I mari e gli oceani sembrano sempre più determinanti per la definizione degli equilibri mondiali e il Vietnam vuole essere della partita. Secondo immagini satellitari, Hanoi sarebbe impegnata in un’imponente operazione di dragaggio e bonifica nell’arcipelago delle isole Spratly per la costruzione di atolli artificiali, tanto da fare concorrenza alla Cina in termini di mire espansionistiche nelle acque della zona, ricca di risorse naturali quali petrolio e gas, nonché di dispute tra Vietnam, Brunei, Cina, Filippine e Malesia. A diffondere la notizia è stato il Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), think tank statunitense, che tramite il suo programma di ricerca Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) ha pubblicato un rapporto ad hoc che proietta il Vietnam nel pantheon dei protagonisti asiatici che si contendono il controllo del Mar Cinese Meridionale.

Cosa dice il rapporto

Il documento dell’Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) dà modo di mettere a fuoco l’operazione d’ingegneria marittima escogitata dal Governo di Hanoi. Le attività di bonifica hanno avuto inizio a  gennaio di quest’anno e hanno interessato otto aree tra le centinaia di atolli e svariati  chilometri di barriere coralline che costellano le Spratly. Isole artificiali sono sorte sulle scogliere di Alison Reef, Collins Reef, East Reef, Landsdowne Reef e Petley Reef, mentre dove si aveva già edificato come Amboyna Cay, Grierson Reef e West Reef, sono stati fatti dei lavori di ampliamento.

Come si legge nel rapporto, a marzo 2025 il Vietnam aveva già realizzato circa il 70% del terreno importato nelle zone bonificate e dragate con delle ottime chance di superare la capacità della Cina quanto a costruzioni, se le operazioni proseguiranno ad un ritmo così sostenuto.  Inoltre, il CSIS sostiene che l’osservazione attenta delle immagini di altre isole già controllate a lungo dal Vietnam, permetterebbe di scorgere strutture che potrebbero servire da depositi da munizioni. Secondo un’indiscrezione riportata da Reuters, pare che Hanoi voglia dare forma a una pista di atterraggio in corrispondenza dell’atollo di  Barque Canada Reef nonostante che la Cina si opponga alla realizzazione di infrastrutture vietnamite sull’isola, dal momento che la considera parte del suo territorio.  
Un’ambizione di tale portata coltivata da Hanoi non ha a che fare solo con il rafforzamento della sua sovranità, ma anche con il potenziamento delle capacità difensive del Paese in un’area strategicamente sensibile.

Le tensioni nel Mar Cinese Meridionale

Il contesto che funge da cornice a questa vicenda è quello di un Mar Cinese Meridionale che diventa uno snodo sempre più centrale nel mondo trafficato delle relazioni internazionali. Il Dragone rivendica la propria sovranità sulla quasi totalità della sua superficie, plasmando diversi atolli non naturali e strutture militari con radar e piste d’atterraggio in nome della teoria “Nine Dash Line”, ovvero linea dei nove tratti, a cui Pechino si appella per farla da padrone nelle acque contese tra Vietnam, Filippine, Malesia e lei stessa.  In merito alle isole Spratly, Xi Jinping nel 2015 aveva garantito all’allora presidente americano Barack Obama di non avere intenzione di edificare nuovi fortini, ma la storia degli ultimi anni ci fa dedurre che il bottino dell’arcipelago è troppo ricco per poter mantenere fede alle promesse di un tempo. 

Non a caso, l’esigenza di sorveglianza e controllo su tutta l’area del Mar Cinese Meridionale ha portato le autorità cinesi a scontrarsi a più riprese con le controparti filippine, causando diversi incidenti avvenuti per dinamiche relative alle operazioni navali. Tali frizioni tra Pechino e Manila  avrebbero offerto un’opportunità troppo ghiotta al Vietnam: con il Dragone impegnato a ostacolare le mosse dell’arcipelago filippino, Hanoi ha colto l’occasione per irrobustire e ampliare le proprie postazioni senza suscitare l’irritazione di chi siede nella stanza dei bottoni entro i confini della Muraglia. Secondo diversi analisti, la non reazione dei cinesi è dovuta al fatto che, oggi come oggi, preferiscano guardarsi le spalle solo da Manila forse in virtù del suo rapporto sempre più stretto con gli Stati Uniti, e per farlo non possono permettersi troppe distrazioni.

