Turkey’s open military intervention in Syria, with the United States’ backing, evokes sharp condemnation from Russia and Iran, Syria’s allies in its war against terrorism.
THE TURKISH ARMY’S INCURSION INTO northern Syria, backed by tanks and artillery, opens another chapter in the ongoing brutal civil war in Syria. In the last week of August, the Turkish Army, with the United States’ air support, helped a rebel faction take control of the town of Jarabulus and its surrounding areas. The town was under the Daesh (Islamic State, or I.S.) control and was on the verge of being taken over by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). It was at this juncture that the Turkish government decided to intervene on the side of one of its proxy Syrian militias to keep the YPG out of the city. For the Turkish state, the biggest existential threat to national unity is the secessionist threat posed by the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). The YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK. In fact, many PKK fighters are in the Syrian battlefield helping the YPG.
The Syrian Kurds have seized control of vast tracts of territory along the border with Turkey and have established a virtual de facto state. The government led by Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan has made it clear that it will under no circumstances accept an independent Kurdish state across its borders. Turkey has been livid with the U.S., its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ally, for training, arming and financing the Syrian Kurds as they went about constructing a mini state. The PKK, which has been labelled a “terror group” by the U.S. State Department, has a free run in areas under YPG control. With sanctuaries in northern Syria and northern Iraq, the PKK now has the wherewithal to sustain a guerilla war in Turkey.
Denne historien er fra September 30, 2016-utgaven av FRONTLINE.
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Denne historien er fra September 30, 2016-utgaven av FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
