Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2015 2:26:45 GMT
WAR & CONFLICT
Putin: Turkey shot down jet to protect ISIL oil supply
War of words continues over downing of Russian warplane near Syrian border, as Turkish PM again refuses to apologise.
01 Dec 2015
www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/putin-turkey-shot-jet-protect-isil-oil-supply-151130191513006.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ankara of shooting down a Russian warplane to protect supplies of oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to Turkey.
On the sidelines of a global climate change conference near Paris on Monday, Putin said the downing of the plane was a "huge mistake".
"We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory," the Russian president said.
"We have received additional information which unfortunately confirms that this oil, produced in areas controlled by [ISIL] and other terrorist organisations, is transported on an industrial scale to Turkey."
US government says it can confirm Russian jet entered Turkish airspace
Monday was not the first time that Putin has claimed that Turkey buys oil from ISIL.
Last Thursday, the Russian leader said there was "no doubt" oil from "terrorist-controlled" territory in Syria was making its way across the border into Turkey - a claim immediately denied by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Putin's strongly worded statement came hours after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu again refused to apologise for the downing of the plane near the Syrian border last Tuesday.
Moscow and Ankara have been at loggerheads over last Tuesday's incident when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border.
RELATED: Who is buying ISIL's oil?
Turkey has released a number of recordings which it claims prove that the warplane was warned repeatedly prior to being shot down.
Turkey has been backed by its allies NATO and the United States, with the US state department reiterating on Monday that its data "corroborated" Turkey's version of events.
But Russia has hit back hard, slapping Turkey with a series of sanctions over the weekend - including bans on Turks' labour contract extensions, chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and tourism packages to Turkey.
Despite the sanctions, however, Davutoglu said on Monday that Turkey would not apologise for "protecting its borders".
"No country should ask us to apologise," Davutoglu told reporters following a meeting with NATO's secretary-general at alliance headquarters in Brussels.
"The protection of our land borders, our airspace, is not only a right, it is a duty," he said. "We apologise for committing mistakes, not for doing our duty."
RELATED: Russia hits back at Turkey by changing Syria 'game'
Moscow's surprise intervention in the nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war in September wrong-footed the West and put Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, directly at odds with Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The downing of the Russian warplane has wrecked both Turkish-Russian relations and the French-led diplomatic effort to bring Moscow closer into the fold of nations seeking to destroy ISIL through military action in Syria.
While Russia says it is targeting ISIL, many of its air strikes have been against other Assad opponents, including groups actively supported by Turkey.
Russia hits back at Turkey by changing Syria 'game'
Moscow's retaliation after Turkey downed its military jet could tie Ankara's hands in Syria.
29 Nov 2015
www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2015/11/russia-hits-turkey-changing-syria-game-151129172933416.html
Zeina Khodr
Roving Correspondent
Russia is striking back after a "stab in the back by an accomplice to terrorists" by changing the "game" in Syria.
Moscow's retaliation is not just about severing economic and diplomatic ties. It is pursuing a policy that could tie Turkey's hands in Syria.
Ankara never received international backing for a safe zone across its border, but Russia has now ruled that out.
The deployment of S-400 anti-air missiles means Russia has effectively imposed a no-fly zone over Syria.
And now, Moscow seems to be moving closer to a group that has been the US-led coalition's main ground force in Syria - a group which Turkey, itself a member of that coalition, calls "terrorists".
The Syrian Kurdish forces (YPG) is a US-backed Kurdish group that has pushed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) back from areas along the border with Turkey.
In an attempt to change the solely "Kurdish face" of anti-ISIL ground troops, it aligned with some Arab brigades to form "the Syria Democratic Forces" (SDF).
No doubt a further strengthened YPG will anger Turkey, which has long feared that Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria would stir up similar sentiments among its own Kurdish population.
The SDF are now engaged in a fierce battle with Turkey-backed opposition factions in what is considered to be an important corner of Syria - the northern countryside of Aleppo.
To be more specific: the area west of the Euphrates River, which Turkey calls a red line.
The SDF captured some opposition-controlled towns close to the Turkish border of Kilis - known in Syria as Bab al-Salameh, an important lifeline for rebel groups.
Russian air strikes have been targeting the area for days now.
US guarantees
Control there would allow the YPG to link predominantly Kurdish villages in the north, like Afrin, to areas under its administration from the town of Kobane to the Iraqi border.
To do this, the YPG must first take control of Jarablous, an ISIL-controlled town along Turkey's border.
There was talk of a US-backed Syrian Kurd offensive in Jarablous in the summer. That never happened, as Turkey threatened a cross-border operation.
Ankara apparently got the guarantees it wanted from the US.
The Kurds won't advance in the Aleppo region, and in return the coalition would be given access to Turkey's Incirlik air base from where it can launch raids against ISIL.
RELATED: Safe havens are needed in Syria - more than ever
Days before the Russian plane was shot down, the US said it would start an operation with Turkey to finish securing the northern Syrian border area to cut off the remaining ISIL lifeline. Since then, there has been no talk about this military operation.
Bigger picture
The rules may now have changed. The YPG has still not pushed west of the Euphrates, but along with its allies, and with the help of Russian strikes, the SDF are threatening Turkey-backed opposition groups in another key border crossing, Kilis, west of Jarablous.
Can Turkey and Russia resolve their dispute?
Losing control of the northern countryside of Aleppo would be a setback for the opposition. Turkey, too, would lose influence.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be eyeing an even bigger victory. He called on the Assad government and the political wing of the YPG to unite. This has still not happened - at least not officially.
But Syrian Kurdish officials have said they are ready to work with anyone fighting ISIL, and anyone who works for a united, secular and democratic Syria.