Questo non significa, però, che la Cina resterà a guardare. Il ministero degli Esteri di Pechino ha prontamente reso noto che non tollererà nessuna ingerenza straniera alle Spratly in quanto parte integrante della Repubblica Popolare Cinese. Allo stesso tempo, però, il Vietnam sembra ispirarsi al proverbio “il nemico del mio nemico è mio amico”: recentemente si sono tenute esercitazioni congiunte tra Hanoi e Manila e scambi tra le guardie costiere, dimostrando l’interesse a cementare una nuova cooperazione; un fattore che potrebbe ridefinire gli equilibri nell’area e rappresentare per Pechino una spina nel fianco .

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L'articolo Il Vietnam sfida la Cina: nuovi atolli artificiali con arsenali e piste d’atterraggio nel Mar Cinese Meridionale proviene da InsideOver.

On July 21, 2020 Antalya NAVTEX (Navigational Text Message) Station issued a Navigational Warning, effective between July 21 and August 2 for seismic survey being done by R/V ORUÇ REİS, ATAMAN and CENGİZ. The survey encompasses a wide area offshore the island of Kastelorizo, and covers several parts of the Greek Continental Shelf. As tension in the Eastern Mediterranean is rising, the international community is standing by and expecting further moves from each side.

A Pre-Announced Provocation from Turkey

The Turkish NAVTEX warning and the scheduled deployment of seismic research vessels in the Greek Continental Shelf is nothing new at all and should not be surprising to Athens. Turkish President Recep Erdogan himself already pre-announced the move almost eight months ago. Specifically, Erdogan announced at the time that Turkey was planning to start drilling activities near Greek islands.

This claim was reinforced by the controversial Turkish-Libyan Memorandum of Understanding, and Ankara has declared that the drilling plans would proceed by August-September 2020. The lukewarm Greek — and international — reaction to the Turkish-Libyan MoU encouraged Ankara to go ahead with these plans. According to the Turkish approach the Greek islands have limited — if any — Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) rights. Furthermore, the Aegean is an open sea where Turkey has expanded influence due to its vast continental territory, as opposed to the small Greek islands. This claim cannot be backed under any circumstances by international law and the Conventions on the Law of the Sea, however Ankara keeps pushing these claims, while Greece is hardly responding and the international community stands by. There is nothing truly unexpected in the current Turkish moves, and Athens should be well-aware by now that the Turkish President never makes a statement or warning without the intention to act accordingly.

Greece Heightens Combat Readiness

Shortly after the Turkish NAVTEX warning was issued, the Hellenic Armed Forces were mobilized and the combat readiness level was raised in several units across the country. The Greek reaction aims to make clear to Turkey that unless Ankara abandons the plans for research and drilling within the Greek Continental Shelf, then the Hellenic Armed Forces are ready to engage with any Turkish vessels in the area.

The scope of the Greek deployment of the forces indicate that the Greek side is potentially getting ready for more than a short-term incident somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean or among one of the Aegean Islands. The Greek mobilization is also taking place on the north land border of the country in the river Evros area, and other sensitive locations countrywide, while the most effective operational units are already standing by to be deployed.

Greece and Cyprus Issue Anti-NAVTEX Message

At the same time Greece and Cyprus have issued an anti-NAVTEX in the same area where Turkey had already covered in its warning. As per the Turkish response, the Greek-Cypriot action has been totally ignored by the Turkish Authorities, which stated that the anti-NAVTEX was issued by an unauthorized station and the July 21, 2020 navigational warning by the Antalya Station is still valid and effective.

Even though the Greek administration is carefully monitoring all the Turkish moves and the Hellenic Armed Forces are ready to react to any Turkish provocation, there is a strategic miscalculation happening on the Greek side. Athens is standing by and waiting to respond depending on the Turkish  moves; essentially Ankara is currently dominating the situation and shaping the possible developments, with Greece simply getting ready to act in the most appropriate way and react according to the Turkish course of action. In military terms, Ankara currently holds the initiative and could dictate the direction of the events, at least in the initial stages of a potential engagement.

