Turkey Kurd Conflict

The capture of Afrin from the Kurds by Turkish-led fighters on Sunday could have major repercussions for Syria's protracted war.

Syria's U.S.-backed Kurds are getting indirect help from an unlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region of Afrin: President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States on Tuesday announced it would supply arms and military equipment to Kurdish fighters battling ISIS in Syria, a move likely to anger key ally Turkey which considers the Kurdish forces to be terrorists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said Syrian Kurdish militia forces must remain outside the scope of a ceasefire agreed between Syria's warring parties, just like ISIS terrorists and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

The blanket curfew in Silopi lasted 36 days as clashes raged between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants. Finally it was lifted, allowing residents to come to terms with the scale of the destruction in their hometown.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today hosted Turkey's pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas for talks on the Syrian conflict and Moscow's potential support for Kurdish groups fighting ISIS.

Kurdish militia advanced today to the gates of a strategic jihadist-held town on Syria's northern border with Turkey amid fierce fighting with the Islamic State group, a local commander told AFP.

American-led forces have sharply intensified air strikes in the past two days against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria's Turkish border after the jihadists' advance began to destabilise Turkey.

The UN refugee agency warned Tuesday that as many as 400,000 people may flee to Turkey from Syria's Kurdish region to escape attacks by the Islamic State group.

More than 300 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Syria from Turkey to help push back an Islamic State advance on a Kurdish border town, a group monitoring Syria's conflict said on Saturday.

The capture of Afrin from the Kurds by Turkish-led fighters on Sunday could have major repercussions for Syria's protracted war.

Syria's U.S.-backed Kurds are getting indirect help from an unlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region of Afrin: President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States on Tuesday announced it would supply arms and military equipment to Kurdish fighters battling ISIS in Syria, a move likely to anger key ally Turkey which considers the Kurdish forces to be terrorists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said Syrian Kurdish militia forces must remain outside the scope of a ceasefire agreed between Syria's warring parties, just like ISIS terrorists and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

The blanket curfew in Silopi lasted 36 days as clashes raged between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants. Finally it was lifted, allowing residents to come to terms with the scale of the destruction in their hometown.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today hosted Turkey's pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas for talks on the Syrian conflict and Moscow's potential support for Kurdish groups fighting ISIS.

Kurdish militia advanced today to the gates of a strategic jihadist-held town on Syria's northern border with Turkey amid fierce fighting with the Islamic State group, a local commander told AFP.

American-led forces have sharply intensified air strikes in the past two days against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria's Turkish border after the jihadists' advance began to destabilise Turkey.

The UN refugee agency warned Tuesday that as many as 400,000 people may flee to Turkey from Syria's Kurdish region to escape attacks by the Islamic State group.

More than 300 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Syria from Turkey to help push back an Islamic State advance on a Kurdish border town, a group monitoring Syria's conflict said on Saturday.