Syria threatens to shoot down Turkish jets after attacks against Kurds in Aleppo - Polidicks

[quote] The Syrian government has accused [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/turkey"]Turkey[/URL] of escalating the complex war in [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/syria"]Syria[/URL] by carrying out air strikes near Aleppo, warning that further Turkish planes in Syrian airspace will be “brought down by all means available. The Turkish air force struck 18 different Kurdish targets in Maarraat Umm Hawsh near Aleppo on Thursday, killing up to 200 soldiers. Ankara has significantly escalated its military presence in the Syrian civil war since August, successfully driving out Isis from the border region and attempting to curb Kurdish efforts at territorial expansion, which it sees as a threat to Turkish sovereignty. The Syrian Defence Ministry released a statement on Thursday accusing Turkey of “flagrant aggression, which targeted innocent citizens,” warning Turkey’s incursions deeper into Syria are “a dangerous development that could escalate the situation.” “Any attempt to once again breach Syrian airspace by Turkish war planes will be dealt with and they will be brought down by all means available,” the statement said. Turkish-backed Syrian Sunni rebel groups and Kurdish militias have been fighting for control of areas their combined strength has managed to [URL="https://www.google.com.lb/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjhpN-r6-vPAhVCVBQKHfwnAiUQFgg8MAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fmiddle-east%2Fus-urges-turkey-and-syrian-factions-to-fight-together-against-isis-a7215246.html&usg=AFQjCNFRnNQnbNofaeC7ZpqY3RRl0dzc1w&sig2=Y_36vw8z12l0w9Cz3jRdIA&bvm=bv.136499718,bs.1,d.bGg"]recently retake[/URL] from Isis. The situation is also likely to further inflame Turkey’s relations with the US since the NATO allies disagree over the role of Kurdish forces in the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts. [/quote] [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-conflict-latest-assad-threatens-turkish-planes-will-be-shot-down-after-aleppo-kurds-attack-a7373451.html]Independent[/url] [quote] Turkish jets and artillery struck U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria Thursday, and Turkey's state-run news agency said as many as 200 militiamen were killed, in a major escalation of Turkey's offensive in northern Syria. A senior commander with the main Syria Kurdish militia confirmed that Turkish jets and artillery were still attacking his forces north of Aleppo, but disputed the casualty count, saying no more than 10 fighters had been killed so far. Further south, a humanitarian pause announced by Russia for the besieged rebel-held city of Aleppo took effect, and the Syrian military, using loudspeakers, called on residents to evacuate and for gunmen to lay down their weapons. But there was no sign of residents leaving the bombed out districts. The bombardment was a major escalation by Turkey just as the offensive to recapture the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants in Iraq was intensifying. Iraqi Kurdish forces have carried the brunt of the fighting so far in the Mosul offensive. Turkish troops in Iraq have trained fighters involved in the Mosul offensive, which has been a source of tension with the Iraqi government in recent days. Kurdish forces in Syria have also carried out most of the fighting against IS and made significant territorial gains, including advances in the last few days against IS militants in Aleppo province, much to Ankara's fury in recent months. Turkey, which is dealing with a homegrown Kurdish insurgency, has been trying to prevent an expansion of Kurdish influence in Syria. Commander Mahmoud Barkhadan of the People's Protection Units told The Associated Press that Turkish tanks have been shelling the Kurdish-led forces in the area since early Wednesday. He said jets joined overnight and continue to pound his forces. He said more than 30 aerial attacks had taken place so far and that early reports suggest no more than 10 fighters were killed and 20 were wounded. There was no word on civilian casualties yet. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 11 Kurdish fighters were killed and four are missing following the air raids in northern Aleppo. "We will not back down," Barkhadan said in a telephone interview from the area. He accused Turkey of aiding IS militants by diverting the fight into a Turkish-Kurdish one. "We are fighting Daesh, why are they striking at us?" he asked, using the Arabic acronym for IS. Barkhadan, a senior commander who led the fight against IS in Kobani in 2015, said Turkish artillery also shelled an area near Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria. He said his forces have not retreated from newly held territories, but that the Turkish attack allowed IS fighters to wage a counteroffensive. Clashes continued Thursday, the Observatory and Barkhadan said. Also on Thursday, a humanitarian pause announced by Russia for the besieged rebel-held Aleppo city took effect. The Syrian military used loudspeakers to urge residents to evacuate and for gunmen to lay down their weapons. Al-Mayadeen TV, a Beirut-based pro-Syrian channel, broadcast Thursday an hour after the pause began from near one of the designated passages. Loudspeakers blared military calls for residents to let the sick and wounded out first, and urging fighters to lay down their guns. The message: "The battle for returning Aleppo to the nation's fold is in its last phases. There is no point in continuing the fight."[/quote] [url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10/20/turkey-unleashing-fury-airstrikes-against-syrian-kurdish-forces.html]Fox News[/url] It's also worth noting that Phase 4 of Euphrates Shield is to directly march on Aleppo. In otherwords, Syria and Russia are going to come in direct contact with the Turkish military. Russia has already agreed to get their gear situated to take down jets, and if push comes to shove, they'll be most likely putting boots on the ground. Can we all agree that Turkey needs to gtfo of NATO?

