-turkey relations. obviously there are a number of different perspectives in congress, both on house come in the house and in the senate, but a lot of what you are seeing now is driven by a sense of frustration among senators and congressmen who felt, who feel that for many years we have been turning a blind eye to what they refer to as turkish red behavior much of it obviously is focused on turkish president erdogan. i think from a low that going back to my time to make use go in the executive branch, i have to say i don't think those in the executive branch do not feel that frustration. i think they are very where -- very well aware that come to. there is more of a long-term thinking to what's going on with turkey. and obviously there's this constant fear that if you push turkey or president erdogan too far in a certain direction, they will actually go in that direction. i guess the main difference between congress and the executive branch on this issue is that the legislative branch in particular fee

the president of turkey. but something that looks like a win, and achievements delivering what he has promised to the turkish people and of course what he wants to do is find space in northern syria were some of the three and a half million refugees currently living in turkey can go back to. you're an independent journalist can go back to. you're an independentjournalist broadcaster here, you also do work with an opinion pollster? it is very recent so opinion pollster? it is very recent so there is no full study yet. but generally, public opinion rallied behind the government and the military wants there is talk of a military wants there is talk of a military intervention. it has been the case in the afrin operation, the 0live the case in the afrin operation, the olive branch operation, so to say. so far there has not been any contradictory data in this regard. but at the same time, the turkish public clearly wants to stay away from syria, they want to disengage from syria, they want to disengage from syria.

turkey relations. the council on foreign relations hosted this event which also looked at the trump administration's decision to withdraw u.s. troops from northern syria. >>> good afternoon, everyone. i want to welcome you all to today's meeting on u.s. turkish relations, the shifting nature of two nato allies. i am currently the director of the international security program at george mason university, and it is a great pleasure too preside over todays discussion on the topic that i i think is particularly compelling. so, in our topsy-turvy world where we write love letters to authoritarians and publicly disparagee our allies, it's kind of interesting to think where does the u.s. turkey turkish relations in the spectrum from how we treat allies and authoritarians. it seems to fit into every category or maybe none coming and maybe we will figure ou out today how special is the case of u.s. turkish relations. it's of course been a tumultuous relationship, one where the executive branch and congress don'

caller: turkey. guest: there is no doubt turkey has had a complicated relationship with jihadists in syria. beendministration has willing to tolerate a jihadist movement inside of syria. at the start of the war, they calculated that was an acceptable or ideal vehicle for challenging the assad regime, however over time, the turks became a target of attacks from the islamic state. does not mean that turkey is willing to put fighting the islamic state first. it does mean that turkey is trying to play both sides of this war, even before we get to the additional jihadist threat in syria, al qaeda. turkey has a deeper relationship with al qaeda which escorted military forces who intervened farther west and the northwestern portion of syria. the president of turkey as playing a delicate and dangerous game inside syria and that is one reason why it is so acceptable -- unacceptable he is taking his proxy forces eastward. host: what was life like for syrian kurds before the civil war started? guest: syrian kur

engel, we're reminded of a secular turkey, a turkey where all were welcomed. we remember visiting some of the beautiful and wonderful treasures of turkey as we met with government officials and heard them reinforce their commitment to democracy, the idea of freedom of religion. and that is appropriate for a 70-year member of nato. we're very grateful for their commitment to nato. there are many who continue to advocate for turkey's presence in nato. so that nato could be comprehensive and unique. but we find ourselves now in the grips of a single-minded individual. who does not see the beauty of democracy, does not see the beauty of diversity and the welcoming of those from many places to turkey or the orderly process and the role, the strong role they can play in the middle east. yet, on a midnight call or late night call on a sunday night, speaking to this administration, the turkish president didn't consult or maybe offer options, but what we have gleaned from the media is that they said, we are coming into syria. in the midst of them coming into syria, the

address syria turkey saudi arabia turkey and the u.a.e. is that fine from a turkish perspective i think i can say that turkey is in the region has for more than 1000 years and he is neighboring facing forward to divest for more than again 1000 years so i don't say that turkey veal turning to face to russia turn into space to turkey is towards the space and building policy in the relationship with the best but the same time in the relation with russia but at the same time we thought not up in relation with all kind of asian countries and middle east thank you that does not mean that there is turning its face completely due to the russia but after the cold war you know that there are merely different if they are worse emerge or on a limb a question to pummel no with with the russians. into the opec plus the 2016 with saudi arabia where they have become very crucial in. controlling the output of oil and the russian using and as you to replace the americans in the middle east. well russia does see itself as a kind deaf successor to the soviet

