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Rabu, 09 Oktober 2019

Turkish troops cross into Syria; Iran launches military drill near Turkish border: reports - Fox News

Turkish troops have crossed into Syria, a published report said Wednesday, citing information from a Turkish military official.

The official gave no further details, the Bloomberg report said.

In a Washington Post op-ed Wednesday, Turkish communications director Fahrettin Altun called on the international community to “rally” behind Ankara, calling the Kurds “armed thugs” from which the local population needed to be liberated.

TURKISH INCURSION INTO SYRIA WOULD FORCE KURDS TO FLEE, FREEING CAPTURED ISIS MEMBERS, GEN. KEANE SAYS

Meanwhile, Iran has launched a surprise military drill near the country’s border with Turkey, the Islamic nation’s state media announced Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

In this image provided by Hawar News Agency, ANHA, U.S. military vehicles travel down a main road in northeast Syria, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. (ANHA via AP)

The reported military move by Turkey follows President Trump’s recent decision to have U.S. troops withdraw from Syria – a shift that Trump’s critics have characterized as an abandonment of Syrian Kurdish fighters who have been aligned with U.S. forces in the country.

On Monday, Trump defended the decision, Haaretz reported, saying that U.S. support for Syrian Kurds was too costly. But the move received bipartisan criticism.

Republican critics included Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, who said she hopes the president's plan is "reconsidered."

"I agree with President Trump's objective to not be bogged down in the Middle East, to bring our men and women home, and we really need to be looking at the rising threat of China," McSally said on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Tuesday.

"However, we have a generational struggle and fight against Islamic terrorism."

Iran, along with Russia, are both key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and both have troops stationed in Syria.

Earlier Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of playing “very dangerous games” with the Syrian Kurds, saying the U.S. propped up the Kurds as a “quasi state” within Syria but was now ending its support.

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“Such reckless attitude to this highly sensitive subject can set fire to the entire region, and we have to avoid it at any cost."

Lavrov said Moscow is eager to help Assad’s government in Damascus and the Syrian Kurds negotiate a settlement to their differences.

Fox News' Victor Garcia and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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2019-10-09 09:36:17Z
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Turkish troops cross into Syria; Iran launches military drill near Turkish border: reports - Fox News

Turkish troops have crossed into Syria, a published report said Wednesday, citing information from a Turkish military official.

The official gave no further details, the Bloomberg report said.

TURKISH INCURSION INTO SYRIA WOULD FORCE KURDS TO FLEE, FREEING CAPTURED ISIS MEMBERS, GEN. KEANE SAYS

Meanwhile, Iran has launched a surprise military drill near the country’s border with Turkey, the Islamic nation’s state media announced Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

In this image provided by Hawar News Agency, ANHA, U.S. military vehicles travel down a main road in northeast Syria, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. (ANHA via AP)

On Monday, Trump defended the decision, Haaretz reported, saying that U.S. support for Syrian Kurds was too costly. But the move received bipartisan criticism.

Republican critics included Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, who said she hopes the president's plan is "reconsidered."

"However, we have a generational struggle and fight against Islamic terrorism."

Iran, along with Russia, are both key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and both have troops stationed in Syria.

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“Such reckless attitude to this highly sensitive subject can set fire to the entire region, and we have to avoid it at any cost."

Lavrov said Moscow is eager to help Assad’s government in Damascus and the Syrian Kurds negotiate a settlement to their differences.

Fox News' Victor Garcia and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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2019-10-09 09:23:18Z
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Turkish military, rebels to cross Syrian border 'shortly' - Al Jazeera English

Turkish forces and allies will cross the Syrian border "shortly", President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's communications director said, as Turkey looks to begin a military intervention against Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria.

Turkey has been poised to advance into northeast Syria since US troops began vacating the area on Sunday in an abrupt policy shift by US President Donald Trump that was widely criticised in Washington as a betrayal of US's allies, the Kurds.

"The Turkish military, together with the Free Syrian Army, will cross the Turkish-Syrian border shortly," Fahrettin Altun said in a Washington Post column published on Wednesday.

"Turkey has no ambition in northeastern Syria except to neutralise a long-standing threat against Turkish citizens and to liberate the local population from the yoke of armed thugs," he wrote.

The Turkish military was expected to team up with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), with which it worked previously in two other operations in northern Syria in recent years.

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Altun added fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) - an armed group Turkey considers a "terrorist" organisation - in Syria could either defect or Ankara would have to "stop them from disrupting" Turkey's struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS).

Turkey has said it intends to create a "safe zone" in order to return millions of refugees to Syrian soil, but the scheme has alarmed some Western allies and military analysts as much as the risks posed by the military operation itself.

