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He said Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed while "fighting enemies of God", without elaborating. The spokesman urged Islamic State members in all countries to pledge allegiance to the new leader, adding that "he is one of the loyal sons of the (Islamic) state". The White House welcomed the news that Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had been killed, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Islamic State announced Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi as its new leader in March after the death of predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi. Islamic State emerged from the chaos of the civil war in neighbouring Iraq and took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Howitzers fired daily from Turkey have struck Kurdish YPG targets for a week, while warplanes have carried out airstrikes. The escalation comes after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul two weeks ago that Ankara blamed on the YPG militia. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would launch a land operation when convenient to secure its southern border. Erdogan said back in May that Turkey would soon launch a military operation against the YPG in Syria, but such an operation did not materialise at that time. The defence ministry said on Saturday three Turkish soldiers had been killed in northern Iraq, where the military has been conducting an operation against the PKK since April.

☆ Turkey tells Russia it will continue to respond to attacks from northern Syria
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ANKARA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told his Russian counterpart in a call on Thursday that Ankara would continue responding to attacks from northern Syria, after Russia asked Turkey to refrain from a full-scale Syria offensive. Akar told Sergei Shoigu that "Turkey's priority is to prevent the terrorism threat (from northern Syria) permanently," and said previous agreements on this issue need to be adhered to, the Turkish Defence Ministry said in a statement. Senior Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev on Wednesday said Turkey should refrain from a full-scale ground offensive in Syria, because such actions could trigger an escalation of violence. Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren ButlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Turkish strikes hit oil installations in northern Syria, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan QeremanAMMAN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Turkish drones are targeting key oil installations run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, three local sources said, in air strikes which drew strong condemnation from the United States overnight. Turkey's warplanes began conducting air strikes on Syrian Kurdish YPG militia bases in northern Syria at the weekend, prompting retaliatory strikes along the Syrian border. The Pentagon said the Turkish air strikes threatened the safety of U.S. military personnel and that the escalating situation jeopardized years of progress against Islamic State militants in the area. The United States has roughly 900 soldiers in Syria, mainly working with the SDF in the northeast.

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Turkish air strikes in northern Syria threatened the safety of U.S. military personnel and the escalating situation jeopardized years of progress against Islamic State militants, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The public comments represent the strongest condemnation by the United States of NATO-ally Turkey's air operations in recent days against a Kurdish militia in northern Syria to date. "Recent air strikes in Syria directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel who are working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than ten thousand ISIS detainees," the Pentagon's spokesman, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, said in a statement. President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey's air operations were only the beginning and it would launch a land operation when convenient after an escalation in retaliatory strikes. This is not the first time Turkey's operations in northern Syria have threatened U.S. personnel.

"We are continuing the air operation and will come down hard on the terrorists from land at the most convenient time for us," Erdogan told his AK Party's lawmakers in a speech in parliament. Meanwhile, the United States has conveyed serious concerns to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the impact of escalation on the goal of fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkey has previously launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, regarding it as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the United States and the European Union designate as a terrorist group. NEARLY 500 TARGETS HITTurkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the army had hit 471 targets in Syria and Iraq since the weekend in what he said was Turkey's biggest air operation of recent times. It cited him as saying 254 militants had been "neutralised" in the operation, a term generally used to be mean killed.

The comments came as Turkish artillery kept up bombardment of Kurdish bases and other targets near Tal Rifaat and Kobani, two Syrian military sources told Reuters. Turkey said the Syrian Kurdish YPG killed two people in mortar attacks from northern Syria on Monday, following Turkish air operations against the militia at the weekend and a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul a week earlier. The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said 15 civilians and fighters were killed in Turkish strikes in recent days. Turkey has mounted several major military operations against the YPG and Islamic State militants in northern Syria in recent years. More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting between the PKK and the Turkish state which began 1984.

"We have been bearing down on terrorists for a few days with our planes, cannons and guns," Erdogan said in a speech in northeastern Turkey. "God willing, we will root out all of them as soon as possible, together with our tanks, our soldiers." Turkey has mounted several major military operations against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State militants in northern Syria in recent years. The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said 15 civilians and fighters were killed in Turkish strikes in recent days. Turkey said its warplanes destroyed 89 targets in Syria and Iraq on Sunday, with 184 militants killed in operations targeting the YPG and PKK on Sunday and Monday.