Decisive Military Response and Proposed Economic Sanctions

Under the current circumstances, Athens should be considering implementing a balanced force projection strategy alongside the necessary diplomatic means. The Hellenic Navy should make clear that a decisive strike against the Turkish Forces will certainly take place in the likely scenario that the research vessels are accompanied by Turkish frigates. Being completely covered by international law, Greece has every right to protect its sovereignty by any means.

Ankara has repeatedly shown that when in a dispute, its moves are always adjusted depending on the tolerance of the other parties involved; and it should be noted that Turkey adopts this approach consistently regardless of the nature of the dispute, from a religious-political disagreement — see the recent example of the decision to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque — to a wide-scale military operation, like the major offensive in Idlib, Syria and the subsequent ceasefire deal.

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated shortly after the Turkish incitement that the European Union would have no other choice but to impose economic sanctions on Ankara if the Turkish drilling plans go ahead. This was a rather ill-advised statement, considering that the sanctions on Turkey over a dispute between the two sides — or three when including Cyprus — have been negligible and barely affected the Turkish decision-making process. In the meantime, a representative of the US Department of State asserted yesterday — responding to journalists’ questions around the issue — that Turkey should cease any activities in “disputed waters.” Even though this statement has been received by major Greek media as an affirmation that Washington is backing Greece, the term “disputed waters” indicates that the US is indirectly accepting the Turkish claims, considering that the area which prompted the tension in the region is clearly and undoubtedly part of the Greek continental shelf.

At the moment that this article is being written, Turkish research vessels are moored offshore at Antalya. We can expect to see rapid developments in the days that follow. During this time, Greece needs to move fast and decisively, comprehending that at the current stage that the sole utilization of soft power tactics and diplomatic channels could lead the country to major and unprecedented territorial and strategic losses.

L'articolo Turkey Issues Provocative Warning as Tension Rises in the Eastern Mediterranean proviene da InsideOver.

AL-HOL, Syria – Chain-link fence surrounds the al-Hol camp for ISIS-affiliated families in eastern Syria. The camp is a sprawling tent city with a population much bigger than the eponymous town next to it. It houses families of ISIS fighters in sections for Syrian, Iraqi and foreign citizens, as well as displaced people who were living in ISIS territory.

When Turkey invaded northeast Syria last month, Kurdish-led forces guarding al-Hol reduced their presence there to head to the border and fight. Since then, neither the forces nor the fence can keep the ISIS families inside, according to a Kurdish official responsible for the foreign section of the camp.

“We can’t control them,” Elul Rizgar told InsideOver. “The fence around the camp is weak.” Some ISIS families are escaping al-Hol in the chaos that followed Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syria, including foreigners who still cling to ISIS ideology.

The Al-Hol camp is in the Hasakah province in a desert area near the Iraqi border. The latest UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for October puts the population at 68,744 people. Some healthcare providers stopped operations in the camp due to the conflict between the SDF and Turkey, but food, water and winter preparation services are continuing, according to the report. In previous months, the camp suffered from contaminated water, dirty bathroom facilities and other poor living conditions.

The residents are divided into Syrian, Iraqi and foreign sections, in part to keep the different nationalities from fighting each other. The majority of the residents are women and children, but some men live in the Iraqi and Syrian sections. Male ISIS fighters are in prisons elsewhere in northeast Syria. Soldiers in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are both Kurds and Arabs staff the camp’s security centres and the checkpoints leading up to it.

In October, Turkey began its long-planned military operation against the Kurdish-led and US-backed SDF that controls most of northeast Syria after defeating ISIS there. Turkey considers the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) – a Kurdish group that leads the multi-ethnic SDF – to be the

Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group in Turkey. Turkey plans a “safe zone” penetrating Syrian territory where it seeks to remove the YPG and also resettle Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, which Kurds say is an attempt at ethnic cleansing.

Turkey, along with its Syrian rebel allies, attacked the SDF after the US announced it would remove its troops from Syria, where they were supporting the SDF against ISIS remnants. The US later sent troops back to Syria.

‘Security situation getting worse’

Faced with fighting a NATO army and receiving unclear support from the US and the Syrian army, SDF and Kurdish Asayesh security forces reduced their presence around al-Hol following the Turkish attack. There were 400 SDF and Asayesh members near al-Hol before the war with Turkey, but now there are only 300, according to Rizgar.

