LIVE – Turkish Offensive in Syria: Daesh says it "liberated" women held by Kurds

NAPALM OR WHITE PHOSPHORUS?

Throughout the conflict that has ravaged Syria since 2011, the term napalm has been used to describe incendiary bombs made from napalm-like substances such as white phosphorus. Napalm is composed of gelled essence. White phosphorus can be used in particular to create a smoke screen, but it can also be used for the manufacture of deadly incendiary weapons, a use prohibited by international law.

HAS TURKEY USED NAPALM?

The Kurdish authorities in Syria on Thursday accused Turkey of using unconventional weapons like napalm in northern Syria, but Ankara denied the use of "chemical weapons" in its offensive against a Kurdish militia.

"In flagrant violation of the law and international treaties, Turkish aggression against (Ras al-Ain) is conducted with all types of weapons," lashed Thursday in a statement the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration. "In the face of the obvious failure of his plan, (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan resorts to internationally banned weapons, such as phosphorus or napalm," the statement said.

MISSION

US Vice President Mike Pence and US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo flew to Turkey on Wednesday with the goal of getting Ankara to stop its offensive against Kurds in Syria. "Our mission is to see if we can get a ceasefire, if we can negotiate," said Mike Pompeo to the press before boarding his plane. Mike Pence will meet the Turkish President on Thursday.

SANCTIONS

Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, said other US sanctions were being prepared against Turkey if a ceasefire was not implemented in its offensive against Kurds in Syria. They could target other Turkish ministries or industrial branches, said Donald Trump's finance minister during a briefing with journalists.

TENDED MEETING

In a meeting on Syria in the White House, Donald Trump treated the congressional Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, as a "low-level politician." "It was not a dialogue, it was rather a diatribe, a venomous rant that was not based on facts," said Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democratic Minority in the Senate, after the representatives of the opposition have decided to cut the meeting short. "We have seen the president crack, it's sad to say," said Nancy Pelosi, who launched last month an impeachment proceedings against Trump.

OFFICIAL VISIT

Ankara announced Wednesday night that President Erdogan will visit Russia on October 22 to meet Vladimir Putin. The meeting will take place in the seaside resort of Sochi, said the presidency in a statement, adding that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would make the round trip in the day. Vladimir Putin had invited the Turkish president in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

KURDS

Kurdish forces announced Wednesday night the freezing of their operations against Daesh. "We have frozen all our activities against Daesh," Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Mazloum Abdi said in a televised interview on the Kurdish channel "Ronahi". The FDS will be content with operations "defensive against Daesh", he added. The statement comes as Turkey is conducting an offensive against the Kurdish areas of northern Syria.

EMMANUEL MACRON

During a press conference in Toulouse with Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron held "to condemn the Turkish offensive in Syria to stop as soon as possible." Calling #Turkey to "take responsibility," the French president said it was "an attack likely to help Daesh to be reborn from the ashes".

"I think more and more that we will get this agreement," said Angela Merkel. "We are in the final sprint". "The echoes we have are positive," said Emmanuel Macron, stressing "the hope and willingness" of European leaders "to endorse an agreement" during the European Council.

Kobanî

Syrian regime troops and Russian soldiers entered Kobane, a Syrian Kurdish town on the Turkish border on Wednesday, under an agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish authorities to contain an Ankara offensive, according to an NGO.

BELGIAN LEAK

Two Belgian jihadists have escaped from a Kurdish prison, report The evening. According to the Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis (OCAM), "two male foreign terrorist fighters have escaped from a prison in northern Syria". There are currently 55 jihadists and 69 children linked to Belgium in the region, according to the director of OCAM.

THE DRIAN IN IRAQ

Edouard Philippe announces that Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is going tonight in Iraq to discuss the fate of jihadists in Syria.

TRUMP

"The Kurds are very well protected, and by the way, they are not angels," Donald Trump said Wednesday from the White House. The president is accused by his foreign allies of "abandoning" the Kurdish population by withdrawing US military troops from northeastern Syria.

A POSSIBLE "MIGRATORY WAVE"

"Europe must prepare for the possibility of a new wave of migrants and refugees." Faced with Turkish threats, to "open the doors" to the 3.6 million migrants on its soil, Athens raises the tone on the eve of its first European Council. The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, believes that it is "unacceptable" that "Europe can be the object of (such) blackmail".

The opportunity for the conservative leader to strongly condemn with AFP "Turkish incursion" in Syria because it could create "new migratory pressure" in Europe. "Ankara's behavior makes managing the migration problem even more complicated," Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

The leader of the conservative party recalled that he had already planned to return some 10,000 migrants to Turkey by 2020, as allowed by the EU-Ankara agreement of March 2016.