What the fuck is Turkey's problem

FSA, haven't heard about that in a long time, funny that I'm the one that has to ask if it exists anymore

[QUOTE=RaptorJGW;51243187]What the fuck is Turkey's problem[/QUOTE] Terrorists and a tyrant share their border with Turkey.

[QUOTE=Nebrassy;51243393]FSA, haven't heard about that in a long time, funny that I'm the one that has to ask if it exists anymore[/QUOTE] Damn son you live in one the best places in Syria. Russian navy on the coast and decent SAA in the most untucked with governate [editline]22nd October 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=CroGamer002;51243460]Terrorists and a tyrant share their border with Turkey.[/QUOTE] Terrorist like ISIS and FSA have long had a border with Turkey and both of them enjoy the supplies and fresh fighters allowed through. Now that Kurds threaten their proxies they ditched ISIS and decided to invade Syria because the FSA could barely handle ISIS, let alone the SDF.

[QUOTE=RG4ORDR;51243466] Terrorist like ISIS and FSA have long had a border with Turkey and both of them enjoy the supplies and fresh fighters allowed through. Now that Kurds threaten their proxies they ditched ISIS and decided to invade Syria because the FSA could barely handle ISIS, let alone the SDF.[/QUOTE] Stop spreading conspiracy theories. Turkey had NEVER supported ISIS. And Turkey had wanted for over a year to intervene in Syria to defeat ISIS but could not go without US support. Also FSA forces in Azaz was small, they were barely surviving when being attack by both ISIS and YPG supported by regime and Russia. Tall Rafit FSA is trying to capture? They lost it when both ISIS and YPG were attacking them at same time. It is a impressive they lasted those terrible odds for so long and now had huge reversal in these 2 months by taking over 1000km2 from ISIS, including Dabiq.

Please, please, can we not fight over Syria and the pride of two very proud nations. Please no.

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51243484]Stop spreading conspiracy theories. Turkey had NEVER supported ISIS. And Turkey had wanted for over a year to intervene in Syria to defeat ISIS but could not go without US support.[/QUOTE] Turkey haven't supported ISIS, but they have been and still are terribly indifferent towards them while opposing the Kurds, whom the rest of NATO supports in the fight against ISIS. [editline]22nd October 2016[/editline] And needless to say; a bomb against SDF, of which the Turks are dropping tons, is indirect support for ISIS. For every Kurdish SDF fighter Turkey or FSA kills for no god damn reason, there's one less SDF fighter on the ground to fight against ISIS and Assad.

[QUOTE=Riller;51243698]Turkey haven't supported ISIS, but they have been and still are terribly indifferent towards them while opposing the Kurds, whom the rest of NATO supports in the fight against ISIS. [editline]22nd October 2016[/editline] And needless to say; a bomb against SDF, of which the Turks are dropping tons, is indirect support for ISIS. For every Kurdish SDF fighter Turkey or FSA kills for no god damn reason, there's one less SDF fighter on the ground to fight against ISIS and Assad.[/QUOTE] Don't make me laugh. Efrin YPG is in deep with Assad's regime and they haven't even attacked ISIS until after Turkey intervened in Syria. They have zero interest to fight regime nor ISIS. It's probably also why US did not say a word on this battles, nor did YPG/SDF in Northeast Syria. They're utterly unreliable for the fight against ISIS nor regime, only fighting FSA rebels. And 2 months ago when FSA-Turkey were fighting with YPG/SDF near Jarabulus? Both Russia and Assad were dead silent on that conflict and did not care for Turkey using airstrikes on them. But now they worry a lot for Efrin YPG. Almost as if they support one another to fight FSA rebels, while utterly ignoring ISIS.

