ISIS RESURGES IN SYRIA AMIDST TURKISH INVASION
Photo: Civilians fleeing from Baghuz, Syria to an SDF checkpoint in early 2019, after SDF forces took the final ISIS stronghold. (Credit: AFP)
Reports surfaced yesterday that Turkish-backed Islamist militiamen are releasing ISIS detainees from camps in Eastern Syria. US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity later confirmed the reports to multiple media outlets.
The disheartening news came just one day after almost 800 family members of ISIS fighters escaped from the Ain Issa detention camp in Northeast Syria. The breakdown in security at ISIS camps in Syria is raising international concern that the jihadist organization is reemerging after its caliphate was dismantled only months ago. The Kurdish-led SDF led the charge against the Islamic State for 5 years between 2014-2019, proving to be the most effective partner of the US-led Coalition in Syria, and has been responsible for administering over 12,000 ISIS detainees and 100,000 of their family members in several camps across the country. Many of the ISIS detainees are foreigners whose nations of origin refused to repatriate them for prosecution, leaving them in legal limbo in Kurdish territory.
Conditions were already dire in the camps at the beginning of October, before Turkey commenced Operation “Spring of Peace.” The overcrowded facilities lacked basic necessities and the radical Islamic teaching of ISIS was allowed to thrive unchecked. Factionalism, riots and mob justice had already threatened to spiral the camps beyond containment.
When the Turkish army and 14,000 of their militant Islamic Arab allies crossed the border into Northeast Syria on October 8, sleeper operatives of the Islamic State saw their opportunity to exploit the American withdrawal and the shift in the SDF’s focus. A string of bold and well-coordinated attacks followed:
On the same day that the Turkish invasion began, a group of ISIS fighters attacked local security forces at the al-Basel base in al-Raqqa. Despite a heated gun battle and the deployment of several suicide bombers, the attack was successfully repelled. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the fight in the capital of its former caliphate.
A massive vehicle-borne explosive detonated in Qamlishi on October 9, killing 3 and wounding 9 others. ISIS claimed responsibility for the blast in the border town that has served as the de-facto capital of the autonomous Kurdish government in Northeast Syria.
The al-Hol ISIS detainee camp was in an uproar as reports spread of jihaddist cells active in the area on October 11th.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a coordinated bombing and small-arms attack on an SDF checkpoint in Dayr al-Zur on October 14th, killing 4 militiamen.
The reemergence of ISIS in Syria is deeply troubling and distressing to Kurds in Iraq and Syria who fought so hard and sacrificed so much to defeat them. Turkey has a long-standing and well-documented tolerance for the jihadist group’s operation within its borders, even support. We would continue to ask our global partners to pray for a swift end to the Turkish operation, and that the specter of the caliphate would not be allowed to reemerge to threaten Kurdistan once again.
We covet your prayers, first and foremost. If you are also led to donate to the work that FAI is doing among our Kurdish friends and neighbors, you can do so here:
https://www.faimission.org/donate
Sources:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/12/turkeys-double-isis-standard/
https://www.businessinsider.com/contradicting-trump-us-officials-turkey-backed-forces-released-isis-2019-10
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/14/turkish-backed-forces-freeing-islamic-state-prisoners-syria/
https://twitter.com/IbnSiqilli/status/1183857754034696194
https://twitter.com/IbnSiqilli/status/1183857413004247040
https://twitter.com/SimNasr/status/1183713236664889345
https://twitter.com/SimNasr/status/1183389504926834690
https://twitter.com/YerevanSaeed/status/1182627480525557760
https://twitter.com/SirwanKajjo/status/1182707070388330497
https://twitter.com/Caki____/status/1181871797526024192
https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg/status/1182047367828267008
https://twitter.com/shervanderwish/status/1181714766525587456?s=21
https://twitter.com/AylinaKilic/status/1182675638085476352?s=20
https://w.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/10/islamic-state-targets-syrias-qamishli-with-car-bomb.php
https://twitter.com/akramsalih7/status/1181712706937720833?s=21
https://twitter.com/cmoc_sdf/status/1181707512577441792?s=21
https://twitter.com/sirwankajjo/status/1181706355704500224?s=21
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/13/kurds-say-785-isis-affiliates-have-escaped-camp-after-turkish-shelling
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/world/middleeast/syria-camp-isis-families-islamic-state-extremism.html
US ANNOUNCES FULL SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL, KURDS TURN TO ASSAD
A female Kurdish fighter looks on at the funeral of female politician Hevrin Khalaf, one day after Khalaf was brutally raped and murdered in Northeast Syria by Turkish-aligned militiamen. October 13, 2019 (Delil Souleiman, AFP)
The head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that his leadership reached an agreement with the Syrian regime in Damascus late Sunday to cooperate in a counteroffensive against invading Turkish forces. The announcement was published only hours after US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed that all US forces will be withdrawn from Northeast Syria (Rojava) as soon as possible, and after almost 800 family members of ISIS fighters broke out of a detention camp near the Turkish border the same day. The SDF deal with the Syrian Arab Army includes SAA deployment along the entire span of the Kurdish-controlled Turkish-Syrian border, as well as the reoccupation of large urban centers throughout Rojava by regime forces.
