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Turkey’s actions in Iraq are a violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country, and Tehran supports Baghdad on the matter, spokesperson for Iranian MFA Bahram Qassemi said.
On Tuesday Iraq said at least 70 members of Kurdish self-defense units and PKK were killed in an air strike by Turkey, RIA Novosti reported. The Iraqi authorities slammed the attack.
Turkish armed forces said they carried out an air operation against PKK in the north of Iraq killing six Kurdish rebels.
This photo shows angry Turkish citizens going to attack Syrian refugees in Torbali district of Turkey’s Izmir province on April 8, 2017.IDEO
Some 500 Syrian refugees have been forced to flee a makeshift housing in Turkey’s western Izmir province after being violently attacked by locals who burnt their tents.
The attack took place in Izmir’s Torbali district on Saturday after reports claiming that a local child had been beaten by the Syrians.
A mob of around 300 Turkish people, armed with knives and clubs, stormed into the makeshift housing and set fire to refugees’ tents.
Local media reports said 40 tents were destroyed in the fighting and about 30 people were injured, one of them identified as 22-year-old Mustafa critically. The wounded were all taken to hospital.
“It was impossible to stop the neighborhood. They are full of rage. We don’t want Syrians in our area. Problems have increased since they arrived,” Ali Curukcu, the local headman, was quoted as saying by the Turkish Dogan news agency.
https://youtu.be/FGZ2UfbVKjY
Images showed there were no police officers at the site.
The Syrian refugees were seen walking on the highway towards Izmir’s Tire neighborhood as no driver took them to their destination. Angry Turkish citizens also closed the highway for some time.
During the early years of the war in neighboring Syria, Turkey had an open-door policy and allowed Syrian refugees into the country as it also let extremists from around the world travel to the Arab country to topple the government.
Although Turkey says it still maintains its open-door policy, the number of Syrian refugees allowed in during the past two years has dwindled considerably, with many saying the borders are essentially closed to refugees.
The high number of Syrian refugees in Turkish towns and cities has led to multiple instances of a serious nature, including clashes in the past.
Many locals also revile them and the Turkish government only provides assistance to those staying in officially sanctioned camps.
Ankara does not even grant Syrians refugee status and they only have temporary protection status as guests. Turkey does not accept refugees from non-European countries.
Turkey has been a staunch supporter of a campaign pushed by Western countries and their regional allies to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011. Ankara has allowed militants from around the world to freely enter Syria and wreak havoc in the Arab country.
“A victory of neo-conservatives” – that’s how Ron Paul, a former member of the US House of Representatives and three-time presidential candidate, described the US strike on Syria, adding that he does not expect peace talks to resume any time soon.
Speaking to RT, Ron Paul said that there is no proof of Damascus’ guilt that could trigger such a rash and violent response from the US.
“I don’t think the evidence is there, at least it hasn’t been presented, and they need a so-called excuse, they worked real hard, our government and their coalition.”
This is not the first time something like this has happened in Syria or elsewhere, Paul said, but now it is convenient to pay attention and react immediately.
“If any of this was true, I don’t know why they couldn’t wait and take a look at it. In 2013, there were similar stories that didn’t go anywhere, because with a little bit of a pause, there was a resistance to it built in our Congress and in the American people. They thought that it was a fraud and nothing like that was happening, and right now, I just can’t think of how it could conceivably be what they claim, because it’s helping ISIS, because it’s helping Al-Qaeda.”
“From my point of view, there was no need to rush. There was no threat to national security. They have to give a reason to do these things,” Paul added.
A factor that contributed to the speedy reaction was of course the US president, the politician told RT.
“I have no idea what his purpose was. Maybe he just didn’t want to hear the debate, because the last time they debated it, they lost. And this time, it was necessary for them to jump onto this, before people came to know what was really going on.”
The Syrian situation now is “a victory for neo-conservatives, who’ve been looking for Assad to go,” Paul said.
“They want to get rid of him, and you have to look for who is involved in that. Unfortunately, they are the ones who are winning out on this, and the radicals, too! There is a bit of hypocrisy going on here, because at one minute we say, well, maybe Assad has to stay, the next day he has to go, and we’re there fighting ISIS and Al-Qaeda. At the same time, what we end up doing is we actually strengthen them! It is a mess.
I don’t believe that our people or the American government should be the policemen of the world, it makes no sense, it causes us more trouble and more grief, it causes us more financial problems, and it’s hardly a way that we could defend our constitutional liberty.”