NATO member Turkey has conducted a diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine, criticising the invasion but opposing Western sanctions on Russia. A Turkish defence ministry source said jets were never used in Syrian, Russian or U.S. airspace for the latest airstrikes on Kurdish militant bases in Syria, and that jets hit all targets from within Turkish airspace. "Turkish jets used the airspace under the control of the United States and Russia. "The Turks coordinated with the Russians and the Americans in the areas they have control over Syrian airspace," said Colonel Abduljabbar Akaidi, a senior Syrian opposition figure familiar with the latest developments. Turkey, the United States and others deem the PKK a terrorist group.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan says Syria operations not limited to air campaign -media
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ISTANBUL, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's military operations in northern Syria and Iraq were not limited to just an air campaign and discussions would be held on the involvement of ground forces, Turkish media reported. Speaking to reporters on his return from a trip to Qatar, Erdogan said that the Turkish general staff and defence ministry would decide together on the involvement of ground forces, broadcasters TRT and CNN Turk reported. Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes on Kurdish militant bases in Syria and Iraq on Sunday, destroying 89 targets, the defence ministry said, retaliating for a bomb attack in Istanbul that killed six people one week ago. Reporting by Daren Butler Editing by Ece ToksabayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Turkey Strikes Kurdish Targets in Iraq, Syria After Istanbul Bombing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Jared Malsin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said a total of 89 targets in northern Syria and Iraq were hit during the airstrikes. ISTANBUL—Turkey said it carried out a broad series of airstrikes in northern Syria and Iraq early on Sunday, intensifying a military campaign against Kurdish militants, whom the Turkish government blames for a deadly bombing in Istanbul a week ago. The Turkish Defense Ministry said the strikes hit 89 separate targets associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and its Syrian branch, which Turkey blamed for a bombing in Istanbul last week that killed six people and wounded 81 others. The PKK—as the Kurdish group is known—and its Syrian branch both denied involvement in the attack, and no one has claimed responsibility.

☆ Turkish air strikes hit villages in northern Syria, SDF says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Turkish aircraft shelled two villages populated with internally displaced people in northern Syria, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Twitter late on Saturday. Turkey said on Tuesday it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in Iraq, following a deadly bomb last weekend in Istanbul. "In addition to the Dahir al-Arab village, which is populated with Ras al-Ain IDPs who were also forcibly displaced by the Turkish occupation in 2019," he added. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast on the busy pedestrian avenue, and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement. Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it says is a wing of the PKK.

☆ Turkish air strikes target Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Turkish defence ministry said early on Sunday it carried out air strikes on outlawed Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq, which it said were used to carry out attacks on Turkey. The strikes targeted bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey says is a wing of the PKK, the ministry added in a statement. Turkey said on Tuesday it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the PKK militants in Iraq, following a deadly bomb last weekend in Istanbul. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said late Saturday that Turkish aircraft shelled two villages populated with internally displaced people in northern Syria. Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the YPG militia.

The attack that killed six people on a busy Istanbul street on Sunday has brought national security back on the political agenda. With Turkey quick to accuse Syria-based Kurdish militants for the latest attack, analysts say Erdogan may now press for another cross-border campaign into northern Syria after three such incursions since 2016. Were Sunday's attack followed by more, Peker expected outcomes including a rapid escalation of "counter-terrorism operations, particularly against the PKK and the YPG". The YPG, espousing the same ideology as the PKK, has established control over swathes of northern Syria since war began there in 2011. In a November re-run - following that spate of violence and two major Islamic State bomb attacks - AK Party won comfortably.

☆ NATO could invoke Article 4 after Russian missiles struck Poland. Here's what that means.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The incident could invoke NATO Article 4, which allows any member to call for a consultation when threatened. Several NATO countries previously invoked Article 4 after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Such defiant language ostensibly appeals to the collective defense principle at the heart of NATO Article 5. As such, NATO and its members have no binding obligation to defend Ukraine against Russia's attacks. Biden has made clear that US troops thus far deployed to Eastern Europe are there to bolster NATO member countries wary of nearby Russian aggression.

☆ Turkey to pursue targets in Syria, official says after Istanbul blast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Orhan Coskun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ANKARA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Turkey plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in Iraq, a senior official said on Tuesday, after a deadly weekend bomb in Istanbul. The government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Sunday that killed six people and injured more than 80. Threats posed by Kurdish militants or Islamic State on Turkey are unacceptable, the official told Reuters, adding that Ankara will clear threats along its southern border "one way or another." "Syria is a national security problem for Turkey. Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it says is a wing of the PKK.