In a Foreign Policy article published online yesterday, commanding General Mazloum Abdi reminded his readers that the SDF lost over 11,000 men and women in the hard-fought, five-year war against the Islamic State, after which his forces maintained peace and protected democratic transition in the eastern third of Syria, while also guarding over 12,000 ISIS prisoners. Now, in the face of an overwhelming Turkish military operation to clear Northeastern Syria of Kurds and resettle Arab refugees in their place, General Abdi explained his decision to reach out to Russia and the brutal Assad regime for help, stating, “We know that we would have to make painful compromises with Moscow and Bashar al-Assad if we go down the road of working with them. But if we have to choose between compromises and the genocide of our people, we will surely choose life for our people.”
The beginning stages of that painful compromise became readily apparent today as Syrian army units began crossing the Euphrates by the hundreds, lowering the yellow SDF flag in cities such as Kobane and Raqqa, and raising the flag of the Syrian Arab republic for the first time in seven years. The cost of Syrian regime cooperation will likely by the end of Kurdish political autonomy in the east, the dismantling of the tolerant and pluralistic Democratic Federation of North and Eastern Syria, and the eventual dissolution of the SDF itself. The pill is as bitter to swallow for Syrian Kurds as it is necessary, considering that they had no citizenship in the Syrian state for a half-century between 1962-2012, they could not legally speak their own language in public, and they lost hundreds of square-kilometers of fertile farmland in the 1970’s when it was seized by the father of Bashar al-Assad and resettled by Arab farmers. But faced with an advancing Turkish army, the documented brutality of their Islamist proxies, a resurgent ISIS, and the lack of US military support, the specter of yet another Kurdish genocide made compromise with Assad the lesser of two evils. To date, almost 250 Syrian civilians have died and 130,000 have been displaced by “Operation Fountain of Peace,” as Turkish forces continue to advance far beyond the limits of their declared “safe zone.”
Only time will tell how consequential this campaign will be for the Kurds, the nation of Syria, and the entire region. We would encourage all of our global partners to join us in daily prayer for the safety and well-being of the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East, for the international community to place immense political and economic pressure on the regime of Turkish President Erdogan, for the Turkish operation to end quickly inside Syria with minimal casualties, and for the divine restraint of other bad actors in the region who would seek to capitalize on on the US withdrawal.
We covet your prayers, first and foremost. If you are also led to donate to the work that FAI is doing among our Kurdish friends and neighbors, you can do so here:
https://www.faimission.org/donate
You are also cordially invited to our upcoming Night of “Prayer for the Kurds” in the Presidential Ballroom of the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC on Sunday, October 27th, 2019. Registration is free, and you can find more details here.
https://www.prayforthekurds.org/
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/13/politics/us-troops-syria-turkey/index.html
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/13/kurds-assad-syria-russia-putin-turkey-genocide/
https://twitter.com/RojavaNetwork/status/1183722370802032640
https://twitter.com/RojavaNetwork/status/1183717451437092866
https://twitter.com/watanisy/status/1183713518094340099
https://twitter.com/RojavaNetwork/status/1183699054422888448
https://twitter.com/RojavaNetwork/status/1183699054422888448
https://twitter.com/HalaJaber/status/1183839352423698435
TRUMP, GRAHAM ISSUE NEW STATEMENTS ON SANCTIONS AND CEASEFIRE FOLLOWING CALL WITH ERDOGAN
Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham joined President Trump on a phone call with Turkish President Erdogan. Graham has been loudly critical of Trump’s withdrawal of US forces in Rojava, leading to a deadly Turkish offensive leaving many Kurds scrambling for their lives.
