MEMBERS of the Isis death cult, which held vast swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq, are being rehabilitated under a wide-ranging and ambitious programme, a new report has revealed.
The Rojava Information Centre, an independent media organisation based in the mainly Kurdish autonomous region in northern Syria, detailed how low-level members of the jihadist organisation have been offered training and education to rid them of the poisonous ideology.
This includes discussion sessions and other activities along with a system of justice that is intended to break the cycle of violence that led to the rise of Isis across the region.
Turkish-Supported Fighters and Kurdish Forces Clash in North Syria
A Turkish soldier stands near his armored vehicle near the town of Ain Issa in north Syria, November 26, 2019 (Bakr Alkasem/AFP/Getty)
Turkish-backed anti-Assad fighters have clashed with Kurdish militia near the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria.
There have been periodic skirmishes near the Turkish-Syrian border, with Ain Issa near the frontline of a northwest Syria controlled by Turkish-supported anti-Assad groups and a northeast Syria with a Kurdish autonomous authority.
But the pro-opposition Step Agency reported that Friday’s fighting was the most intense so far.
Sources with the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army said the force seized some farmland on the edge of Ain Issa and occupied the villages of al-Jahbel and al-Musharrafa to the east.
Iraq, KRG, Turkey find common ground in response to PKK al-monitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from al-monitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Key Congressmen denounce Erdogan for actions undermining NATO, US alliance
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WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - The two leading representatives on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel (D, New York) and Michael McCaul (R, Texas) have denounced the actions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“We are gravely concerned by the threat Turkey’s increasingly provocative behavior poses to our decades-long relationship, to the NATO alliance, and to the region more broadly,” they said in a joint statement issued on Wednesday.
Engel and McCaul cited six actions that Turkey has taken under Erdogan’s leadership. The actions they named constitute an inventory of the issues that now strain relations between Washington and Ankara.
Sanctions imposed on Turkey by the United States on Monday under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) are likely to have several effects, highlighting the growing divergence in strategic thinking between the two NATO allies.
US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions for Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system, which the US has said is incompatible with NATO equipment and a potential threat to allied security.
The sanctions targeted Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries, the country’s military procurement agency, its chief Ismail Demir and three other senior officials.
The ejection of Turkey from the F-35 stealth jet programme in July 2019 demonstrated just how serious Washington was in relaying its displeasure at Turkey’s insistence it bought Russian air defence equipment rather than American.