This is definitely related to the Russian effort to have Syria, Turkey and Iran re engage and adhere to the Adana Agreement.

The FDD is very pro Israel. Lots of this is just disinfo. I’ll bold what is interesting to me. Hopefully, you’ll share some thoughts?

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made no secret of his enmity for the SDF (PKK)– a stalwart partner of the United States, which has led the fight (LOL) against the Islamic State (ISIS). Without SDF fighters- the broad majority of which are Syrian Kurds, the US would not have been able to eliminate the threat posed by ISIS.  (Was this threat eliminated? Not according to the latest news) Erdogan views the SDF as a terrorist entity that is a direct offshoot of its Turkish parent organization-the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a secessionist campaign in Turkey since the 1970s.

Erdogan views it as such because that’s what it is. A PKK rebrand. That’s what it has always been.

In truth, although the PKK and SDF do have organizational ties, (Yes, they are the same group!) the SDF has not threatened Turkey. (Well we know that’s a lie)

Until now Washington has chosen to agree to disagree with Turkey on its partnership with the SDF. (LIE)The Biden administration has tried to manage Turkey by indicating that they are closely working to ensure that Ankara’s security concerns are respected. (Bullbiscuits) Erdogan’s brazen act to assassinate General Abdi is an unacceptable escalation. Ankara and Washington may strongly disagree over the US’ continued partnership with the SDF, but attempting to assassinate its leader, and endangering the lives of US military personnel should not go unpunished. At present, there are close to 1000 US service members directly advising SDF forces, as they continue to eliminate the remnants of ISIS. What would be the US response if Turkey kills a US soldier? Must we really find out?

Simplest way to resolve this problem- Remove the US soldiers. End the occupation of Syria. The US shouldn’t be there.

The White House must inform President Erdogan that any attacks on SDF forces is unacceptable, and that any harm that befalls US service personnel will not be interpreted as unintentional. It is understandable (to a point) that Erdogan seeks to present himself as a decisive leader before his constituents, but not at the expense of US service members.

Easily resolved by the US taking their soldiers out of Syria and ending their occupation, annexation and resource theft. Doable and should be done!

Washington must stop humoring Erdogan, as not doing so is going to get US personnel killed. Recent reporting also suggests that Turkey has been playing both sides in the Ukraine war. While it has sold drones to Ukraine, it has also been selling weapons to Russian mercenaries-specifically, the Wagner Group. Accommodating Erdogan is not yielding Washington much in terms of tangible benefits. In fact, the more one digs, the more we discover how defiantly Erdogan is working against our interests. There is a small chance that he may be voted out of office in May. Until then the Biden administration should tell the Turkish President that all hostile moves against the US and its partners must end. With luck, Washington can work with his successor.

The US has already been interfering in the Turkish election. Because they want to choose the successor.

A meeting between the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Iran and Syria is expected to be held in Moscow next month, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on April 10.

“We think it will happen in a period at the beginning of May, according to the preliminary information we received from the Russians. It will be hosted by Russia in Moscow,” Çavuşoğlu said in a televised interview.

The last meeting held at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the relevant countries emphasized “dialogue,” Çavuşoğlu said.

The minister said that in the forthcoming meeting, the four ministers may also prepare for a possible leaders’ summit. The Turkish government does not take the elections in Türkiye into account in the timing of a possible meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, the minister underlined.

“Meeting with the regime, Assad or their ministers before or after the election will not be an advantage for us in the election, maybe it will be a disadvantage, but we do not make election calculations here. A crisis that has been going on for more than 11 years has not been resolved in this way or by other methods. Reconstruction of the country… It also requires lasting peace,” he stated.

The minister stressed that a permanent solution and peace in Syria is important both for Syria and other parties.

“A terror corridor could not be formed after our operations, we prevented it. Our operations against both DAESH and YPG/PKK prevented the formation of this corridor. However, the YPG/PKK terrorist organization, which both poses a threat to us and tries to divide Syria, is active especially in the northeast of Syria,” he said.

“On the other hand, although DAESH has disintegrated, there are cells. We need to have a joint fight against terrorism. Türkiye, Syria are the other countries to join, and Iran is also uncomfortable,” he stated.

I’ve written on this subject for years and years now. Independent Kurdistan is in the US and Israel’s interest. John Bolton has always been on board with anything beneficial to Usrael.

