War

The Russian air force regularly monitors Luftwaffe Tornados conducting reconnaissance in Syrian airspace, according to a Lieutenant-General of the German Air Force, saying that both sides act professionally to prevent incidents. Russia Today reports: Russian pilots take no aggressive actions towards their German colleagues, such as intercepting them or attempting to force them out of the operations area, Joachim Wundrak told Rheinische Post daily.

Turkey shelled Syria for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as Ankara steps up efforts to bolster rebels in the face of an advance by the Kurdish YPG. “As many as 150 terrorists were killed during the 4-day-long shelling targeting PYD points,” the pro-government Yeni Safak wrote today, adding that “the PYD, backed by both the US and Russia, is working with President Bashar al-Assad to control areas along the Turkish border.”

Ukrainian authorities have said that the country needs to prepare for an imminent war between Russia and Ukraine, and have appealed to the international community to support the country militarily. An official from the Trilateral Contact Group told reporters:  “We can ask for help, and we need to get ready for a serious and long-term confrontation with Russia“. “One should call it the way we see it. Why?

Syria is preparing to protect its sovereignty via military force in the event of an invasion by Turkey or Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad has said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been caught funding ISIS militants in order to advance his Middle East agenda to kill Kurds in Syria, a Turkish MP has revealed.  “Erdogan uses ISIS [Islamic State/IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL] against the Kurds. He can’t send the Turkish Army directly to Syrian Kurdistan, but he can use ISIS as an instrument against the Kurds. He has a greater Ottoman Empire in his mind, that’s his dream, while ISIS is one of the instruments [to achieve it],” Selma Irmak, a Turkish MP from the Peace and Democracy Party told the Russian media on Monday. .