“The security situation has been getting worse since the Turkish invasion,” said Rizgar, sitting in her office near the camp entrance. “The residents have been burning tents and killing each other.”

The weak fencing around the camp is allowing residents to escape, according to Rizgar. “They can cut it and go through,” she said. The escapees make use of the largely barren desert area around al-Hol, and are also assisted by ISIS sleeper cells in the area.

“They escape through smugglers and ISIS sleeper cells outside the camp,” said Rizgar. “They walk, then they go by car.” Numbers on the total number of escapees since the conflict with Turkey vary, but some foreigners have escaped, raising the risk that they’ll return to their home countries and carry out attacks. Mahmoud Kro, a Kurdish official in the camps department in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which is the autonomous government in SDF territory, said that 120 individuals have escaped al-Hol since the Turkish invasion. “120 people escaped – Syrians, Iraqis and foreigners,” Kro, in Hasakah, told InsideOver via WhatsApp. “Around 40 foreigners of different nationalities.”

A similar number of people tried to escape but were arrested, according to Kro. In late October, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that German, Turkish and Uzbek ISIS families tried to escape al-Hol, but were arrested. There have been other successful escape attempts since the war with Turkey broke out, according to the SOHR.

Rizgar said that 120 families escaped in the same timeframe, but were arrested in the Hasakah province and returned to the camp. She said others escaped successfully, but that she is unsure of how many total individuals.

Regarding ISIS fighters in Kurdish prisons in Syria, US envoy to Syria James Jeffrey said that more than 100 have escaped since the US withdrawal announcement and Turkey-SDF war.

US President Donald Trump as well as Syrian Kurdish leaders have repeatedly asked European countries to take back their citizens from Syria who are accused of joining ISIS. Few have returned so far, though. Some countries, like Austria, Denmark and Albania have taken back some children of alleged ISIS members, according to the UN report. The UK also took back some children in November.

“Infidels have to have their heads cut”

Two SDF guards watch the fence allowing access to the foreign section of al-Hol, where residents of Pakistani, Russian, Tajik, Dutch and various other nationalities live. There is a small market staffed by Russian women near the entrance. Most of the women wear the black full-body cover that ISIS demands, but some now show their faces. Many ask for their picture not to be taken.

The level of Arabic-language knowledge varies among the foreign residents. Some barely speak it, while others can converse in standard Arabic, which is derived from the classical Arabic used in the Quran. The children here dress as Syrian youth do. Their future is unclear as the offspring of parents whose countries largely do not want them back.

Many of their mothers still share ISIS’ extremist ideology. Aysha Mohammed Amin came from “Turkistan” – the name some Chinese Uighur Muslims use to refer to their homeland– to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS with her husband. She is the mother of two children and arrived in the camp in February from Baghouz – ISIS’ last Syrian stronghold.

Amin said that life under ISIS was “free” from the repression she faced in China.

“The Islamic State gave us freedom for the hijab and to educate our children in a good way, thank Allah,” she told InsideOver in Arabic. “The hijab was forbidden in Turkistan…and we couldn’t read the Quran there.” Muslims in China face considerable repression, and more than a million are currently in internment camps.

Amin’s beliefs go far beyond wearing Islamic clothing and reading the Muslim holy book, however. She said she agreed with ISIS’ brutal punishment of people they deemed to be non-believers. “If they are infidels, they have to have their heads cut,” she said when asked if she witnessed anything bad in ISIS territory.

Many of the women maintain that life under ISIS was good, raising the risk that escapees will continue ISIS activity once they are out. Shugufta Parawir moved from her native Pakistan to ISIS territory in Syria in 2016 to follow her husband. In February, she came to al-Hol by way of Baghouz.

“Women had more respect and had to cover,” she told InsideOver in English on life under ISIS. “In our country, women go out uncovered and exposed.” “Women should only expose themselves to their husbands.” Adding to Kurdish officials’ fears, some residents have a lukewarm view of Turkey. Um Zahra, from the desert Anbar province in Iraq, said she fears both Turkey and the Syrian government taking control of the camp, but that the former would be better. “We fear them both, but Turkey would be better than the (Syrian) regime because the regime would kill us,” she told InsideOver.