Independent Kurdistan in US interest: John Bolton

Let’s go back to January 6 2018,

Original url

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2018/01/kurdistan-big-block-on-silk-roadrimland.html

Internet archive

https://web.archive.org/web/20191114105534/https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2018/01/kurdistan-big-block-on-silk-roadrimland.html

The video used in 2018 is still available on Youtube

This is also connected to the Armenian/Azerbaijan conflict- Because the Usrael/PKK partnership are looking for a chunk of land in that area too.

Back before big tech censorship became so all pervasive, yours truly was one of the first people on line reporting on the American destabilization of Syria.. I had grown quite a readership, on that topic too. As well as having a Syrian, from Aleppo, regularly leaving comments about what was going on. As the situation worsened that commenter disappeared. Never to be heard from again. I expect that he went to Turkey. But can’t be sure, of course.

A ‘contractor’ was killed in a drone strike in occupied Syria. A contractor is, of course, the sanitized way of saying a mercenary/hired gun was killed. That will be our staring point for this latest news.

Oilprice.com

Late on Thursday, the U.S. conducted airstrikes in eastern Syria against Iran-affiliated groups after a U.S. contractor was killed in an attack with a drone that the U.S. intelligence community assesses to be of Iranian origin.

The intelligence community determined the UAV to be of Iranian origin, the U.S. Department of Defense added.

No idea how this was determined. However, the use of the word ‘determined’ leads me to suspect this may have been a false flag op to justify the airstrikes the US has been itchin’ to undertake. Determined does not suggest there is any evidence to support the claim. Determined just means that the US was committed to this idea and carried through as they desired

Joe Biden: U.S. will respond ‘forcefully’ to Iranian aggression after drone attack

But the US is not looking for a confrontation with Iran– Biden who suffering from split personality as well as dementia claims “We don’t ‘seek conflict with Iran’” -Yes, they are. That’s obvious. And they’ve looked for conflict with Iran for as long as I can recall. Think of the Iran/Iraq conflict. Where the US simply had Iraq do the dirty work. Like Ukraine at this time

“To make no mistake, the United States does not—does not, emphasize— seek conflict with Iran,” Biden said

But the strikes that we took last night were intended to send a very clear message that we will take the protection of our personnel seriously and that we will respond quickly and decisively if they’re threatened.”

Except American forces have no legitimate right or reason to be in Syria. If they were not illegal occupiers their mercenaries would be out of harms way.

DoD

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, at the direction of President Joe Biden, authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision strikes into eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder during a news conference today. “The airstrikes were conducted in response to yesterday’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he said. 

F-15E fighters assigned in Centcom launched the attack at approximately 2:40 a.m. local time. “We’re continuing to assess the outcome of the strikes,” Ryder said. “Initial indications are that the facilities were destroyed. These precision strikes were intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel, and the U.S. took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties.” 

This morning, Iranian-backed groups launched 10 rockets that targeted coalition forces at the Green Village in northeast Syria. The attack resulted in no injuries to U.S. or coalition personnel and no damage to U.S. equipment or facilities, Ryder said.  

Iran is a source of instability all around the region. Ryder noted-

And he said that with a straight face! We know that Saudi Arabia and Iran have recently made a reconciliation deal. That deal doesn’t speak of being a source of instability in the region.

“The United States and our coalition allies and partners … are focused on trying to ensure stability, security in these regions,” Ryder said

Canada has relocated 425 White Helmet terrorists to Canada

This gives me the warm, fuzzies for sure- NOT

Members of the White Helmets, a volunteer search-and-rescue force that has been credited with saving lives in Syria, have arrived in Canada.

Being credited with something doesn’t mean that’s what actually occurred. And the White Helmets ended more lives in Syria than they saved, if they saved any lives at all- Other than their own

That year, 422 members of 50 White Helmet families were moved through the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, and then onward to Jordan, where they were to remain until they could be resettled abroad. This was a result of diplomatic arrangements that officials in Ottawa had helped broker.

While most members of the group were rapidly resettled in Canada, Britain or Europe, more than 40 people remained in limbo for years.

Those suspected of ties to militant groups or any efforts to overthrow “any state” can legally be barred from coming to Canada.