☆ Turkey blames blast on Kurdish militants and arrests dozens, including suspected bomber
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey blamed Kurdish militants on Monday for an explosion that killed six people on a busy Istanbul shopping street, and police detained a Syrian woman suspected of having planted the bomb among a sweep of 47 arrests. Istanbul police named the suspected bomber as Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian national, who was detained in an overnight raid in the city’s Kucukcekmece district. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast on Istiklal Avenue on Sunday, an incident that recalled similar attacks in years past. According to Istanbul police, Albashir said during questioning that she was trained by Kurdish militants and entered Turkey through Afrin, another northern Syrian town. Istanbul has been attacked in the past by Kurdish, Islamist and leftist militants.

☆ Turkey blames Istanbul blast on Kurdish militants, arrests 22, including bomber
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Police members transport the body of an unidentified person after an explosion on busy pedestrian Istiklal street in Istanbul, Turkey, November 13, 2022. "We have evaluated that the instruction for the attack came from Kobani," Soylu said, adding that bomber had passed through Afrin, another region in northern Syria. Hundreds of people fled the historic Istiklal Avenue after the blast on Sunday, as ambulances and police raced in. Turkey has carried out three incursions in northern Syria against the YPG, with the latest in 2019, seizing hundreds of kilometres of land. Condemnations of the attack and condolences for the victims poured in from several countries including Azerbaijan, Britain, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Pakistan and Ukraine.

☆ Rising tensions between 2 of NATO's biggest militaries are driving fears of the first war between alliance members
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Greece and Turkey have two of NATO's largest militaries and are in an important corner of Europe. Their tensions have escalated in recent years, stoking new fears about the first war within NATO. Greece's defense spending in 2022 was the highest in the alliance as a share of GDP. (NATO also calls for 20% of members' defense spending to go toward equipment purchases and upgrades.) Greece's defense minister said that "as long as there is a threat of territorial sovereignty, it renders futile any attempt at communication."

☆ Australia repatriates Australian women and children from Syrian refugee camp
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp to New South Wales state, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on Saturday. The controversial repatriation, which has sparked criticism from the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian women and children who are relatives of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. Australia first rescued eight children and grandchildren of two dead Islamic State fighters from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, but has held off repatriating any others until now. read more"The decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies," O'Neil said in a statement. The women and children left the al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria on Thursday afternoon and crossed the border into Iraq to board a flight home, the Sydney Morning Herald and state broadcaster ABC reported on Friday.

☆ French Cement Firm Lafarge Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Support Islamic State
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lafarge admitted that in 2013 and 2014 it paid terrorist organizations to protect a cement facility in northern Syria. French cement firm Lafarge SA pleaded guilty Tuesday in a New York federal court to paying Islamic State and an al Qaeda affiliate to protect its Syrian cement plant, marking what the Justice Department said was the first time it has charged a company with supporting terrorist organizations. Lafarge agreed to pay about $778 million in financial penalties and serve a term of three years probation. The company and its defunct subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement. "Lafarge made a deal with the devil," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters following the guilty plea. At that point, Islamic State took possession of the remaining cement and sold it for the equivalent of $3.21 million, prosecutors said. REUTERS/Charles PlatiauHolcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors. No Lafarge executives were charged in the United States.

☆ Turkish troops deploy in Syrian town to halt inter-rebel fighting
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

AMMAN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Turkish troops deployed on Tuesday in an area in northwestern Syria to try to halt fighting between rival rebel factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses and rebel forces said. HTS forces should be withdrawn from the area immediately," the U.S. Embassy in Damascus said. Turkey's large military presence, with thousands of troops stationed in a string of bases in northwest Syria, had held back Russian-backed Syrian forces from seizing the rebel-held area. A senior official in the coalition fighting HTS said they had reinforced positions around the city to repel any attempt by the jihadists to take it over. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Calm returns to Syria rebel enclave after deadly internecine fighting
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"In the latest battles after its control of Afrin, HTS now has a large security role compared to what it had. Turkey is the leading backer of mainstream rebel factions. Its strong military presence in northwest Syria has held back Russia and Damascus from seizing the remaining opposition area. Turkey had stepped up its intervention to end the fighting that left scores killed, a senior rebel commander who requested anonymity said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ In Syrian north, women protest over death of Iran's Amini
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Mahsa Amini, 22, died earlier this month after being arrested in Tehran by police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress. Her death has touched off Iran's biggest unrest since 2019. Protesters held aloft pictures of Amini as they marched through a street in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli. 1/5 Women burn headscarves during a protest over the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Iran, in the Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria September 26, 2022. The Kurdish ethnic minority live mostly in a region straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

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