Both statements affirmed Trump’s threat of sanctions against the Republic of Turkey if a ceasefire is not immediately implemented and maintained. Trump also reached out to the SDF commander General Mazloum to express ongoing commitment to their safety despite US troop movement. Graham expressed encouragement following these conversations.
The conversations took place 24-48 hours after General Mazloum offered a concession with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in exchange for Syrian protection against Turkish forces.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
Sources:
https://twitter.com/lindseygrahamsc/status/1183886217928171520?s=21
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/13/kurds-assad-syria-russia-putin-turkey-genocide/
TURKEY ANNOUNCES SYRIAN INVASION, WHITE HOUSE ACQUIESCES, US FORCES PULL BACK
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows off a map of his proposed “safe zone” in Kurdish-majority Northeastern Syria during his address to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2019 (Credit: Brendan Mcdermid, Reuters)
After a buildup of forces and weaponry along the Syrian border and several publicized threats over the past week, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed US President Trump during a phone call early this morning of his decision to begin a military incursion into Northeastern Syria (Kurdish Rojava) without further delay. Although the details of the call are not yet clear, the White House released an abrupt statement shortly afterward, signaling their intent to terminate join military operations with Turkey and to order the withdraw US forces from the “immediate area.” Multiple sources on the ground in the area have confirmed the US withdraw from two border posts around Tel Abad, Syria, on the Turkish border.
The White House also surprised many analysts by announcing that Turkey will assume responsibility for ISIS detainee camps in Eastern Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The camps house roughly 12,000 ISIS prisoners and 70,000 of their family members, and have been under scrutiny lately, due to repeated warnings from SDF leadership that detainees have becoming increasingly radicalized and violent.
Considering the Turkish government’s long and documented history of tolerance (and even complicity) with ISIS inside Turkey, and in view of human rights abuses perpetrated on civilians by Turkish-backed militias the Afrin region during a previous Turkish incursion in 2018, many diplomats and members of US Congress have expressed outrage at the President’s decision. Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse characterized President Trump’s decision to acquiesce to Turkey as a “bad decision that will likely result in the slaughter of allies who fought with us, including women and children.” Former Trump UN ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted, “We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back…The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement claiming, “A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup.” South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, often considered one of Trump’s most fervent supporters in Congress, broke sharply with the president in a flurry of tweets and news interviews, stating “No matter what President Trump is saying about his decision, it is EXACTLY what President Obama did in Iraq with even more disastrous consequences for our national security.” He revealed that talks were already underway with Democratic Senate leadership for a bi-partisan sanctions bill against Erdogan’s government, in the eventuality that the Turkish president follows through on his plan to invade Rojava.
We are entering a critical season for the Kurdish people, and for the Middle East at-large. The coming days could see any number and degree of bleak humanitarian scenarios. There is evidence that the same Turkish-backed militias which committed human rights abuses in Afrin last year are already mustering for the Turkish invasion east of the Euphrates, and Kurdish leadership in Syria and Iraq are rightfully concerned about a resurgence of ISIS under the cover of a Turkish occupation in Syria. We are calling all of our global partners to join us in daily, fervent intercession for President Trump to reconsider his stance, for members of Congress and foreign governments to act within their power to stand up for the Kurds, and for a divine hedge of protection to be placed around the Kurdish people and other minority groups in Rojava.
Sources:
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/white-house-announces-turkey-will-soon-invade-syria.html
https://abcnews.go.com/International/turkey-set-invade-syria-us-remove-forces-area/story?id=66103777
https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1181191973367160834
https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1181249892527808512
ISRAEL, ARAB STATES DISCUSS TREATY AMIDST UNCHECKED IRANIAN ADVANCES
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saluting members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during a meeting in Tehran, October 2, 2019. (Credit: AFP)
A top US admiral in the Middle East warned this week that Iran has shown no signs of pulling back from its aggressive posture since striking Saudi oil facilities three weeks ago. On the contrary, the underwhelming international response to the attack appears to have only emboldened Iran, with Iranian leaders claiming victory over the United States in state-owned media outlets. Additionally, a recent series of German intelligence reports have detailed Iran’s lack of compliance with the JCPOA (Iranian Nuclear Deal) throughout most of the treaty period between 2015-2018, before President Trump withdrew the United States government from the agreement this year. However, despite clear evidence of Iranian subversion, the reports have been largely ignored by European powers and the UN atomic agency responsible for verifying Iranian compliance with the deal. In short, it would seem that the world is unwilling to hold Iran accountable for either its atomic subterfuge or its blatant regional aggression, giving the regime a sense of impunity. This reality has become increasingly apparent to the Saudi government, which has toned down its bellicose rhetoric since the Iranian attack in favor of diplomatic rapprochement.