But it has never been clear whether concerns like those were behind the delay in this case. The standoff persisted for years, even as Canadian government officials vowed to relocate several of the families. In the fall of 2021, Global Affairs Canada announced it had moved one family to an undisclosed third country.

Nearly five years on, it is not clear how the impasse was resolved.

Any of my readers recall these murderous monsters sawing the head off of a child in Syria. I do. The little I did see of that atrocious video was simply horrific.

Italian rapprochement with al- assad backed by right wing but constrained by the west

Italy took the initiative to respond to the Feb.6 earthquake in the regime-held areas with rapid and successive steps and under humanitarian cover. It was the first European country to send two aid convoys via Lebanon on the seventh day of the earthquake, which included four ambulances and six packages of medical supplies.

Right-led steps

Meloni, before assuming the presidency of the Italian government, showed strong support for al-Assad’s remaining in power, as well as her support for the survival of his Russian ally, Iranian militias, and Hezbollah within the Syrian map.

Meloni leads the Brothers of Italy party, which belongs to the extreme right-wing, which makes her support for the Syrian regime linked to allegations that “the Christian community in Syria is still standing thanks to the government of the Syrian regime, Russia, Iran and (Hezbollah),” according to what she mentioned during a press statement in 2018.

Meloni isn’t wrong about that. Had it not been for Assad the Christian community would have been obliterated. Many were cleared out when the PKK ethnically cleansed vast swathes of territory and they relocated to parts of Syria controlled by Assad.

Italy’s steps towards rapprochement with the regime could reach the extent of reopening the Syrian embassy in Rome and the Italian embassy in Damascus, noting that this will not happen soon, Scalinci said.

Italy’s relationship with the US and European countries is a major factor that explains why Italy did not give full legitimacy to the Syrian regime and avoided formalizing diplomatic relations with the Damascus regime, according to the GSA’s executive director, Cafiero.

Syria Condemns

In his snap visit Saturday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met U.S. troops stationed in areas of war-torn Syria under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"Syria strongly condemns the illegal visit of the American chairman of the chiefs of staff to an illegal American military base in northeast Syria."

Milley’s visit was "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity" of Syrian territory, the official added according to SANA, calling on "the U.S. administration to immediately cease its systematic and continued violation of international law and support for separatist armed groups."

Turkey Summons US diplomat over visit

Turkey on Monday summoned US ambassador Jeff Flake to convey its discomfort about the top US general’s visit to northeast Syria, controlled by Kurdish-dominated militias, over the weekend, a foreign ministry source said.

These Kurdish dominated militias are the PKK rebranded to obfuscate the consorting of the US with terrorists. As if that’s anything new?

The US claims the meeting only included US troops

“It’s our understanding that General Milley met only with US troops”

Weasel wording “It’s our understanding” No need to be in attendance to understand they met the US troop and their Kurdish partners-

Turkish statements about rapprochement with Damascus have returned to the fore again. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came out on Sunday with statements calling for a Syrian-Russian-Turkish meeting, pointing out the possibility of Iran joining this meeting for the first time.

He said in remarks quoted by the Anadolu Agency: Let Turkey, Russia and Syria meet, and Iran can join, and let us hold our meetings along these lines. We have obtained and continue to obtain results in this regard.

So the Astana Trio want Syria to come to the table!

Arab diplomatic sources in Ankara contacted by Al-Watan talked about the support enjoyed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by countries considered allies of Damascus, namely Iran and Russia. This comes against the background of information that the Turkish opposition, which will present its candidate to confront Erdogan, is completely inclined towards the West, specifically the United States.

No surprise reading the above bolded statement- Turkish opposition candidate completely inclined towards the US.

The sources pointed out that the declared transatlantic tendencies of the Turkish opposition seem to be one of the most important reasons that made the allies of Damascus to have an interest in supporting Erdogan’s survival in power, and thus supporting all steps that will contribute to raising the voting rates for him in the upcoming July elections, in which Erdogan and the upcoming Turkish policy stand at a crossroads.

I believe, correct me if mistaken, the election is in May 2023. I’ve seen May 14th reported previously.

The sources pointed out that Moscow’s involvement in its war in Ukraine and the subsequent Western pressure and the attempt to encircle Russia economically, and Erdogan’s ability to suggest that his country stands neutral towards this war made Erdogan and his party a Russian need to stay in power. This comes without neglecting his success in maintaining a good and extended relationship with Tehran, which considers the arrival of Erdogan’s Atlantic opponents to power is not in its interest.

