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[redwallzyl]

As much as ISIS is bad giving a county the ability to remove citizenship at will like that for people leaving them stateless is a terribly dangerous precedent to set.

[smjjames]

"Sadly we have no ocean here, or we would put them in rubber boats to Europe"

Is the SDF seriously threatening Europe? Not very clever is it, when the US has dropped support, to then threaten the last of your allies when Turkey is attacking.

I strongly suspect the commander was being sarcastic there.

Does sound pretty tongue-in-cheek, and apparent reference to the migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in rubber boats.

[martinuzz]

Assad has decided to send the Syrian army to Afrin, to help the Kurds defend themselves against Turkish attacks. They should arrive within two days, and will take positions overseeing the Syrian-Turkish border. Assad considers the Turkish operation as a violation of the territorial integrity of Syria.
Even though he has been very clear that he will not allow the Kurds to secede from Syria and form their own state, the Turks are a worse enemy.

[Strife26]

Assad has decided to send the Syrian army to Afrin, to help the Kurds defend themselves against Turkish attacks. They should arrive within two days, and will take positions overseeing the Syrian-Turkish border. Assad considers the Turkish operation as a violation of the territorial integrity of Syria.
Even though he has been very clear that he will not allow the Kurds to secede from Syria and form their own state, the Turks are a worse enemy.

The Middle East: Strange Bedfellows: the Region

[Sheb]

So now we will have US troops fighting alongside Assad against a NATO member? :p

[miljan]

Well, thanks to Turkey Afrin will be back under SAA control. I think now that Kurds will be disarmed in the coming days, Turkey will stop the progression soon and declare victory as the kurdish militia will be disarmed. I really wonder was this planed out and agreed upon, and the reason why russia and syria didn't put that much fuss about turkey invasion, so they can push kurds to an agreement and disarmament.

Will see how this turns out.

EDIT
It looks like this news are not confirmed yet, as there is no official response form both SAA and Kurds

[Strife26]

So now we will have US troops fighting alongside Assad against a NATO member? :p

Yep, this will of course trigger a loyalty cascade as everyone in NATO is required to take appropriate actions against the United States to defend Turkey, against Turkey to defend the United States, against everyone else in NATO for their actions against NATO, and finally against themselves for all of the above.

Somehow, once everything is settled, Poland gets partitioned between Brazil and Iceland.

[miljan]

So, it was all misinformation. There is no SAA moving to Afrin. There are volunteers from pro government militia that fought with hezbollah and SAA that are now joining Kurds in Afrin to fight against Turkey.

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah, I'm not exactly going to cry for them, but generally I'm wary of giving the state the right to strip someone of his rights witout proper judicial review. Sure, the ISIS dude and dudette deserve it, but you know that they're eventually going to want to use the powers granted in such case for other stuff. And then of course you have the more general issue that you can't just dump your crap on the SDF and force them to deal with it. I sure wouldn't be happy if a country had revoked the citizenship of a jihadi that had travelled to Belgium to prevent us from deporting him.

I'm more wary of enemy combatants enjoying your legal protection while they kill you tbh. This isn't a punitive judicial measure, nor a political decision made to spite the SDF and force them to deal with the fighters we've tried to bomb to death. It was a measure designed to stop jihadis using British passports to set up their networks throughout Europe, because the EU still doesn't know how to run border security and is very willing to allow jihadis to take a train into Belgium because they have the right passport rights. Given that they haven't stopped fighting, training or stockpiling weapons, nor have they given up their goal to destroy their host nation, you can understand why I am more confused by the reaction that the UK has done anything wrong in limiting the ability of Syrian mercenaries to travel through the Schengen area legally. I would much rather have it be that they were all captured by British forces, but as that is not impossible without an invasion of Syria, you can also perhaps understand why I'm nettled at the notion the UK isn't dealing with the cards it's been dealt D:

[Descan]

The main problem pointed out here is the same as it always is: Give them the power to do something like this in these circumstances, and they'll eventually take that power and expand it into other, less clear-cut circumstances.

You know the old thing. "First they came for the communists..."

Not to mention, it reeks of "Not Our Problem," for them to merely strip a jihadi of citizenship (especially before they've been brought before a judge and trial) without actually doing anything about them; putting them on trial, jailing them, etc.

[Loud Whispers]

The main problem pointed out here is the same as it always is: Give them the power to do something like this in these circumstances, and they'll eventually take that power and expand it into other, less clear-cut circumstances.

I'm not too bothered, it's a step down from a military strike

You know the old thing. "First they came for the communists..."

"...So I let jihadis bring the war home"? Allow that fam

Not to mention, it reeks of "Not Our Problem," for them to merely strip a jihadi of citizenship (especially before they've been brought before a judge and trial) without actually doing anything about them; putting them on trial, jailing them, etc.

I don't think you're giving credit where credit's due, the UK has been rather proactive in sorting out this problem. Billions of pounds of air strikes and no one notices lol

[martinuzz]

Palestianian premier Rami Hamdallah narrowly escaped with his life when his car was blown up by a roadside IED.
Some of the people he was travelling with were injured, no one was killed.

The Palestinian government blames Hamas for the assassination attempt.

The past few years, Palestinian president did not hold back on trying to pressure Hamas into peace talks and reunification.
The Palestinian government restricted the supply of electricity and medicine to Gaza last year, further worsening the already bad quality of life there.

[martinuzz]

Turkey reports that they have conquered the Kurdish city of Afrin, and driven the 'terrorists' (the US-backed YPG) from the city.
Turkish media published images of Turkish tanks and flags in the city.

The London-based Observatory for Human Rights however reports that there's still heavy resistance from YPG fighters in the city.

Turkey denies allegations by various observers that more than 300 civilians were killed, and also denies bombing a hospital in Afrin this weekend.
Note that Turkey's action is in complete disregard of the UN's plea for a humanitarian cease fire.

Analists now wonder if Turkey will have it's troops advance further, to Manbij. This could lead to a direct confrontation between Turkish troops, and US troops assisting Kurdish fighters in Manbij.

https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/afrin-gevallen-turkse-tanks-rijden-door-koerische-stad~a4581643/

[Loud Whispers]

When it mentions Turkish flags, are they insinuating Turkish annexation?

Oh FFS, why do they always go after the statues?

[redwallzyl]

When it mentions Turkish flags, are they insinuating Turkish annexation?

Oh FFS, why do they always go after the statues?

statues are a large and physical form of propaganda. Everyone always goes for the statues.