In the town of al-Hol next door, some residents fear the glutton of ISIS members so close by. “They’re all ISIS,” Mohammed Qasim, a barber on the town’s main street, told InsideOver. “The camp scares us.”

‘A danger to the whole world’

Kurdish commanders repeatedly said they may need to abandon al-Hol if a war with Turkey came to fruition. Now that they are fighting Turkey, the top SDF commander Mazloum Kobani said that fighting ISIS is a “second priority.” But officials in al-Hol say they are committed to staying and guarding the ISIS-affiliated families as best they can. Rizgar said the families continue indoctrinating children, and that if they aren’t in al-Hol, will carry out attacks elsewhere. “Here there is also terrorism,” said Rizgar on why they continue protecting the camp. “They hit us here or there.” “They’re a danger not just to us, but to the whole world, especially Europe.”

L'articolo ISIS Families Escaping al-Hol Camp as Kurdish-Turkish War Rages On proviene da InsideOver.

Arab foreign ministers have denounced the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria, calling on Ankara to stop its aggression against Syrian territories.

Following an emergency meeting at the Arab League in Egyptian capital Cairo on Saturday, the foreign ministers underscored the dangers inherent in the Turkish invasion of this part of Syria. They expressed fears from the toll Turkey’s so-called “Operation Peace Spring” will have on Arab national security.

“The Arab League denounces the ongoing Turkish aggression on Syria,” Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit said. “Turkey wants to make major demographic changes in the areas it is attacking now.”

The emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states of the pan-Arab organization came at the request of the Egyptian government. The meeting came almost three days after the launch of the Turkish operation in northeastern Syria.

The operation has so far caused the displacement of close to quarter a million Kurds and the killing of 45 Kurdish troops. There is growing concern in Arab states over the effect the Turkish operation will have on the territorial integrity of Syria, which was thrown out of the Arab League in 2011 because of the violent repression of peaceful protests of Syrian citizens by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Arab states are also afraid that the same operation will cause a revival of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with the possible escape of thousands of ISIS terrorists from Kurdish prisons and camps. Abu Gheit said Syria’s security is inseparable from the security of other Arab states. He called on Turkey to stop its operation, pull its troops out of Syria, and bear responsibility for its latest aggression on this Arab country.

“We reject the Turkish use of the refugees as a card for blackmailing the world,” Abul Gheit said. “The Turkish aggression only aims at taking a slice of Syrian territories.”

He called for immediate intervention from the United Nations Security Council and international condemnation of the Turkish operation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan countered European criticism of his country’s operation in northeastern Syria by saying that Turkey can open its borders to allow millions of Syrian refugees cross into Europe and flood the continent.

Erdogan used the same card to get billions of dollars in financial assistance from European states. Here in this part of the world, this is viewed as mere ‘Turkish blackmail’.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan condemned the Turkish invasion and called for its immediate suspension.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Turkey is mounting its aggressions against an Arab League member state, using the tough conditions it is passing through.

He described Turkish claims that the ongoing operation aims at ‘fighting terrorism’ in northern Syria as ‘strange’ and ‘ridiculous’.

“These claims overlook the huge support Turkey has been offering terrorist groups,” Shoukry said.

“Apart from offering direct support to entities and people who proved to be linked to terrorism, Turkey played a role in easing the move of terrorists into Arab states.”

Arab states, especially Egypt, have been critical of the role Turkey played in easing the entry of tens of thousands of jihadists into Syria.

Those joining ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria have had to travel first to Turkey where they found it easy to cross into Syria. ISIS terrorists were also reportedly given initial training in Turkey before they moved into Syria.

The final communiqué of the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting called for ending the Turkish invasion of northern Syria and the withdrawal of Turkish troops from this Arab state.

Objecting to the communiqué were Qatar and Somalia, two Arab states that have Islamist-leaning governments and have close relations with Ankara.

Nevertheless, the meeting of the Arab foreign ministers is important in that it signals the beginning of possible Arab action against Turkey.

Abul Gheit said during the meeting that Arab countries would ponder further measures against Turkey, amid expectations that the measures can include an economic and tourist boycott and a downgrading of diplomatic representation.

L'articolo Arab States Unite Against Turkish Invasion Of Northern Syria proviene da InsideOver.