The sources revealed that Damascus, which was surprised (don’t think so!) by the leaks that talked about setting the middle of this month as a date for the tripartite meeting that was supposed to bring together the foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey and Russia in Moscow, announced its refusal to hold any meeting unless it was fruitful towards meeting its demands.

The sources added: Syria does not want to be in a meeting for the sake of meetings and media, which will inevitably invest in the internal electoral conflict. Damascus, which is loyal to its Russian and Iranian allies, does not see itself as concerned with the Turkish elections as much as it is concerned with its supreme interests and the interest of the Syrian people.

I’d say that Damascus has a ‘supreme interest’ in making peace in the region for it’s interests and the interests of it’s people!

The sources pointed out that Damascus has not yet given any opinion regarding the Turkish elections and has not announced its inclination to any Turkish party. The Turkish opposition announced its electoral papers for Syria. It confirmed its intention to push for dialogue with it. Some of its leaders stated their intention to pay compensation to Damascus for the damage caused by Erdogan’s policy. In contrast, others asked the leaders of the Turkish opposition to meet with President Assad, and worked to promote through the Turkish media these intentions, which they even support.

US and Israeli-backed armed Kurdish separatists on the Iraqi border have participated in every incident of Iranian domestic strife, from 2009 to 2022.

”

Since April 2003, after the illegal US invasion of Iraq, West Asia transformed into a vast playground for an array of foreign states and entities. Among them are Iranian Kurdish separatist parties and organizations stationed in northern Iraq.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) often targets the sites of these armed militias with airstrikes because of the separatist threat they pose. But why are these groups even based in Iraq, and do Baghdad and Erbil play any direct role in hosting militias that target Iranian territory?

These questions persist – unanswered – bar the ever-present Iranian military responses, as in September when the IRGC carried out targeted drone and missile strikes against separatist Kurdish militias for 13 consecutive days.

When the operation concluded on 7 October, the IRGC announced it had achieved its goals,” but warned that it “will resume its operations, if the threat to Iran’s national security returns again.”

Iranian Kurdish separatists

The most prominent of these Kurdish militias is the Kurdistan Free Life Party (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistanê – PJAK), whose activities against Iranian interests suddenly escalated after the US occupation of Iraq.

After 2004, PJAK appeared for the first time as an armed force, in the same areas controlled by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) led by Abdullah Ocalan. The PKK are primarily based in the Qandil Heights in the far north-east of Iraq, which lies within the Zagros Mountain range that extends deep into Iranian territory.

PKK and PJAK are nearly one in the same- it’s an obfuscation to distract from reality.

The “East Kurdistan Forces” are the military arm of the anti-Iran Kurdish militia, and its fighters are estimated to be between 800 and 1,200, most of them from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and various Kurdish regions.

In a series of articles published in The New Yorker in 2006, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that the US and Israel were training this party and supporting it financially and with intelligence in order to undermine Tehran.

Shortly after its invasion of Iraq, the administration of US President George W. Bush began a covert program to train and equip PJAK, with Israeli assistance. “The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran,” Hersh reported, as “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.”

Taking advantage of social unrest

The recent and on-going unrest witnessed in a number of Iranian cities following the death of the young Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, while in police custody on 16 September, provided an opportunity for PJAK and other Kurdish separatist parties to step up their subversive activities.

The Cradle’s Iraq correspondent was able to reach sites targeted by IRGC in the town of Koysanjak (60 km east of Erbil, the capital of the KRI) near the Iranian border, and to approach one of the largest camps of PJAK in one of the town’s valleys, surrounded by a mountain range.

It is almost impossible for journalists to reach these sites. We had to travel disguised – without our cell phones or cameras – alongside local villagers and with a Kurdish coordinator who arranged our visit. The militia fighters often shop in villages surrounding the camp.

However, “their goal is not to shop, but to carry out security and intelligence operations that the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil turns a blind eye to,” confirms a shepherd who moonlights as a tobacco and fuel smuggler on both sides of the border.

He estimates the number of fighters here to be just over 1,000, The mountains provide a comfortable and secure space to carry out their military activities, which include daily exercises and a live-fire military drill in the Autumn.