This policy clearly does not lead to peace, Paul told RT.
“The peace talks have ended now. They’re terrified that peace was going to break out! Al-Qaeda was on the run, peace talks were happening, and all of a sudden, they had to change, and this changes things dramatically! I don’t expect peace talks anytime soon or in the distant future.”
Last but not least, the politician spoke out about the deeper reasons – and potential disastrous consequences – of the latest attack’s timing.
“I was wondering about the fact that the announcement came when Trump was talking to Xi [Jinping, the Chinese president]. And of course, [North] Korea’s high on the list of targets for our president and our administration. It might be a warning: this is what’s going to happen to you if you don’t do what we tell you. I just don’t like us being involved in so many countries, in their internal affairs; I think it’s so detrimental.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned as unacceptable the “unfounded accusations” about a purported chemical attack in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib earlier this week, calling for an international probe.
During a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, “the two sides exchanged views on the chemical incident that took place on April 4,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin “pointed out that it was unacceptable to make groundless accusations against anyone without conducting a detailed and unbiased investigation.”
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Avigdor Lieberman told Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth daily that he was sure Syrian government forces were behind the “chemical weapons attack.”
Over 80 people were reportedly killed in the suspected chemical incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province on Tuesday. According to the UN children’s fund, at least 27 children were among those killed in the attack.
The United States and its allies have put the blame on the Syrian government.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has dismissed any accusations that the Syrian army deployed chemical weapons in Idlib.
He told a press conference in Damascus on Thursday that foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups continue stockpiling chemical weapons in the country’s urban and residential areas.
Al-Nusra Front, also known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Daesh “and other terrorist organizations continue to store chemical weapons in urban and residential areas,” Muallem said.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic are both investigating the Khan Shaykhun attack.
Muallem said Syria would provide the OPCW and the UN with “intelligence on the transfer of chemical substances from Iraq into Syria, or from Turkey into Syria.”
He said Damascus needs assurances that any fact-finding mission into the Idlib attack would not be politicized, adding that his country’s past experience with international inquiries had not been “encouraging.”
In Pictures: Terror Attack Outside British Parliament In London (click to enter gallery)
London police say at least four people were killed in a March 22 terrorist attack at the British Parliament — including a suspected attacker, a police officer stabbed by an assailant, and two people struck by the assailant’s vehicle when he rammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
Police said they believe a lone assailant carried out attack, which left at least 20 others injured, but that they were continuing a counterterrorism investigation and had not ruled out the possibility that others may have been involved.
The attack began at 2:40 p.m. local time, when a man drove a car at a high speed across Westminster Bridge and rammed into a group of pedestrians — killing at least two people — before crashing the vehicle into a railing beside the Parliament and London’s iconic Big Ben clock-tower.
Police said the attacker then got out of the vehicle and ran inside the Parliament’s security perimeter through a vehicle entrance gate and fatally stabbed a police officer.
He was then shot by plainclothes police officers and died after being taken away for treatment.
The police officer who was stabbed died later in a hospital.
Hospital officials said several people who were struck by the assailant’s vehicle suffered “catastrophic” injuries.
One woman who fell from the bridge into the River Thames was pulled out alive by rescue workers, but was said to have suffered serious injuries.
French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that three French school children, aged 15 to 16, were among those injured on Westminster Bridge.
Three London police officers were also among those struck by the vehicle on the bridge.
Westminster Bridge spans the River Thames and is used for vehicle and pedestrian traffic. It meets the Palace of Westminster compound near its northern end.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said she was safe after the attack.
She had been in the House of Commons at the time of the attack and was quickly shuttled away by security to her office at 10 Downing Street, where she called for an emergency security meeting at her Cabinet Office Briefing Room.
A full counterterrorism investigation was launched by London Metropolitan Police.
By Leith Fadel
BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:50 A.M.) – The Turkish Army has once again attacked the Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria, targeting the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Afrin Canton of northern Aleppo.
According to local activists, the Turkish Army heavily shelled the villages of Deir Ballout, Malaa Khalil, Furfrak, and Qara Baba in the Afrin Canton, causing material damage to several posts around this area.
This is not an isolated incident in northern Syria, as the Turkish Army and their rebel allies have repeatedly attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Afrin Canton.
Unlike the Al-Raqqa Governorate, the U.S. Marines do not have a presence in the Afrin Canton, so the Turkish Army takes advantage of their absence by attacking the Kurdish forces in this region.
