According to Kurdish forces, Turkey’s intervention could have fatal consequences. Israel apparently wants to consolidate its presence in Syria. All developments in the news blog.
7:18 a.m.: The Kurdish Women’s Defense Unit YPJ has warned of further escalation by Turkish-backed Islamist militias in Syria. According to a statement from the YPJ quoted by the Kurdish news agency ANF, the Turkish secret service is planning to attack prisons where IS members are imprisoned. The YPJ fears that the liberation of the IS fighters will lead to a resurgence of the Islamist terrorist militia.
The YPJ is active in northern Syria, i.e. in the border area with Turkey. After the fall of Assad, Turkey increased its influence here and, among other things, captured the cities of Mandibsh and Tel Rifaat. The stated aim is to prevent further Kurdish organization in the area. The Kurdish minority has been oppressed in Türkiye for a long time.
4:07 p.m: The Israeli government has approved a plan to invest the equivalent of more than ten million euros in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan aims to double the population there, his office said. Currently, more than 50,000 people live on the rocky plateau, just over half Jewish Israelis and the rest Druze and Alawites.
The background to the decision was the war and the “new front” with Syria, the statement said. After the coup in Syria, Israel moved troops to areas beyond the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights. They moved into a so-called buffer zone, which is under UN surveillance in accordance with the 1974 ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu said during the government meeting: “Strengthening the Golan means strengthening Israel, and it is particularly important at this time.” The plateau will be “held, made to bloom and populated”.
The Golan Heights is a strategically important rocky plateau, approximately 60 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. It was conquered by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. But this was not recognized internationally. Under international law, the areas are considered Israeli-occupied territory of Syria. Former and future US President Donald Trump formally recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory in March 2019, thereby completing a U-turn in US foreign policy.
2:13 a.m.: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is warning all supporters of the deposed Syrian ruling family al-Assad to go into hiding in Germany. “To those of Assad’s torturers who should be thinking about fleeing to Germany now, I can only say clearly: We will hold all the regime’s henchmen accountable for their terrible crimes with the full force of the law,” said the Green Party politician. Picture on Sunday”. To achieve this, the international security authorities and intelligence services must now work together very closely.
A rebel alliance led by Islamists has taken power in Syria. The deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia with his family. Under his rule, tens of thousands were unlawfully imprisoned; Repression and torture were commonplace.