‘Dangerous dreamers’ (reminiscent of the presentation of the US backed fighters in my 2016 report as eloquent speakers)

Our source calls the PJAK fighters “dreamers” because their military arsenal dates back to the 1950s, and includes light weapons, explosive devices, mortars, and anti-vehicle mines. “The Americans will not give these people modern weapons,” adds the smuggler, who fought in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and has experience in traversing the rugged border terrain.

Nevertheless, he warns that these people are “dangerous,” with “Eastern Kurdistan Forces” now transitioning to security work and “management of operations” inside Iran. Their work is conducted in cooperation with special forces from the Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the “coalition” forces (which are mainly US troops).

This cooperation is not new, and has accompanied every major incident of internal civil strife witnessed by Iran since at least 2009, including turmoil in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and most recently, 2022.

Iraqi Kurdish links to PJAK

Officially, the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which are the two main political parties in the Kurdistan region, deny any connection with PJAK. However, Kurdish leaders acknowledge the existence of “coordination,” “transmission of messages,” and “exchange of information” with the militia group. The KDP has previously called on PJAK and PKK to lay down their arms.

Certainly, it would be difficult – if not impossible – for PJAK to manage activities of this magnitude on Iraqi territory, and to globally market themselves as “freedom fighters,” without the collusion and support of both Kurdish and Iraqi authorities.

A high-ranking Iranian diplomatic source with experience in Baghdad for more than ten years, confirms the existence of a tripartite committee that includes representatives from Tehran, Baghdad, and Erbil to exchange information about the “subversive activities” carried out by PJAK against Iran.

The committee does not, however, hold regular meetings, and the Iranians have become convinced that its trouble-shooting initiatives are not serious because of Baghdad’s ineptitude, and because of the involvement of foreign states in supporting the separatists.

This has prompted Tehran to adopt a policy of “force to deter what threatens its national security,” with one or two officials in the Iraqi state being informed half an hour before any Iranian military strike operations commence.

The diplomatic source, who has military experience, adds: “We constantly monitor everyone who visits PJAK sites, the movements of its fighters, all their steps, and the support they receive. We broadcast recordings of the moment of the bombing to assure the separatists and the intelligence services that support them that we know their locations very well.”Baghdad turns a blind eye

Baghdad turns a blind eye (Iraq is so fractured Baghdad is nearly irrelevant)

Yet in Baghdad, official sources deny the existence of a tripartite committee, as well as any prior warning of Iranian airstrikes. In fact, a high-ranking Iraqi officer even informed The Cradle that there are headquarters and safe houses for Kurdish separatists and their leaders in both Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, with coordination between PJAK and the PKK.

There is also evidence that the separatist militias are active in illegal, cross-border activities that generate revenues for PJAK which, in turn, enable it to pay its fighters’ salaries. Baghdad is aware of all this, sources say, but turns a blind eye.

Safe-guarding Iran’s territorial integrity

The high-ranking officer claims, nevertheless, that Iraq’s new Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani is serious about his initiative to establish a new Border Guards Force stationed between the region of Turkiye and Iran, and to prioritize supporting these forces with human resources, weapons, and modern equipment.

But the source has also expressed pessimism over this border venture, and expects the continuation of PJAK’s activities in the mountainous area they know so well.

He points out that Tehran “will not be convinced of the Iraqi field and military measures. The Iranians know our capabilities. The presence of the separatists at their borders will remain a source of security concern. And they told us that they will not stand hands folded in the face of this threat.”

“Practically,” he concludes, “Tehran is the one that controls the borders in the area of the Jasusan mountain range.”

Needless to say, as a sovereign state Iran will adopt a proactive stance in confronting threats to its national security posed by foreign-backed, separatist groups – even though this may undermine the sovereignty of its weaker Iraqi neighbor.

Turkey and Syria’s rapprochement aided by Russia is making the USrael backed fighters concerned….

While it is collectively in the interests of Iran, Iraq and indeed Turkiye and Syria to co-ordinate over this mutual ethno-nationalist, separatist, security threat, Baghdad has been too slow to rise to the challenge.

Instead, we may see this process begin first in the Northeast of Syria, where all four states are currently gathered in heightened concern over militarized Kurdish separatism, its foreign sponsors, and the imminent threat of a military confrontation.