GREECE THREAT OF "SANCTIONS"

Faced with a possible migration crisis, Greece warns that it will not accept to "manage this problem alone", as was the case in 2015, when a million people were stranded on its shores. This "burden", as described by the Prime Minister in an interview with AFP, should be shared by all countries in a "European solidarity exercise".

In front of the Greek parliament, Kyriakos Mitsotakis had already threatened to ask for "specific sanctions" against European countries "which consider that this is not their problem at all".

With more than 46,000 migrants arriving in 2019, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Athens has managed more individuals than Spain, Italy, Malta and Cyprus combined.

"WE WILL NOT STOP"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan again rejected the establishment of a ceasefire in Syria, yet strongly demanded by France. "We will not stop our operations in Syria," said the Turkish leader in response to Western leaders, whom he accuses of not having "presented their condolences" after the deaths of "20 citizens killed and 170 citizens wounded" .

"Some leaders are trying to mediate, there is nothing in the history of the Turkish Republic to sit at the same table with a terrorist organization," he said.

The Turkish leader then "advised" "all the terrorists" in the "safe zone" determined by his country, to "lay down the weapons before tonight, destroy their traps, and leave the area."

EXILE

At least 500 Kurds from Syria have been forced to flee the last four days to Iraqi Kurdistan as the offensive of the Turkish army progresses in the north of the country, said officials Wednesday.

A provincial official in Dohouk told AFP that all these families had been escorted to IDP camps in north-western Iraq, where millions of displaced Iraqis had taken refuge since the breakthrough of Daesh in 2014. .

"CURRENT TIME" DJIHADIST CAMPS "NOT THREATENED"

"At present, the Turkish offensive and the positioning of the Syrian Democratic Forces have not resulted in these camps being threatened," said Jean-Yves Le Drian this morning. The Foreign Minister however recalled that this situation "offers all possibilities for the resurgence of Daesh". Asked about BFM TV, he described the situation in northern Syria as "extremely serious". And criticized a Turkish offensive, "unacceptable" and "reprehensible". "This territory is in a dramatic situation and calls into question our own security."

The French minister has renewed his desire to bring together the foreign ministers of the thirty countries that form the international coalition to know "what we do". "There is a need for clarification: put everything on the table, who does what, who keeps going, who stops."

INTERPELLATIONS IN NANTES

Three people, one woman and two men, were arrested in Nantes at 2:20 am on Tuesday night as they tried to set fire to and degrade the Turkish Consulate General, 20 Quai Francois Mitterrand. They were arrested and placed in police custody.

USA

The United States wants to continue to cooperate with Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, according to a senior Pentagon official.

"We are going to see what kind of support we can continue to provide to the SDS even if we have no more forces in the north of Syria," the top official told the press on Tuesday.

ERDOGAN REJECTS A POSSIBLE FIREFIGHTER

Responding to the Turkish daily HurriyetRecep Tayyip Erdogan categorically dismissed an American proposal to intervene for a ceasefire in Syria. "They tell us to 'declare a ceasefire' and we will never be able to declare a ceasefire," he told reporters on the plane that brought him back from a trip to Azerbaijan .

HUMAN LOSSES

Two soldiers of the Syrian regime were killed Tuesday by artillery fire by rebels protesters in the north of the country, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

In seven days, according to the OSDH, 71 civilians, 158 FDS combatants as well as 128 protesters were killed, while Ankara lamented the deaths of six soldiers as well as 20 civilians by firing rockets into towns. Turkey.

NO ESCAPES?

A senior US official said that the Turkish offensive had not generated, at this stage, "major" escape of jihadists, held in Kurdish prisons in Syrian territory. The only "notorious incident" is the disappearance of hundreds of displaced people, mostly women and children of jihadists.

On Monday, US Defense Minister Mark Esper had considered that "many dangerous detainees" had managed to escape after the Ankara offensive against a Kurdish militia.

Despite the military clash in the northeastern region of Syria, Kurdish forces still secure prisons. According to figures provided by the Kurds, about 12,000 jihadists are currently imprisoned, including 2,500 to 3,000 foreigners.

ATTEMPTS OF DESESCALADE

US Vice President Mike Pence and Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo will travel to Turkey on Wednesday, hoping to negotiate a ceasefire between Turks and Kurds in the north-east of the country. Mike Pence is expected to meet Recep Tayyip Erdogan the next day in Ankara. "Our number one goal is to deploy our diplomacy to try to achieve a ceasefire and bring the situation under control," said the vice president.

