The Moscow-brokered meeting between the defence ministers of Turkey and Syria last week was cordial, but the parties generally rejected each other’s core demands. The Turkish delegation led by Defence Minister Hulusi Akar rejected Damascus’ demands for designating all Syrian rebels as terrorists, a Turkish source told Middle East Eye.
ISIS has assumed responsibility for three operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria. ISIS’ claims came just days after the SDF announced the launch of Operation “Thunderbolt” targeting ISIS cells in the region in partnership with internal security forces and the US-led Global Coalition.
In January the opposition six-party election alliance will announce a joint presidential candidate for the upcoming Turkish elections. The potential presidential candidate of the bloc has been contentiously debated in Turkey for almost a year.
According to the previous Turkish law, a prisoner could only be released for medical reasons after the Forensic Medicine Institute provided a report in favour. A new memorandum removes this requirement and gives prosecutors discretionary powers over release decisions related to medical issues.
Lauren Cohen, the French Senator is fighting the “security secret” imposed by the French government on the 2013 assassinations of three Kurdish women in Paris. “Turkish National Intelligence Service’s responsibility must be recognised,” she said, adding that transparency on the 2013 incident could have prevented the recent 23 December Paris shootings that also targeted and killed three Kurds.
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