against the kurds turkey is not in a fight with the kurds turkey has launched an operation against the p.k. case syria affiliate which is the y.p. terrorist group there is a huge we should make a clear distinction between the kurds as a minority or as an ethnic group and the y p g p k k so to say that turkey is fighting the kurds on its own is a mistake i think to begin with and with regards to community arion. comments made i think 1st of all it hasn't been a full 24 hour i think maybe it's just been 24 hours and you're asian it started it is early days when it let me allow add let me allow us going to respond to what you just said about the kurds at christo your response to that there's been a lot of criticism of turkey from the international community about this operation or human rights groups for years have been reporting about turkish maltreatment of kurds both within turkey but also elsewhere and i think that there is very little credibility in the claims that you know turkey is sympathetic to the needs and interests of the kurdish population in syria it sees kurdish groups as p

syria and turkey. vice president pence made the announcement in turkey after a four-hour meeting with turkish president erdogan. vice president pence: one week ago turkish forces crossed into syria. earlier this week, president trump took decisive action to call on turkish forces to stand down, to end the violence, agree to negotiations. today, i'm proud to report, thanks to the strong leadership of president donald trump and the strong relationship between president erdogan and turkey and the united states of america, that today we united states and turkey have agreed to a cease ire in syria. the turkish side will pause operation peace spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of y.p.g. forces from the safe zone for 120 hours. all military operations under eration peace spring will be paused an operation peace spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal. our administration has already been in contact with syrian defense forces and we have already begun to facilitate their safe wit

america's complicity in turkish denials and ultimately turkey's denials ultimately turkey's denials we're going to see arming itself be safer because the army cannot be safe they bordered by an unrepentant over armed robber traitor of the nile a perpetrator of genocide rather seizing right mr beyond the immediate national committee of america mr burnham we appreciate your time and your insights tonight thank you very much. thank you thank you. paul the united states is not the only nato member concerned about turkey you may remember germany along with france and the u.k. restricted weapons sales to turkey when the military offensive against the kurds began but germany and turkey have locked nato horns before in 2017 turkey banned german lawmakers from visiting german servicemen and women stationed at injury like air base and that is just the beginning but it helps to explain why most germans now say that turkey should no longer be a member of nato that's right a majority of germans surveyed 58 percent say that turkey should be kicked out of nato there's even stronger german support for ec

and certain states and western states and turkey see the p.k. as a terrorist organization but then as your guests in in istanbul in turkey saying that the turkish government sat down with a terrorist organization because i don't think you can reject the truth that the turkish government sat down with the p.k. k. between 20132015 this was the right thing to do because there is absolutely no reason to perpetuate this conflict right now the turkish government took the p.k. k. as the other side of this conflict and sat down and tried to solve this age old question ok now i don't see why i don't think the old discourse and rhetoric holds any water anymore a gentleman in of course as you know another major concern is what will happen to nearly 12000 i saw fighters held by kurdish forces in syria if indeed turkey goes ahead with this operation some 2000 of them are foreign fighters including from france germany and the u.k. but european governments have refused to take them back earlier we spoke to a journalist molly sweeney who recently interviewed pe

-turkey relations. before we talk about the current state of affairs in syria, it is important to recall the path that brought us here. to begin, the syrian civil war is a complex, multisided conflict that has drawn in russia, iran, the u.s., nato allies, and other entities. ira, the u.s., nato allies and other entities. over the course of this eight-year conflict, the syrian dictator with the support of russia over the course of this eight-year conflict, the syrian dictator bashar al-assad, with the support of russia and iran has bombed towns and cities across syria, resulting in 500,000 deaths and leaving 10 million people displaced. we are all aware of confirmed use of chemical weapons by the russian-backed assad regime in violation of international law. n violation of international law. syrian, russian and iranian regimes hope to tilde upon the successful defeat of the islamic northeast syria. these are circumstances we find ourselves in today. beginning in 2011, the islamic state took full advantag

office in budapest or budapest and in europe now turkey turkey council has a. an office. because they cover kids. found the father more so tunnels are by. i also invited him in might attempt to become their representative leader. turkish cultural. heritage face and the communication between these organizations turkish council organization committee will be. founded 8 summit will be in. turkey hopefully will be hosted by our turkey so our group meeting we couldn't do for 2 weeks so let's not have the latest bather let's do it even if it's on wednesday. during this time all our m.p.v. and general. a central administration as it minister as administrator they were in. there they were together in. their liberations meeting. so this is meeting. hyperbole will set light to our future work. agenda in our parliaments as well there is a very important religious look to what all these works. we'll be carried out by our friends very carefully but but and want to i'd like to even apprentice's here our m.p.'s. i know this but i've been notified that their attendance is weak