'Imminent attack'

On Tuesday, Turkey's defence ministry said "all preparations for the operation" had been completed with its troops gathering on Turkey's side of the border since Monday night.

The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkish forces were attacking near the border.

"The Turkish military is shelling one of our points on #SereKaniye Border with Turkey," the SDF said in a tweet late on Tuesday, referencing the key border town of Ras al-Ain. No injuries were reported.

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It was one of the places from which US troops withdrew on Monday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, US officials, who were not authorised to discuss details of military intelligence, told The Associated Press on Tuesday there are between 5,000 and 10,000 Turkish troops along the border apparently ready to go.

The officials said they expect the Turks to begin with air strikes, followed by barrages from heavy artillery along the border and the movement of ground troops into Syria.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford, reporting from Akcakale along Turkey's border with Syria, said "all evidence suggests that the operation could be imminent".

"Last night, we passed dozens of military vehicles heading in this direction - APCs [armoured personal carriers], what we believe to be trucks carrying ammunition, and flatbed trucks transporting tanks," he said.

Turkey: Preparations 'complete' for Syria military action

Stratford said buses of Free Syrian Army fighters were also transported from northern Aleppo in Syria across the border into Turkey on Tuesday.

"They are staying at a camp close by, and it's understood they will be joining the Turks in any sort of ground force operation," he added.

Civilians already beleaguered by eight years of conflict are concerned.

"If war erupts, people will be vulnerable and displaced. Where should we go? You ask anyone they say we are not leaving. But eventually, we will be displaced," Summaiyah Mohammed, a Kurdish citizen in northern Syria, told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw.

Mass prison break?

Jonathan Schanzer, a Syria scholar at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said even a limited Turkish incursion into northern Syria could quickly escalate.

"The president is doubling down on this - seems to be reversing course," Schanzer told AP. "He's trying to convey to the American people that he's made the right decision. Of course, Erdogan is going to see this as a green light."

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Tamara Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy, also pointed out a frightening potential knock-on effect if Turkey is allowed to attack the Kurds: a mass prison break by ISIL detainees.

Currently militia members are manning a series of prisons in Syria containing thousands of ISIL fighters.

Those guards would presumably rush to the front lines if their comrades faced the existential threat of the Turkish military machine.

"The only foreign policy issue that Americans really care about is terrorism and the fear of terrorism," Wittes told AP. "The fear of ISIS 3.0 is very tangible and something that speaks to Americans."

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/turkish-military-rebels-cross-syrian-border-shortly-191009062501223.html

2019-10-09 08:47:00Z
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Ecuador protesters storm parliament as unrest worsens - BBC News

President Lenín Moreno has imposed a night curfew near government buildings after protesters clashed with security forces inside Ecuador's heavily guarded parliament.

Demonstrators briefly burst through a police cordon before being driven back with tear gas, witnesses said.

Mr Moreno declared a state of emergency last week but has failed to end protests led by indigenous groups.

They are demanding an end to austerity and the return of fuel subsidies.

Petrol prices have soared by more than 100% since last Thursday when the subsidies were removed.

The unrest has forced President Lenín Moreno to move the government out of the capital.

Indigenous-led protests have toppled three presidents in the past few decades.

Amid the worst unrest in years, the embattled government has said it is open to mediation through the United Nations or the Roman Catholic Church.

What's the latest?

Witnesses said protesters, some of whom were carrying wooden shields, broke through a security cordon around the National Assembly building on Tuesday. Once inside they waved flags and chanted slogans before being forced back by security forces using tear gas. No staff were in the building at the time.

Other government buildings in the capital were also attacked and damaged, local media reported.

Across Ecuador, two people have died in the recent disturbances and dozens more have been injured.

Later on Tuesday, Mr Moreno declared a curfew restricting movement near government buildings between 20:00 and 05:00 in a bid to quell the unrest.

The president has refused to resign, reportedly telling broadcaster Teleamazonas "under no circumstance" would he quit.

"I don't see why I should if I'm making the right decisions," he reportedly said.

President Moreno had earlier announced that he had temporarily moved government operations from the capital to the port city of Guayaquil.

What has led to the trouble?

Mr Moreno's announcement last week of an end to subsidies that had been holding down fuel prices triggered a strike by transport unions.

The unions later stopped their action, but protests have continued. Indigenous demonstrators have blocked roads and highways in the country and thousands have travelled to the capital Quito for bigger protests.

Some of the road blockages have affected petrol deliveries, leading to fuel shortages in parts of the country.

Officials said on Tuesday that the number of arrests had risen to 570.

Mr Moreno has declared a two-month national emergency over the unrest.

