli foreign ministry & anriquities authority arrived in Riyadh to participate at the UNESCO world heritage committee meeting
Why it matters: It's the 1st time that an Israeli government delegation visits Saudi Arabia officialy and publicly

8:52 AM · Sep 10, 2023
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Mossad chief accuses Iran of plotting deadly attacks, vows to hit perpetrators 'in heart' of Tehran​


Associated Press


JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Sunday said that Israel is prepared to strike “in the heart of Tehran” to track down the perpetrators of what he said were over two dozen Iranian attempts to hit Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.
Speaking at a security conference, David Barnea said that Israel and its allies had foiled 27 attacks over the past year in Europe, Africa, southeast Asia and South America.

“The plots being pursued by these teams were orchestrated, masterminded and directed by Iran,” Barnea told the conference at Reichman University. He added that “as we speak” Iran is trying to carry out additional attacks.
“Our message is loud and clear and determined,” he said. “Make no mistake, those of you who decided to dispatch the teams. Be assured that we will get to you, and justice will be done for all to see. This has been proven in the past, and in the future, we will ramp it up to the next level.”

Barnea said Israel would go after the agents involved in the plots as well as the commanders who sent them. “These prices will be exacted deep inside Iran, in the heart of Tehran,” he said.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing Iran’s calls for Israel’s destruction and its support for hostile militant groups on Israel’s borders. Israel also accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon — a charge Iran denies.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a number of deadly attacks on nuclear scientists and facilities inside Iran, though Israel rarely comments on such operations.
news.yahoo.com

Mossad chief accuses Iran of plotting deadly attacks, vows to hit perpetrators 'in heart' of Tehran

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Sunday said that Israel is prepared to strike “in the heart of Tehran” to track down the perpetrators of what he said were over two dozen Iranian attempts to hit Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. Speaking at a security conference, David...
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com
 
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Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
·

NEW: Erdogan says Turkey can part ways from the EU accession process:
“We will make our evaluation in the face of these developments. After these evaluations, we can part ways with the EU if necessary."
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com

Israeli submarine test-fires new torpedo in Mediterranean Sea: target ship destroyed; advanced missile is extremely precise, considered one of Israel’s most powerful weapons (via @N12News)
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com
17h

Israeli border barrier seriously damaged by Gaza explosives in recent days, @WallaNews
reports; defense officials warn: info about barrier’s weak points will reach Hezbollah, which may use it to breach Israel-Lebanon border fence.
 
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Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
5h
NEW: Erdogan and Netanyahu met first time ever in New York. @Doranimated for years said that Turkey and Israel could work together and Erdogan and Netanyahu could be friends. Many people scorned him

He is proven right about all of this.
 
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NEW: Erdogan told Netanyahu that Turkey can do joint work with Israel in the fields of energy, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence and cyber security, and that they should all work together for a world where peace prevails.

They also talked about regional issues, Palestine etc per Turkish readout
jward said:
Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
5h
NEW: Erdogan and Netanyahu met first time ever in New York. @Doranimated for years said that Turkey and Israel could work together and Erdogan and Netanyahu could be friends. Many people scorned him

He is proven right about all of this.
Click to expand...
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com

Syria & Lebanon are behind GPS jamming of civilian flights into Israel, @kann_news
reports; disruptions are intensifying in past 2 months. Decision to publicize this info should be seen as a warning to Beirut and Damascus...
Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com
#Israel facing severe GPS disruptions to air traffic in recent months; incoming planes diverted to alternative routes (@IsraelHayomEng). No details on suspected source of attack (but we can guess)

1:13 AM · Sep 20, 2023
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Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
BREAKING: Erdogan says Turkey and Israel plan to conduct joint energy drillings in the East Med

• Erdogan hopes to establish energy transmission lines between Turkey, Israel and Europe.

• Erdogan proposed to establish a new mechanism with Israel that would include energy, industry and tourism ministers to deepen cooperation in his meeting with Netanyahu

• Netanyahu and Erdogan would visit their respective countries
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com

Israeli & Saudi officials meet to discuss peace deal; specific details under censorship; Saudis get US offer for nuclear facility as part of agreement, proposed site will be guarded by American forces (via @kann_news)
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com

Mossad involved in efforts to track smuggling of Iranian bombs via Jordan; special forces deployed near border fence; security officials fear bombing campaign as Iran boosts efforts to transfer powerful explosives to terror groups (via @YediotAhronot)
 