new turkey in his mind a new narrative for turkey, ambitions for turkey but mostly he's ambitious for himself. and what is really happening he wants to see turkey as a leader, i'm not sure exactly what, maybe he wants the world around him. but look at his finances, policy options, you saw me last week in the new york times he's not talking about a nuclear option, he has been saying that for a while. he has been wanting to reform the security in 2017 had detailed plans for the and he thinks they should be a permanent member of the security council and the world is greater than the five permanent members. you see very ambitious but this is very much in line with authoritarian leaders with policy. it comes very aggressive and ideological. it is also pragmatic. he knows how much to push and when to stop pushing and went to make deals. and this is to understand he can be stopped. but the most significant aspect of his foreign-policy is is really domestic, away of consolidating but also making them the most important leaders may be overstating -. in the process, he is creating essentially a

syria turkey saudi arabia turkey and the u.a.e. is that fine from a turkish perspective i think i can say that turkey is in the region has for more than 1000 years and he is neighboring facing forward to divest for more than again want doesn't here so i don't say that turkey bill turning to face to russia turn its face to us turkey is towards the space and building care policy in the relationship with the best but the same time in the relation with russia but at the same time we thought not up in relation with all kind of asian countries and middle east thank you that does not mean that there is turning its face completely due to the russia but after the cold war you know that there are many different things that are worse emerging or on a limb as this question to puzzle no with with the russians. interesting the opec plus back 2016 with saudi arabia where they have become very crucial in. controlling the output of oil and the russian using and as you to replace the americans in the middle east. well russia does see itself as a kin

over a fellow nato member turkey as an ally so turkey has not been able to garner international support for its operation in syria that operation has deteriorated relations with a nato ally of the united states and now serious differences with russia ok zain thank you for that update from a check how they well at 700 hours g.m.t. you're watching algis 0 i'm dating obligated diplomatic it's a poor matic pressure has intensified significantly in the past hour for the turkish president. to hold his military offensive in northern syria on the u.s. president donald trump whose troop withdrawal is blamed for triggering the crisis is sending a diplomatic mission to ankara while the u.n. security council warned of a deteriorating humanitarian situation after meeting in new york president are due on though has vowed to keep fighting until all of his country's goals have been achieved particularly.

turkey can move to. now, these are the latest pictures. this is the moment several hours ago that the operation began. turkish jets headed for northeastern syria. this video shows explosions hitting a small compound on the syrian side of the border. there are also reports of turkish artillery hitting kurdish military bases and ammunition stores. large convoys of buses carrying turkish troops have also been arriving along the border with syria. and this shows residents fleeing a syrian border town called ras—al—ain. in the last couple of hours the white house has released this statement — sounding a little like a parent telling off a child. "the united states does not endorse this attack and has made it clear no news on what it's actually going to do about it. next, here's international correspondent orla guerin is in the turkish town of san—liurfa near border. well, we havejust left the border area, where we were able to see and hear the beginnings of that turkish military bombardment. and just a

will turkey has a great military power turkey is a friend of ours a neighbor of ours and they're a member of nato and what turkey is getting now is they're not going to have to kill millions of people and millions of people are going to have to kill them i mean this was going to be a war of lots of other groups coming in this was going to stop with turkey against the kurds a lot of different groups were coming in we might not have been involved i don't want to be involved in that kind of a war and by the way we have the strongest military in the world but we've been there for 10 years we've been in the middle east for 19 in a half years so this was a great thing for everybody and turkey is. i really appreciate what they've done they did the right thing and i have great respect for the president. if you let this go you would have lost millions of lives don't forget your friend president obama lost more than a half a 1000000 lives in a very short period in the same reason region we've lost very little but without that gunfire going back and forth without those rockets going in both directio

forces turkey considers it a terrorist organization. this border town is where turkey wants to create what it calls a safe zone that will stretch 30 kilometers into syrian territory the united states which not only abandoned the s t f and pulled its troops out of northeast syria is demanding a cease fire it has already imposed sanctions on turkey as a form of pressure but president treasurer tayyip erdogan who will receive a u.s. delegation led by vice president mike pence on thursday is not budging. all over which takes effect immediately all the terrorists used to lay down their arms destroy their fortifications the beeld and withdraw from the safe zone from which to you regular order that we will establish then our reforms you will be finished. so far 100 kilometers of border has been secured turkey launched the operation with 2 objectives to push the y.p. g. from the border at least 30 kilometers south and to create his own that will allow syrian refugees to return. the u.s. is now out of the way but russia stepped in deploying its

a project of turkey and. dimensions almost well we know that turkey has already sent some people back to syria not to this current zone but to so some people are said to have gone on their own willingly some are said to be forced to go back to syria but we're talking about the current safe zone what one at the moment is talking about is about 220 kilometers long 30 to 32 kilometers deep safe zone so when you look at it in that sense it does not cover too well to the end points to closer to the iraq border then you see where the i ask camps are so right now trying to keep it in a smaller area if you will but exactly how he wants to send these people over who are these people of course this is creating a certain insecurity in syrian refugees living in turkey it's going to be it's never going to go to work and it's actually a typical example of hybris of a middle eastern power that believes the deportation policy can work it is against all international conventions where conventions to deport ethnic groups from

