Turkey-Backed Fighters Clash with Kurds in Syria

Turkey-Backed Fighters Clash with Kurds in Syria

Published on Oct 29, 2019 VOA

Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters clashed with Kurdish forces near Tal Tamr, Syria, Monday, October 28, following a deal between Russia and Turkey to remove Kurdish fighters from the border.
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A wave of arrests against Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party is accompanying the country’s military operation into Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia, which has been a U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State terrorists. Analysts warn that the crackdown is broadening to include Turkey’s wider civic society.

Seven elected mayors from the opposition HDP were removed from office and arrested on terrorism charges earlier in October. The arrests coincided with Operation Peace Spring, which Turkey launched three weeks ago in northeastern Syria against the YPG. Ankara designates the YPG as a terrorist organization linked to the group PKK, which has been waging a decades-long insurgency inside southeastern Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the arrests, accusing the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, a charge the party denies. Rights groups say October’s military operation in Syria is being used to further the increased HDP crackdown. VOA