Such an alliance would change the battlefield and the balance of power on the ground.
Putin: Turkey shot down jet to protect ISIL oil supply
War of words continues over downing of Russian warplane near Syrian border, as Turkish PM again refuses to apologise.
01 Dec 2015
www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/putin-turkey-shot-jet-protect-isil-oil-supply-151130191513006.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ankara of shooting down a Russian warplane to protect supplies of oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to Turkey.
On the sidelines of a global climate change conference near Paris on Monday, Putin said the downing of the plane was a "huge mistake".
"We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory," the Russian president said.
"We have received additional information which unfortunately confirms that this oil, produced in areas controlled by [ISIL] and other terrorist organisations, is transported on an industrial scale to Turkey."
US government says it can confirm Russian jet entered Turkish airspace
Monday was not the first time that Putin has claimed that Turkey buys oil from ISIL.
Last Thursday, the Russian leader said there was "no doubt" oil from "terrorist-controlled" territory in Syria was making its way across the border into Turkey - a claim immediately denied by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Putin's strongly worded statement came hours after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu again refused to apologise for the downing of the plane near the Syrian border last Tuesday.
Moscow and Ankara have been at loggerheads over last Tuesday's incident when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border.
RELATED: Who is buying ISIL's oil?
Turkey has released a number of recordings which it claims prove that the warplane was warned repeatedly prior to being shot down.
Turkey has been backed by its allies NATO and the United States, with the US state department reiterating on Monday that its data "corroborated" Turkey's version of events.
But Russia has hit back hard, slapping Turkey with a series of sanctions over the weekend - including bans on Turks' labour contract extensions, chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and tourism packages to Turkey.
Despite the sanctions, however, Davutoglu said on Monday that Turkey would not apologise for "protecting its borders".
"No country should ask us to apologise," Davutoglu told reporters following a meeting with NATO's secretary-general at alliance headquarters in Brussels.
"The protection of our land borders, our airspace, is not only a right, it is a duty," he said. "We apologise for committing mistakes, not for doing our duty."
RELATED: Russia hits back at Turkey by changing Syria 'game'
Moscow's surprise intervention in the nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war in September wrong-footed the West and put Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, directly at odds with Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The downing of the Russian warplane has wrecked both Turkish-Russian relations and the French-led diplomatic effort to bring Moscow closer into the fold of nations seeking to destroy ISIL through military action in Syria.
While Russia says it is targeting ISIL, many of its air strikes have been against other Assad opponents, including groups actively supported by Turkey.
Russia hits back at Turkey by changing Syria 'game'
Moscow's retaliation after Turkey downed its military jet could tie Ankara's hands in Syria.
29 Nov 2015
www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2015/11/russia-hits-turkey-changing-syria-game-151129172933416.html
Zeina Khodr
Roving Correspondent
Russia is striking back after a "stab in the back by an accomplice to terrorists" by changing the "game" in Syria.
Moscow's retaliation is not just about severing economic and diplomatic ties. It is pursuing a policy that could tie Turkey's hands in Syria.
Ankara never received international backing for a safe zone across its border, but Russia has now ruled that out.
The deployment of S-400 anti-air missiles means Russia has effectively imposed a no-fly zone over Syria.
And now, Moscow seems to be moving closer to a group that has been the US-led coalition's main ground force in Syria - a group which Turkey, itself a member of that coalition, calls "terrorists".
The Syrian Kurdish forces (YPG) is a US-backed Kurdish group that has pushed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) back from areas along the border with Turkey.
In an attempt to change the solely "Kurdish face" of anti-ISIL ground troops, it aligned with some Arab brigades to form "the Syria Democratic Forces" (SDF).
No doubt a further strengthened YPG will anger Turkey, which has long feared that Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria would stir up similar sentiments among its own Kurdish population.
The SDF are now engaged in a fierce battle with Turkey-backed opposition factions in what is considered to be an important corner of Syria - the northern countryside of Aleppo.
To be more specific: the area west of the Euphrates River, which Turkey calls a red line.
The SDF captured some opposition-controlled towns close to the Turkish border of Kilis - known in Syria as Bab al-Salameh, an important lifeline for rebel groups.
Russian air strikes have been targeting the area for days now.
US guarantees
Control there would allow the YPG to link predominantly Kurdish villages in the north, like Afrin, to areas under its administration from the town of Kobane to the Iraqi border.
To do this, the YPG must first take control of Jarablous, an ISIL-controlled town along Turkey's border.
There was talk of a US-backed Syrian Kurd offensive in Jarablous in the summer. That never happened, as Turkey threatened a cross-border operation.
Ankara apparently got the guarantees it wanted from the US.
The Kurds won't advance in the Aleppo region, and in return the coalition would be given access to Turkey's Incirlik air base from where it can launch raids against ISIL.
RELATED: Safe havens are needed in Syria - more than ever
Days before the Russian plane was shot down, the US said it would start an operation with Turkey to finish securing the northern Syrian border area to cut off the remaining ISIL lifeline. Since then, there has been no talk about this military operation.
Bigger picture
The rules may now have changed. The YPG has still not pushed west of the Euphrates, but along with its allies, and with the help of Russian strikes, the SDF are threatening Turkey-backed opposition groups in another key border crossing, Kilis, west of Jarablous.
Can Turkey and Russia resolve their dispute?
Losing control of the northern countryside of Aleppo would be a setback for the opposition. Turkey, too, would lose influence.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be eyeing an even bigger victory. He called on the Assad government and the political wing of the YPG to unite. This has still not happened - at least not officially.
But Syrian Kurdish officials have said they are ready to work with anyone fighting ISIL, and anyone who works for a united, secular and democratic Syria.
Such an alliance would change the battlefield and the balance of power on the ground.