An attempt to de-escalate that may remain futile since Ankara announced Tuesday to continue its military operation, "with or without the support" of the international community. Turkey took the opportunity to denounce the "dirty market" concluded between the Kurdish forces and the Damascus regime in response to its offensive.

DENUNCIATION

Turkey and the United States carry a "very heavy responsibility" in the situation in north-east Syria and more widely "in the region", insisted Tuesday Edouard Philippe lamenting "devastating decisions".

"The responsibility of those who took these decisions will be very heavy in the region, very heavy in the way that Turkey on its side, the United States of theirs, will have to forge relations and develop relations with countries of the region and beyond, "insisted Philippe.

According to the Prime Minister, these decisions "call into question five years of effort of the coalition (international, ed) of which the Americans were the main partner" against the Islamic State (IS). "We see that the chaos that has begun to appear will promote the resurgence" of the IS, he still lamented.

UN

EU members of the UN Security Council have called for a further closed-door meeting on the Turkish military offensive in Syria scheduled for late Wednesday morning, AFP sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The session was requested by Belgium, Germany, France, Poland and the United Kingdom. A first meeting on Thursday had resulted in divisions of the Council and a declaration of the only Europeans calling for a halt to the Turkish offensive. Russia and China then blocked Friday a text of the United States also demanding the cessation of Turkish operations in northern Syria.

GERMANY

Five people were injured Monday night in clashes in Germany between members of Kurdish and Turkish communities, on the sidelines of a demonstration against Ankara's offensive against Syrian Kurds.

ENGLAND

London in turn suspends arms exports to Turkey, said the Foreign Minister. France and Germany had made the same decision a few days earlier.

HUMANITARIAN

The Kurdish authorities in Syria announced on Tuesday "the total halt" of humanitarian aid in areas under their control in the north of the country.

"The situation of the displaced has worsened in the areas targeted by (Turkish) aggression, with the total cessation of humanitarian aid, the cessation of activities of all international organizations and the withdrawal of their employees", after a statement from the Kurdish semi-autonomous administration.

GERMANY

German automaker Volkswagen said on Tuesday it has suspended its decision on the construction of a new factory in Turkey, saying "concerned" after the start of the Turkish offensive in Syria.

"The decision on the new factory was rejected by the board," said a spokesman for the manufacturer. "We are watching the situation closely and see the current developments with concern," he added.

The group had decided "in recent months" to install in Turkey its new production site in Eastern Europe, and not in Romania or Bulgaria, according to the daily Handelsblatt.

DAECH

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a Wall Street Journal column that his country would prevent Islamic State (IS) group fighters from fleeing northeastern Syria.

"We will make sure that no IS fighter can leave northeastern Syria," Erdogan wrote in the podium.

"We are ready to cooperate with countries of origin and international organizations for the rehabilitation of women and children of foreign terrorist fighters," he added.

UNITED STATES

Donald Trump on Monday urged Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "end the invasion" in Syria and declare an "immediate ceasefire," said his vice president Mike Pence. During a telephone conversation, the US president also asked his Turkish counterpart to begin "negotiations with Kurdish forces in Syria," said Pence, who said he will travel to Turkey soon. request of the Head of State. "President (Trump) has been very tough with President Erdogan today," said Mike Pence, speaking from the White House.

CHARGES

US Defense Minister Mark Esper called the Turkish military offensive "unacceptable", saying it had resulted in the "release of many dangerous detainees" from Daesh. Washington will ask NATO to take "measures" against Ankara, guilty of "undermining" the international anti-Islamic State mission in the country, said Esper in a statement.

FRANCE

During a telephone interview on Monday night, Emmanuel Macron insisted on Donald Trump's "absolute necessity to prevent a resurgence" of the Islamic State (IS) group with the Turkish operation against the Kurds and the departure of the Americans. northern Syria, said the Elysee. The President of the Republic also met with his Turkish counterparts Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Barham Saleh, said the presidency.

160,000 DISPLACED

The Turkish military offensive in northeastern Syria has led in a week to the displacement of at least 160,000 people, including 70,000 children, according to the UN. In a statement, his secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was "gravely concerned" by the situation and "calls for an immediate de-escalation".

SUPPORT

Erodgan thanked his ally Viktor Orban for his support for the offensive against Syrian Kurds, reports a Hungarian media outlet. The Turkish president is also due to visit Hungary soon.

TURKEY

After accusing the Kurds of voluntarily releasing jihadists imprisoned in Syria, Turkey has sharply rejected the EU's criticism of its offensive as a way of protecting terrorists. "The fact that the EU adopts an approach that protects terrorist elements is unacceptable," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday (October 14th).