Why were fuel subsidies scrapped?

Mr Moreno said the subsidies, which cost the government $1.3bn (£1bn) annually, were no longer affordable.

The elimination of the subsidies, introduced in the 1970s, are part of his plan to shore up Ecuador's flagging economy and ease its debt burden.

The government has agreed to cut public spending as part of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The agreement, signed in March, allows Ecuador to borrow $4.2bn (£3.4bn).

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49981521

2019-10-09 05:29:17Z
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Selasa, 08 Oktober 2019

Trump defends Turkey amid fierce backlash over policy shift - POLITICO

President Donald Trump. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

President Donald Trump on Tuesday promoted Turkey’s diplomatic and economic ties to the U.S. amid withering bipartisan criticism for his decision to allow the Middle Eastern nation to invade northern Syria — endangering the Kurdish fighters who helped the American military quash ISIS forces in the region.

“So many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States, in fact they make the structural steel frame for our F-35 Fighter Jet,” the president wrote on Twitter.

“They have also been good to deal with, helping me to save many lives at Idlib Province, and returning, in very … good health, at my request, Pastor Brunson, who had many years of a long prison term remaining,” he continued, referring to the evangelical reverend Turkey released to the U.S. in October 2018 after nearly two years of detention.

Trump also noted that Turkey “is an important member in good standing” of the international NATO military alliance, and revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would be “coming to the U.S. as my guest” on Nov. 13. The two leaders had previously been expected to meet in Washington sometime in the coming weeks.

Despite Trump's praise for Turkey's contribution to the F-35, the White House on July 17 decided to expel Turkey from the program after Ankara bought and received a Russian air defense system. Washington had warned Turkey for months that the S-400 system was incompatible with the stealth jet.

The president’s ardent defense of the U.S.-Turkey partnership came after the White House late Sunday announced that Trump had spoken by phone with Erdogan about the planned Turkish incursion into northern Syria, which prominent lawmakers of both parties pilloried Monday.

But Trump has so far stood behind the administration’s plan of action, citing his campaign trail pledge to extricate American soldiers from “endless wars” and threatening to “totally destroy and obliterate” Turkey’s economy if Erdogan’s government “does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits.”

The president insisted Tuesday that America’s support for its Kurdish allies would continue as U.S. troops withdraw from Syria, and again cautioned Turkey against instigating conflict in the region.

“We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters. Likewise our relationship with Turkey, a NATO and Trading partner, has been very good,” Trump tweeted.

“Turkey already has a large Kurdish population and fully … understands that while we only had 50 soldiers remaining in that section of Syria, and they have been removed, any unforced or unnecessary fighting by Turkey will be devastating to their economy and to their very fragile currency,” he added. “We are helping the Kurds financially/weapons!”

David Brown contributed to this report.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/08/trump-turkey-alliance-backlash-over-syria-policy-038745

2019-10-08 13:57:00Z
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Brexit deal is ‘essentially impossible,' Johnson says, if European Union stands by trade demand - Fox News

The British government warned Tuesday that it will be “essentially impossible” to strike a Brexit deal with the European Union if the bloc continues to stand by a key trade demand involving Northern Ireland.

The grim assessment from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office following a phone call between the British leader and German Chancellor Angela Merkel comes just weeks before an Oct. 31 deadline to leave the EU. The EU has been responding coolly to the U.K.'s plan for maintaining an open Irish border after Brexit, which has been the main stumbling block to a deal.

Downing St. said Merkel told the prime minister Tuesday morning that "a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely" unless Northern Ireland remains in a customs union with the EU — something the U.K. says it can't allow.

It added that "if this represents a new established position, then it means a deal is essentially impossible not just now but ever."

A European Union flag flies near Parliament in London on Tuesday. (AP)

BREXIT PROPOSAL MET WITH SKEPTICISM FROM EUROPEAN LEADERS WHO SAY THEY ARE 'STILL UNCONVINCED'

Currently, goods and people flow freely between EU member Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland. The EU and the U.K. have agreed there must be no checks or infrastructure along that border, yet Britain wants to leave the EU's customs union so it can strike new trade deals around the world, making some sort of checks on goods crossing that border all but inevitable.

Under a proposed U.K. Brexit plan there would be customs checks, but Britain says they could be conducted away from Northern Ireland’s border.

However, EU officials oppose any customs checks and are skeptical of U.K. claims they could be achieved through largely untested technology. EU leaders also have been sharply critical of a proposal that would give Northern Ireland's legislature an effective veto on key elements of the Irish border arrangements in the future.