At the same time, with the lack of an assertive response to Iran coming from either the United States or the EU, Israel and the Arab States have embarked upon an unprecedented diplomatic course. At the UN General Assembly last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz met with envoys from the Gulf States to discuss a “non-aggression pact” that would act as a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab Kingdoms, formalizing political and economic ties, and opening the door for military cooperation in the event of a wider regional conflict with Iran. Described as a “historic pact,” a draft of the document was circulated among the diplomatic teams with the knowledge and blessing of US envoy Jason Greenblatt. The treaty talks come at a critical time, as Iran is exploiting civil strife in both Syria and Iraq to consolidate their control over the northern half of the region, and as Turkey prepares a unilateral and illegal incursion into Northern Syria.
We would ask our global partners to intercede with us, that such a historic treaty would be realized, and that US and EU leadership would be granted the courage and wisdom needed to confront the deception and hegemony of the Iranian regime. We believe that a wider regional war is coming, and likely soon. We also know that not a hair falls from our heads without our Father’s knowledge. We covet your prayers for hedges of protection to be placed around the weak and vulnerable throughout the Middle East.
Shalom from Israel.
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-nuclear-activities-germany-world-powers
ERDOGAN STAGES REACH FOR MEDITERRANEAN OIL SUPPLY, PROVOKING CYPRUS/EU OFFICIALS
Andreas Manoli/EPA
ANKARA - Reports say a Turkish driller ship came as close as 51 nautical miles off Cyprus’ southwest coast have drawn criticism from both the government of Cyprus and European Union officials. Cyprus has been partitioned since a Turkish invasion in 1974, leading to a Turkish occupation of the island’s northern area recognized only by the Republic of Turkey. Access to oil resources in eastern Mediterranean waters remains a point of contention between the Turkish and Cypriot governments. August’s recent agreement between Israel, the U.S., and Cyprus last fall drew new lines against Erdogan’s clearly articulated ambitions to rebuild the Ottoman Empire.
Erdogan publicly outlined his regional and territorial ambitions several years ago, with his sights set on reclaiming ground lost to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. These nautical provocations related to the Mediterranean oil bed point to his broader goals to restore the fallen Caliphate, while claiming the entire island of Cyprus—which, though small, stands as a strategic point of access and resource for the eastern Mediterranean Basin.
Photograph: Andreas Manoli/EPA
Sources:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/352157.aspx
https://www.timesofisrael.com/greece-cyprus-israel-us-pledge-to-boost-energy-cooperation/
IRAN REGIME TAKES LEAD IN BRUTAL IRAQI CRACKDOWN, RAMPS UP NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Street demonstrations continued throughout Central and Southern Iraq today, as thousands of protesters took to the streets in defiance of 24-hour curfews. They were met by Iraqi security forces and PMU militias firing live ammunition, catapulting the death toll to over 100 after a fourth consecutive day of grassroots protests.
Many protesters claimed that Iran was responsible for the government's heavy-handed response, directing Iranian-linked militias to attack protesters in the streets and shoot them from rooftops. Some even claimed to hear security forces speaking Farsi, the native language of Persians in Iran. Infamous Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi to step down today, and for early elections to be held. Al-Sadr is closely linked to Iranian ayatollahs in Iran, and travels there often, suggesting that Iran may be both repressing the demonstrations while also exploiting them to topple the current government in favor of installing one that is even more compliant with Iranian meddling.
Meanwhile, Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced today that Iran would continue to ramp up its nuclear program next month, stating that the rollback of nuclear restrictions would continue "with precision until we attain the desirable outcome." He shrugged off the effect of US sanctions on the Iranian economy, claiming, "“the Americans have failed in their ‘maximum pressure’ policy." Both President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly vowed that they will use any means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining the means to build a nuclear weapons.
Shalom from Israel.
Sources:
https://www.al-monitor.com/…/iran-supreme-leader-nuclear-de…
https://twitter.com/eqanbar/status/1180177887229558785
https://twitter.com/thestevennab…/status/1180211342768099328
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https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/1180090188610985984
https://twitter.com/LawkGhafuri/status/1180143735906209792