Following Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet, the PKK captured the Tel Rifat-Menagh axis east of Afrin from the FSA with Russian air support and consolidated its power in these regions.
After the downing of the Russian aircraft, the terrorist organization captured territories between Tell Rifat and Menagh to the east of Afrin from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) with the support of Russian aircrafts.
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While the decision has been condemned on all fronts in Turkey, and has been questioned by the Russian and Iranian administrations, Turkish FM stated that different opinions among the Pentagon and Centcom as well as different institutions and ministries in the U.
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Following an agreement with Russia and Iran, who are the two other guarantors of the Astana process, Turkish troops entered Idlib with the aim to reduce fighting between the pro-Assad regime forces and opposition fighters.
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Geneva, Astana, Sochi processes
Following the failure to generate a solution to the conflict during the Geneva process, through the Astana talks, in which Turkey, Russia and Iran act as the guarantor states, “the violence in Syria has been reduced and the ceasefire regime was reinforced through a de-escalation scheme.
Within this framework, the German Foreign Minister claimed that the Syria summit between the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Sochi must be read as the “old empires rising,” adding that “the major powers gathered in Sochi are not friends, but they have plenty in common.
Trump is currently going through a critical period in regards to the future of his presidency due to the allegations of collusion between his campaign team and Russia during the election.
During the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting held in Russia on October 18, 2017, Kuwait’s Parliamentary Spokesman Marzouq al-Ghanim called the Israeli delegates “child murderers” and demanded they leave the session.
The most prominent challenge is the shift in the international security paradigm – especially the discussions surrounding NATO’s waning functionality, Europe’s attempt to establish its own army and the formation of trade-off alliances, such as the one between Turkey, Iran and Russia, which has resulted in new dynamics in world politics.
Foreign fighters
On an international level, the PYD/YPG has conducted a very demanding campaign on media presence and brand control, ranging from political offices across Europe to Russia and Saudi Arabia, mobilizing both traditional and social media to push the issue forward.
As Turkey is waiting for the right time to face the PKK in Syria (and will probably wait until it finalizes a deal with Russia on Afrin, and until the US retracts support from the group in the east of the Euphrates River), Ankara is determined that now is the best time for such an encounter in Iraq.
urkey is set to buy the S-400 missile defense system from Russia as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ankara on Monday, announced that the deal would be finalized “this week.