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51243460]Terrorists and a tyrant[/QUOTE] It's ironic because Erdogan is a sunni islamist tyrant that supports terrorists

What is going on?! Turkey (NATO member) is attacking Kurds whilst the Kurdish are attacking ISIS in Syria. Syria is attacking both ISIS and continuing its 5 year civil war since the Arab Spring uprising. At the same time, Russia is chumming up to Syria (and vice-versa), and the US (NATO member) is considering implementing a no-fly zone over Syria. Now, Syria is threatening to shoot down Turkish aircraft because of the bombing of the Kurds. Tom Clancy couldn't have made this shit up. This is scarily sounding more like a war precursor.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;51244575]What is going on?![/QUOTE] it should be pretty obvious (though I guess it's not always obvious) that there is no real standard politics at work in Syria - the Turks are not allied to anything except their own sole goals, and the same would appear to go for most factions participating now. Fighting IS as a priority does not seem to really concern them as much as attaining geopolitical advantage by any means necessary, even if that means cutting anti-IS gains down the middle.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;51244575]What is going on?! Turkey (NATO member) is attacking Kurds whilst the Kurdish are attacking ISIS in Syria. Syria is attacking both ISIS and continuing its 5 year civil war since the Arab Spring uprising. At the same time, Russia is chumming up to Syria (and vice-versa), and the US (NATO member) is considering implementing a no-fly zone over Syria. Now, Syria is threatening to shoot down Turkish aircraft because of the bombing of the Kurds. Tom Clancy couldn't have made this shit up. This is scarily sounding more like a war precursor.[/QUOTE] The worst part? You oversimplified it. It's far, far more complicated and far, far worse.

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51243745]Don't make me laugh. Efrin YPG is in deep with Assad's regime and they haven't even attacked ISIS until after Turkey intervened in Syria. They have zero interest to fight regime nor ISIS. It's probably also why US did not say a word on this battles, nor did YPG/SDF in Northeast Syria. They're utterly unreliable for the fight against ISIS nor regime, only fighting FSA rebels. And 2 months ago when FSA-Turkey were fighting with YPG/SDF near Jarabulus? Both Russia and Assad were dead silent on that conflict and did not care for Turkey using airstrikes on them. But now they worry a lot for Efrin YPG. Almost as if they support one another to fight FSA rebels, while utterly ignoring ISIS.[/QUOTE] Afrin YPG has attacked ISIS but at the same has conflict with the FSA in that region because it had a prim composition of Al-Nursa in the early days and occasional shelling by FSA for not particular reason. Suddenly the YPG pretty much had enough of it and started advancing and then were was pretty much an uneasy truce. Meanwhile in the ENTIRE Euphrates shield area, ISIS still had a firm,stable grip. A steady stream of new fighters in coming in daily to help support Raqqa or other operations in Syria. [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/28/1414518009785_wps_56_Alleged_ISIS_fighters_cas.jpg[/IMG] Bare in mind this was from Kobani, we see Turkish Guards AND ISIS militants being friendly. Hell Turkish hospital at the time were treating wounded ISIS fighters from Kobani and MIT had an incident where they were smuggling arms to ISIS. Least we not forget when Kobani was attacked from a previously Turkish held border crossing early in the morning. SOme how all that Turkish presence just walked off from that night and in return YPG fighters ran across the border to attack the ISIS fighters who mysteriously gained control of it in 2014. Shocking, truly shocking. Why did Turkey NEVER attack ISIS when they head a bigger board with them? They knew what ISIS did, how they were doing it, but they just let it happen. ISIS posted it's flag every wher. [thumb]https://pietervanostaeyen.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/2000px-syria9.png[/thumb] You wanna tell me, that THIS was much better for Syria than [thumb]https://pietervanostaeyen.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/img_6125.png[/thumb] Funny enough you seem to think the YPG and SDF are worse than the FSA and ISIS, despite the ironic fact the YPG/J and SDF have multi-ethnic,multi-religious,males and females fighting for Syria and their sole right to belong in the areas they fought against ISIS for. Oh but they're the bad guys lol, the FSA is the supreme goodies because the Kurds see a better chance aligning with the Government. You see all this land they took because the FSA couldn't. All this land Turkey never cared about til the the SDF came knocking and they were looking to unite the cantons. Oh this may surprise you, Assad's government actually had a plan to attack ISIS in Raqqa by taking the Al-Taqbah airbase not just a few miles from Raqqa. ISIS responded heavily and they send the offensive all the way back to Palmyra.