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Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com
4h
Hundreds of Israeli engineers & technicians to work around-the-clock to build Germany’s Arrow 3 system; Israel seeks to meet ambitious deadline: Supply Berlin with operational missile defense battery plus radar & command center by end of 2025 (via @ynetalerts)
1695990588553.png
 
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Palestinian statehood takes back seat in Israel-Saudi peace talks​


By REUTERS

9–11 minutes



Regional sources say that Saudi Arabia will proceed with normalizing relations with Israel regardless of Palestinian opposition.​

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 10:54 Updated:SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 13:24


US PRESIDENT Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the Gulf Cooperation Council +3 meeting in Jeddah, last summer. (photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/REUTERS)
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the Gulf Cooperation Council +3 meeting in Jeddah, last summer. (photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/REUTERS)
Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military pact requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening ties with Israel and will not hold up a deal even if Israel does not offer major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood, three regional sources familiar with the talks said.

A pact might fall short of the cast-iron, NATO-style defense guarantees the kingdom initially sought when the issue was first discussed between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden during the US president's visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022.
Instead, a US source said it could look like treaties Washington has with Asian states or, if that would not win US Congress approval, it could be similar to a US agreement with Bahrain, where the US Navy Fifth Fleet is based. Such an agreement would not need congressional backing.
Washington could also sweeten any deal by designating Saudi Arabia a Major Non-NATO Ally, a status already given to Israel, the US source said.
But all the sources said Saudi Arabia would not settle for less than binding assurances of US protection if it faced attack, such as the Sept. 14, 2019 missile strikes on its oil sites that rattled world markets. Riyadh and Washington blamed Iran, the kingdom's regional rival, although Tehran denied having a role.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah, earlier this month. (credit: AMER HILABI/REUTERS)

Agreements giving the world's biggest oil exporter US protection in return for normalization with Israel would reshape the Middle East by bringing together two longtime foes and binding Riyadh to Washington after China's inroads in the region. For Biden, it would be a diplomatic victory to vaunt before the 2024 US election.
The Palestinians could get some Israeli restrictions eased but such moves would fall short of their aspirations for a state. As with other Arab-Israeli deals forged over the decades, the Palestinian core demand for statehood would take a back seat, the three regional sources familiar with the talks said.

Saudis will normalize relations with Israel, even without the Palestinians​

"The normalization will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia. If the Palestinians oppose it the kingdom will continue in its path," said one of the regional sources. "Saudi Arabia supports a peace plan for the Palestinians, but this time it wanted something for Saudi Arabia, not just for the Palestinians."
The Saudi government and the US State Department did not respond to emailed questions about this article.

'Less than a full treaty'​

A US official, who like others declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the parameters of a defense pact were still being worked out, adding that what was being discussed "would not be a treaty alliance or anything like that ... It would be a mutual defense understanding, less than a full treaty."
The official said it would be more like the US relationship with Israel, which receives the most advanced US weapons and holds joint air force and missile defense drills.

A source in Washington familiar with the discussions said MbS had asked for a NATO-style treaty but said Washington was reluctant to go as far as NATO's Article 5 commitment that an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all.
The source said Biden's aides could consider a pact patterned on those with Japan and other Asian allies, under which the US pledges military support but is less explicit about whether US troops would be deployed. However, the source said some US lawmakers might resist such a pact.
Another template, which would not need congressional approval, would be the agreement signed with Bahrain on Sept. 13, in which the US pledged to "deter and confront any external aggression" but also said the two governments would consult to determine what, if any, action would be taken.
US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken walks with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan during a visit to Riyadh, in June. (credit: Ahmed Yosri/Reuters)

The source in Washington said Saudi Arabia could be designated a Major Non-NATO Ally, a step which had long been considered. This status, which several Arab states such as Egypt have, comes with a range of benefits, such as training.
The second of the regional sources said Riyadh was compromising in some demands to help secure a deal, including over its plans for civilian nuclear technology. The source said Saudi Arabia was ready to sign Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, establishing a framework for US peaceful nuclear cooperation, a move Riyadh previously refused to take.
The Gulf source said the kingdom was prepared to accept a pact that did not match a NATO Article 5 guarantee but said the US had to commit to protecting Saudi Arabia if its territory was attacked. The source also said a deal could be similar to Bahrain's agreement but with extra commitments.

Seeking Israeli commitments​

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the possibility of a "historic" peace with Saudi Arabia, the heartland of Islam. But to secure the prize, Netanyahu has to win the approval of parties in his a far-right coalition which reject any concessions to the Palestinians.