JOHNSON DELIVERS 'FINAL OFFER' FOR BREXIT DEAL, SAYS 'WE CAN, WE MUST AND WE WILL' LEAVE BLOC

Johnson has urged European leaders to compromise and sit down for face-to-face talks. So far, the EU is resisting, saying the U.K. must show more "realism" in its proposals.

“At stake is the future of Europe and the UK, as well as the security and interests of our people,” European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted at Johnson on Tuesday, adding that “what’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game.”

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to mental health professionals during his visit to Watford General Hospital, in Watford, on Monday. (AP)

The last scheduled opportunity to reach a deal is Oct. 17-18, when all 28 EU leaders, including Johnson, are due to meet in Brussels. French President Emmanuel Macron has said the EU will decide by the end of this week whether a deal is possible, or whether the two sides should buckle up for a rocky no-deal departure.

Johnson insists the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31 even without a deal. But many in the EU — and in Britain — are skeptical that Britain will leave the bloc that day, because the U.K. Parliament has passed a law compelling the government to ask the EU for a delay to Brexit if no deal is agreed upon by Oct. 19.

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Keir Starmer, the Brexit spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, said Downing St.’s statement Tuesday was "yet another cynical attempt by No. 10 to sabotage the negotiations."

"Boris Johnson will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal. His strategy from Day One has been for a no-deal Brexit," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-10-08 12:30:41Z
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Witness in Trump-Ukraine Matter Ordered Not to Speak in Impeachment Inquiry - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration directed a top American diplomat involved in its pressure campaign on Ukraine not to appear Tuesday morning for a scheduled interview in the House’s impeachment inquiry.

The decision to block Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, from speaking with investigators for three House committees is certain to provoke an immediate conflict with potentially profound consequences for the White House and President Trump. House Democrats have repeatedly warned that if the administration tries to interfere with their investigation, it will be construed as obstruction, a charge they see as potentially worthy of impeachment.

Democrats from the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Affairs committees did not immediately respond on Tuesday.

But in making the decision, hours before he was scheduled to sit for a deposition in the basement of the Capitol, the Trump administration appears to be calculating that it is better off risking the House’s ire than letting Mr. Sondland show up and set a precedent for cooperation with an inquiry they have strenuously argued is illegitimate.

Robert Luskin, Mr. Sondland’s lawyer, said in a statement that as a State Department employee, his client had no choice but to comply with the administration’s direction. He said Mr. Sondland had been prepared and happy to testify, and would do so in the future if allowed.

“Ambassador Sondland is profoundly disappointed that he will not be able to testify today,” Mr. Luskin said. “Ambassador Sondland believes strongly that he acted at all times in the best interests of the United States, and he stands ready to answer the committee’s questions fully and truthfully.”

Mr. Sondland has become enmeshed in the burgeoning scandal into how the president sought to push the Ukrainians to investigate his political rivals. Although Ukraine is not in the union, Mr. Trump instructed Mr. Sondland — a wealthy hotelier and campaign contributor — to take a lead in relations between the Trump administration and the country. Democrats consider him a key witness to what transpired between the two countries.

Mr. Sondland interacted directly with Mr. Trump, speaking with the president several times around key moments that House Democrats are now investigating, including before and after Mr. Trump’s July call with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The president asked Mr. Zelensky on the call to do him “a favor” and investigate the business dealings of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son and a conspiracy theory about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election.

Text messages provided to Congress last week showed that Mr. Sondland and another senior diplomat had worked on language for a statement they wanted the Ukrainian president to put out in August that would have committed him to the investigations sought by Mr. Trump. The diplomats consulted with Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, about the statement, believing they needed pacify him in order to allow the United States to normalize relations with the Ukrainians.

Mr. Sondland was also involved in a back and forth with top American diplomats to Ukraine over text last month demonstrating that some senior State Department officials believed that Mr. Trump may have been holding up $391 million in security aid for Ukraine as leverage for getting its leaders to conduct the investigations Mr. Trump wanted.

“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” William B. Taylor Jr., a top American official in Ukraine, wrote in one exchange in early September.

After receiving the text, Mr. Sondland called Mr. Trump, who asserted it was false.

“Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions,” Mr. Sondland wrote in the messages. “The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind.”

Mr. Sondland added: “I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.”

There have been conflicting accounts of Mr. Sondland’s views, however. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, told The Wall Street Journal last week that Mr. Sondland had told him in August that the release of the aid was contingent upon Ukraine opening the investigations. Mr. Johnson was alarmed and asked Mr. Trump if there was a quid pro quo involved. The president adamantly denied it, he said.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/us/politics/sondland-trump-ukraine-impeach.html

2019-10-08 12:08:00Z
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