[QUOTE=Nebrassy;51243393]FSA, haven't heard about that in a long time, funny that I'm the one that has to ask if it exists anymore[/QUOTE] The FSA in its original form as a breakaway faction of military officers and personnel is long gone, the current FSA is a conglomeration of smaller militias taking up the mantle. Many of them are not good people and I would prefer the SDF, but Turkey hates Kurdish people.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;51244931]The FSA in its original form as a breakaway faction of military officers and personnel is long gone, the current FSA is a conglomeration of smaller militias taking up the mantle. Many of them are not good people and I would prefer the SDF, [B]but Turkey hates Kurdish people[/B].[/QUOTE] And yet Turkey has no issue with Iraqi Kurdistan path to independence and Erdogan with every election makes an outreach to Turkish Kurds and millions of them voted for him even when they there are Kurdish political parties to vote for. Almost as if Turkey actually doesn't hate Kurds, but it actually has to do with YPG being in bed with PKK, a terrorist organization that plagues Turkey for decades!

Lmao at all the people who somehow think that the FSA is anything but a bunch of extremists when all the moderates switched over to the SDF pretty quickly. The SDF and YPG are the only groups left in this war that are worth supporting, get real.

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51245066]And yet Turkey has no issue with Iraqi Kurdistan path to independence and Erdogan with every election makes an outreach to Turkish Kurds and millions of them voted for him even when they there are Kurdish political parties to vote for. Almost as if Turkey actually doesn't hate Kurds, but it actually has to do with YPG being in bed with PKK, a terrorist organization that plagues Turkey for decades![/QUOTE] Wow we it might surprise you that PKK maybe have dozens of fighters in the tens of thousands of Syrians and Syrians Kurds. WOOOOOW PKK IS EVERYWHERE!

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51244759]Except that is real standard politics. Nobody does anything without profit.[/QUOTE] Yea maybe you're right, but obviously a lot of people think it's something different. lotta people want to envision a black and white scenario where theres formal sides of the conflict and stuff. with everybody either with or against IS like its allies vs axis

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51245355][url]http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-ypg-pkk-connection[/url][/QUOTE] If we're lumping in Turkish citizens fighting in the Syrian civil war there's a lot of ISIS who are ethnic Kurds,Turkmen,American,British. Undoubtedly there are PKK elements in the YPG/J and SDF but their numbers are far far less than one would think, the grand majority composed OF Syrian Kurds and Syrian Arabs.

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51245480]IS is a joke. They are a goner, sooner or later. Almost nobody is with IS. If there are any, The opposing blocs are more like Iran/Russia/Syria vs Saudi/USA/Turkey with actors like YPG, Afrin, PKK, KRG trying to do whatever is in their best interests.[/QUOTE] I dont know how you can say "IS is a joke" when this war has been going on for 5 years with no real end in sight and IS are at the headlines...Like yea theyre losing, theres always a loser in every war but jokes dont take control of country-sized land areas, sponsor terror acts across the globe and inspire fear in the hearts of affected westerners lol. [U]but[/U] my point was that turkey attacking dudes who are helping beat IS is confusing to some people and thats because some ppl think this whole war is now "good guys + russia and friends vs isis and friends" its nice of you to point out the reality of the situation to me but im already familiar with the situation.

More importantly, IS is virtually just a label for a bigger thing. When they are gone, some other group sharing the same goals will pop up. The only way to actually defeat them is to beat them ideologically, and kill not the people, but the ideas behind them, but i guess it's apparent there's no way we can do this now.

[QUOTE=antianan;51245619]More importantly, IS is virtually just a label for a bigger thing. When they are gone, some other group sharing the same goals will pop up. The only way to actually defeat them is to beat them ideologically, and kill not the people, but the ideas behind them, but i guess it's apparent there's no way we can do this now.[/QUOTE] There's already similar groups that aren't nearly as focused on or successful as ISIS, those being Ahrar Al-Sham and Al-Nursa who rebranded to JSF