MbS said in a Fox News interview this month that the kingdom was moving steadily closer to normalizing ties with Israel. He spoke about the need for Israel to "ease the life of the Palestinians" but made no mention of Palestinian statehood.
Nevertheless, diplomats and the regional sources said MbS was insisting on some commitments from Israel to show he was not abandoning the Palestinians and that he was seeking to keep the door open to a two-state solution.
Those would include demanding Israel transfer some Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority (PA), limit Jewish settlement activity and halt any steps to annex parts of the West Bank. Riyadh has also promised financial aid to the PA, the diplomats and sources said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said any bargain must recognize the Palestinian right to a state within the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, and must stop Israeli settlement building. However, all the sources said a Saudi-Israeli deal was unlikely to address those flashpoint issues.
Netanyahu has said Palestinians should not have a veto over any peacemaking deal.
Yet, even if the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia agree, winning support from lawmakers in the US Congress remains a challenge.

Republicans and those in Biden's Democratic Party have previously denounced Riyadh for its military intervention in Yemen, its moves to prop up oil prices, and its role in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who worked for the Washington Post. MbS denied ordering the killing.
"What's important for Saudi Arabia is for Biden to have the pact approved by Congress," the first regional source said, pointing to concessions Riyadh was making to secure a deal.
For Biden, a deal that builds a US-Israeli-Saudi axis could put a brake on China's diplomatic inroads after Beijing brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which Washington accuses of seeking nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.
"There was a sense that the US has abandoned the region," said one diplomat. "By courting China, the Saudis wanted to create some anxiety that will make the US re-engage. It has worked."

www.jpost.com

Palestinian statehood takes back seat in Israel-Saudi peace talks

Regional sources say that Saudi Arabia will proceed with normalizing relations with Israel regardless of Palestinian opposition.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com
 
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Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
3h

NEW: Erdogan says EU is using its own visa regime against Turkey as a “veiled sanction” and if Brussels doesn’t resolve this mistake “EU will completely lose the right to expect anything from Turkey politically, socially, economically and militarily.”
 
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Charles Lister
@Charles_Lister
7h

#Homs Military College is ~120km from the closest opposition-held area in NW #Syria, which raises x3 scenarios:

- Drones were launched from behind enemy lines;
- Opposition UAV capabilities have advanced markedly;
- Perpetrators had external help (persistent #Ukraine rumors…)

BREAKING — “dozens” killed in an apparent suicide drone attack on a graduation ceremony of pro-#Assad forces at #Homs Military College.

#Syria’s Minister of Defense was in attendance.

A very significant attack.

7:31 AM · Oct 5, 2023
109.8K
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danielboon said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1709927080782365164
View: https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1709927080782365164
Click to expand...
 
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Jennifer Griffin
@JenGriffinFNC
9m

DOD confirms US forces shot down Turkish drone that got too close to US forces in Syria. Gen Ryder: Secretary Austin spoke by phone with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Galera. "Turkey is one of our strongest and most valued NATO allies" calls incident regrettable."

0
@0HOUR
8m

Breaking US WARPLANE shot down Turkish drone in Syria.
Turkey is having huge problems with aggression from the Joe Biden regime.
We saw this before with Libya back when they removed Ghaddafi.
 
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Mike
@Doranimated

With tensions between Ankara and Washington rising over events in NE Syria, allow me to pull this clip from the archives and dust it off. We held this session in 2019, and my views have not changed. US policy is pathological.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1710004761007714345
View: https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1710004761007714345?s=20

The Washington Post
@washingtonpost
5m

An American fighter jet shot down an armed Turkish drone as the unmanned aircraft approached U.S. troops in Syria, the Pentagon said, acknowledging an unusual, alarming encounter among NATO allies that occurred as deadly violence has spiked the region.
 
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Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch
@BabakTaghvaee1

Today, #USAF downed an Anka-S drone of #Turkish Air Force after it posed a threat to safety of the #USArmy troops near #Hasakah in #Syria. For now, #TurkishAirForce has learned the lesson and has not repeated this mistake but if they do, they can expect an airstrike at their drone base which is in Batman, southern Turkiye.
 
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Joyce Karam
@Joyce_Karam
·
6h
If you thought Turkey escalation in Syria would be limited to PKK and Kurdish militants, 24 hrs later:
- US is involved
- Fidan warning to "third parties" tested
- SDF in crosshairs
- Pentagon drawing its own red line...
 
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Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
2h

Turkey says it will not bow to threats after US downs its drone in Syria

• Top Turkish official calls US partnership with PKK offshoot “tremendous stupidity”

• Turkish Foreign Ministry says the drone was downed due to technical disagreements with US
 
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