On day one of the new Turkish offensive into northeast Syria, the so-called ‘ Spring of Peace’ operation started spilling out the deaths of local civilian Kurds, and destroying electricity plants, dams, grain silos and other basic infrastructure installations over sways of border territories on the Syrian side. The Turkish onslaught started officially less than 48 hours after US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of some special forces soldiers from Syria; a step regarded by many as an American illicit green light for the Turks to start their planned and much-publicized operation in the area largely controlled by Kurdish factions. Some, theoretically at least, were supposed to be US-allies are now feeling abandoned, betrayed and left alone to face an overwhelming Turkish army. Ankara, according to some reports, has amassed over 100,000 soldiers for the operation, including thousands of pro-Turkish rebels and mercenaries.

Civilians flee en mass as land attack starts

Fearing a growing regional and international outrage at Ankara’s offensive against Syrian Kurds – an outright violation of international law, UN Charter and bilateral agreements with Damascus- the Turkish army seems in a hurry to advance and conclude its operation against Kurdish militia branded as a ‘terrorist organization’ by Ankara; paradoxically, the same militia had been used by Americans to fight ISIS under the very same slogan of ‘fighting terrorism’.

Announcing the launch of the current offensive, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted: “Our aim is to destroy the terror corridor which is trying to be established on our southern border, and to bring peace and peace to the region,”. He may have succeeded in having his way this time around, despite regional and US warnings that this operation against the Kurds should become ‘off-limits’. But Erdogan’s new adventure could prove too costly and easily turn against him and his ruling AK Party once Turkish soldiers start getting back home in body bags as the main Kurdish militias have threatened.

Long disorderly convoys of overloaded civilian cars and motorcycles have been spotted leaving the battlefield following the heavy Turkish bombardment and extensive air raids targeting Ras al-Ain, Tal Abyad and scores of other border towns and villages on the first day of the Turkish ‘Spring of Peace’. The first confirmed victims of Ankara’s aggression in northeastern Syria today were 4 Kurdish civilians; a woman and her three children taken out by a Turkish airstrike. Thousands are still trying to flee to safety along gridlocked roads amid chaotic scenes of fear and despair as the Turkish operation unfolded. The main refugee destination was reported to be the regional city of Hassakah itself.

SDF says it has repelled initial turkish incursion

Following a long first day of veracious Turkish shelling and round-the-clock air raids which have targeted , along with some Kurdish military bases and fortifications, a dam in Derik which provides water for hundreds of thousands of civilians in the area, a main power plant, telecommunication towers and centers and even a prison holding ISIS detainees according to SDF, the Turkish land forces attempted to  cross into the Syrian side from the Tal Abyad axis. SDF sources claimed that its forces had managed to thwart the Turkish incursion attempt, and that the invaders withdrew back to the Turkish side after fierce resistance by Kurdish fighters.

Kurds have earned a reputation as hardcore experienced and well-polished guerrilla warriors, having been involved in fierce battles against ISIS and the Turkish army over the years. Prior to, and at the outset of the Turkish offensive, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, had pledged to take on the invading Turkish army, despite an unequal balance of military might in Turkey’s favor. Many Kurds regard their confrontation of the invading Turkish army and its puppets as a ‘war for survival’ that, if lost, could easily sell out any potential dream of an independent Kurdish entity in northeast Syria once and for all.

Initial regional and international reactions

Outrage, denunciation and condemnation of the Turkish aggression against Syria and its Kurdish population along the borders with Turkey were strong and quick to come. Apart from the ‘humane’ Turkish aggression, President Trump mentioned when debating the issue as bipartisan US legislators were working on a bill to sanction Turkey’s economy, other politicians, leaders and nations were much tougher, clearer and outright in their response.

US Senator Lindsey Graham, at regular loggerheads with Trump, called it “a disaster in the making”. France issued a strong condemnation of the Turkish offensive in Syria. Calling on the UN Security Council to intervene, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian tweeted: “I condemn the unilateral operation launched by Turkey in Syria.” Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Cyprus and other countries have rejected the Turkish invasion which breaches Syria’s sovereignty and posed ” a direct and serious threat to safety and security in the region”. Finland denounced the Turkish act of aggression and called for a complete and immediate stop on arms supplies to Turkey.

L'articolo Turkey Commences Military Operation in North East Syria proviene da InsideOver.