Source: https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkish-army-attacks-kurdish-forces-northern-syria/
Israeli military aircraft have reportedly carried out an overnight airstrike against Syrian army positions in the strategic and mountainous Qalamoun region, which lies north of the capital Damascus along the border with neighboring Lebanon.
A Syrian military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an Israeli fighter jet crossed into Syria’s airspace at around 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Wednesday after circling the skies of Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and flying above the eastern city of Baalbek, al-Masdar News reported.
The source added that the airstrike hit Jard Nalhleh area of Qalamoun, located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Damascus.
The Lebanese and Arabic-language online newspaper el-Nashra later reported that a convoy transporting weapons was the target. No injuries were reported.
The Israeli media outlets alleged that the weapons shipment was destined to fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, who are fighting alongside Syrian government soldiers against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants.
The aerial attack came a fortnight after Israeli tanks shelled an open area in the occupied Golan Heights, without causing any casualties.
Israeli jets have time and again carried out sorties inside the Syrian territory under various pretexts.
On January 13, a huge explosion rocked Mezzeh Military Airport, less than eight kilometers southwest of Damascus and caused a large fire. There was no immediate report of casualties though.
Syrian state TV quoted the army command as saying that the rockets, which it said were fired from an area close to the Sea of Galilee in the north of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, hit the airport’s compound.
The Syrian army vowed to take revenge for the “flagrant” attack and “amputate the arms of the perpetrators.”
“The Syrian army command and armed forces warn Israel of the repercussions of the flagrant attack and stresses its continued fight against terrorism,” it said in a statement.
Source:http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/02/22/511625/Israel-fighter-jets-airstrike-Syria-army-positions-Damascus
The Turkish Consulate in Switzerland’s Zurich was attack by a group using fireworks on Jan. 18, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
The attack was carried out at 0:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, according to officials from the consulate.
The walls and windows of the consulate building were damaged, as Swiss police started an investigation following the incident.
Police are investigating footage of the surveillance cameras, requesting that locals who witnessed the incident testify to the authorities.
Previously, the Turkish consulate in the city of Prizren in Kosovo was attacked by unidentified assailants hurling Molotov cocktails early on Nov. 28, according to the Kosovan authorities.
Prizren Chief Prosecutor Syle Hoxha said five suspects were taken into custody over the attack, which caused minor damage to the consulate building but no injuries.
January/19/2017
One of the revelers at the Istanbul nightclub which came under attack during New Year celebrations described the chaos and panic as people tried to escape a gunman intent on killing as many as possible.
Thirty-nine people were killed when at least one attacker stormed an elite nightclub on the Bosphorus where partygoers were celebrating New Year.
Professional footballer Sefa Boydaş told AFP how several people fainted after they heard gunshots while people walked on top of one another to escape the elite Reina club on the European side of the city.
Boydaş said he had only been in the club with two friends for about 10 minutes before he heard gunshots and his friend collapsed in shock.
“Just as we were settling down, by the door there was a lot of dust and smoke. Gunshots rang out. When those sounds were heard, many girls fainted.”
He told AFP that people appeared to be crushed as they ran away from the attacker.
“They say 35 to 40 died but it’s probably more because when I was walking, people were walking on top of people,” said Boydaş, who plays full time for Istanbul club Beylerbeyi.
Boydaş initially tried to escape holding his friend but upon seeing her older sister faint, the footballer said his friend also passed out.
He described the screams which he said drowned out anything said by the attackers.
“But even if there were shouting, you wouldn’t hear because the crowd’s screams were 100 times louder,” a distressed Boydaş added.
In the aftermath of the attack, ambulances and police cars crowded outside the venue on the shores of the Bosporus as dazed survivors still in their party clothes crowded outside.
“We came here to have a good time today but everything was suddenly transformed into chaos and a night of horror,” said Maximilien, an Italian tourist.
Relatives and loved ones of those feared to be inside queued by the police cordon staffed by heavily armed police in the winter cold.
Shooting occurred at the popular Reina nightclub in the city’s Ortakoy neighbourhood,Gunmen attacked an Istanbul nightclub as revellers celebrated the New Year, multiple injuries have been reported.
The shooting occurred at the popular Reina nightclub in the city’s Ortakoy neighbourhood, CBC’s Nil Koksal reports. Turkey’s state-run TV station says there were two attackers.
There have been no reports of any causalities.