August 2016 – Page 8 – odiaspora.org

Europe’s refugee crisis simmers despite efforts to solve it

29 August 2016

BERLIN: Faced with more than 1 million migrants flooding across the Mediterranean last year, European nations tightened border controls, set up naval patrols to stop smugglers, negotiated an agreement with Turkey to limit the numbers crossing, shut the Balkan route used by hundreds of thousands, […]

Syrian Army Secures Daraya after Terrorists Evacuation

29 August 2016

Syrian army units have been working on Sunday to secure the town of Daraya following the terrorists’ evacuation on Saturday. Al-Manar correspondent in Damascus reported that the Syrian army engineering units dismantled the explosives and mines left by the terrorists in order to pave the […]

Saudi Fueled Global Extremism, Contributed to Terrorism: Report

29 August 2016

A new report raised questions over the Saudi Arabia’s role in fueling the global extremism across the world. Scott Shane wrote in the New York Times that it has become a commonplace to think that “Saudi Arabia’s export of the rigid, bigoted, patriarchal, fundamentalist strain […]

Barrel bombs dropped on Aleppo funeral wake for children

29 August 2016

ALEPPO, Syria, Aug. 28 (UPI) — Two barrel bombs were dropped on a funeral wake for children in Aleppo, Syria, killing at least 16 people. The wake was taking place in the rebel-controlled neighborhood of Bab al-Nayrab, the same place where some 15 people were […]

Too Many Fronts: Ankara Should Send Olive Branch to Kurds, Boost Russian Ties

29 August 2016

It seems that Turkey is attempting to fight a war on several fronts; this was never the plan, expert Stanislav Tarasov wrote for the Russian news agency Regnum. A Turkish army tank and an armoured vehicle are stationed near the Turkish-Syrian border in Karkamis in […]

Turkish Operation in Syria to Continue Until Kurdish Threat Eliminated – Erdogan

29 August 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish operation in northern Syria will continue until Ankara eradicates the roots the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). ANKARA (Sputnik) — Ankara will continue its Euphrates Shield military operation in northern Syria until the threat posed by […]

Two Birds With One Stone: US ‘Sacrifices’ Its Kurdish Allies in Syria

29 August 2016

By sacrificing its Kurdish allies in northern Syria, Washington wants to mend relations with Ankara and prevent Turkey from strengthening its ties with Moscow, thus far killing two birds with one stone, expert on Middle Eastern affairs Jean Perier believes. Washington’s Kurdish allies in Syria […]

Behind the Smokescreen: What Turkey is Aiming For in Its Syrian Campaign

29 August 2016

Amid an intense Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, experts wonder what it is that Ankara is actually after there: while its operations have been carried out “under the guise of fighting against Daesh”, speculation exists that this has little to do with the real […]

Or We’ll Force Them Out’: Kurdish PYD Demands Turkey’s Withdrawal From Syria

29 August 2016

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party demanded an immediate withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria after Ankara had launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarablus from Daesh. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) demands that Turkey immediately withdraws its forces from […]

The war in Syria was already complicated. Now a border skirmish is adding a new level of intrigue

29 August 2016

Syrian rebels backed by Turkish tanks clashed with Kurdish-aligned militiamen near a border city on Saturday, opposition groups and Kurdish factions said, adding yet another complication to the morass of Syria’s civil war. The battle marked a breakdown of a fragile equilibrium that had been […]

U.S. intelligence sees Islamic State as weakened after series of defeats

29 August 2016

The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies now view Islamic State as a shrinking and increasingly demoralized military force, a sharp shift from the seemingly invincible extremist army that declared an Islamist caliphate two years ago. The revised assessment comes after surprisingly swift and relatively bloodless […]

Syrian rebels advance on Kurds as Turkish strikes kill 35

29 August 2016

BEIRUT >> Turkey-backed Syrian rebels seized a number of villages and towns from Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria on Sunday amid Turkish airstrikes and shelling that killed at least 35 people, mostly civilians, according to rebels and a monitoring group. Turkey sent tanks across the […]