it's a great day for turkey. it's a great day for our partners who have really worked, there have been a lot of people question spf them, i'm not questioning anybody. they really did. the kurds were great. great day for the kurds. it's really a great day for civilization. great day for civilization. soy just want to thank everybody. [inaudible] president trump: sanctions went be necessary because turkey is ding what they're doing. i didn't need congress for sanctions, i can do sanctions tougher than congress. i was prepared to do that. i want to thank and congratulate president erdogan. he's a friend of mine. i'm glad we didn't have a problem. he's a hell of a leader, he's a tough man, a strong man, he did the right thing and i appreciate it. i'll appreciate it in the future. [inaudible] president trump: turkey has a great military power. turkey is a great friend of ours, they're a member of nato. what turkey is getting now is, they're not going to have to kill millions of people and millions of people aren't goi

were forces from turkey able to get today. well this is just it's a beginning this is the bombardment ahead of the expected ground operation which could start in the coming hours we've seen the turkish jets taking off from air bases all along turkey syrian border pounding syrian kurdish militia bases and also towns of turkey's border we've heard reports that there's been a mass panic in some of these towns reports of civilian casualties and injuries many people are reportedly now leaving the area streams of refugees piling out of these towns that turkey is ahead of what is expected to be a very potentially bloody operation given the fact that the kurdish militia saying they are and fight. today we also has been pounding this area plumes of black smoke have been pouring up into the sky all along to the syrian border but the major operation is expected possibly the next well certainly the next day the ground operation is when the real fighting will start but this is the heart of a very long time operation and one in 2 weeks poss

who was held by turkey. they represent four-tenths of 1% of all of turkey's exports. my goodness, the president if he wants to act, he has the authority today to under take a lot of the sanctions that we are calling for. he should do it but -- the point we are making here today is in the absence of presidential action to stand up for the principles and values and support our allies and stop on the se rresurgence. we'll act. >> abigail. you are next. >> do you think president trump will sign these sanctions if it passes? >> my hope is he'll see them as leverage. i don't know what pompeo and pence are going to accomplish today. hopefully they'll accomplish something and not the bloodshed. >> marsha spoke about the kurds. if we standby the sidelines and these people get rolled over, god help us all in the future. president trump is on the ground telling to erdogan. i called this morning. i want turkey to understand it is not just trump or pompeo, it is the rest of us. bipartisan wide and deep. i am hoping that

and certain states and western states and turkey see the p.k. as a terrorist organization but then as your guests in in istanbul in turkey saying that the turkish government sat down with a terrorist organization because i don't think he can reject the truth that the turkish government sat down with the p.k. k. between 20132015 this was the right thing to do because there is absolutely no reason to perpetuate this conflict right now the turkish government took the p.k. k. as the other side of this conflict and sat down and tried to solve this age old question ok now about why i don't think the old discourse and rhetoric holds any water anymore a gentleman in of course as you know another major concern is what will happen to nearly 12000 i saw fighters held by kurdish forces in syria if indeed turkey goes ahead with this operation some 2000 of them are foreign fighters including from france germany and the u.k. but european governments have refused to take them back earlier we spoke to a journalist molly sweeney who recently interviewed people tr

turkey d.-o. money that's provided by the european union used to accommodate up until now 3600000 syrians in turkey within the turkish borders but make clear that if these people are not in turkey any longer that the e.u. will not foot the bill for them and the longer in syria so does the e.u. have any sort of leverage on turkish actions in syria. turkey needs the e.u. and the e.u. needs turkey they do have a quite complex relationship and the e.u. essentially needs turkey to help with with migration with as part of the e.u. turkey deal where turkey is supposed to host the refugees in turkey and keep them from moving further west to 2 european member states such as greece but then turkey at the on the other hand needs the european union they want a visa regulations for their citizens and they also want a customs union expansion so there's multiple issues here. in brussels thank you and i will take a look at some of the rest of the day's news the white house has announced it will not cooperate with

turkey and the u.s. have reached a deal to halt the offensive in northeast and syria was reached after u.s. vice president mike pence traveled to capitol for talks with president ed of the one where kurdish fighters have been given 5 days to withdraw from a region where turkey wants to enforce its so-called safe zone some calls who want to begins our coverage from ancora which president. very came with an ultimatum and left with a deal a cease fire in arms formulas in syria by the u.s. and turkey after hours of talks among the do you know how pain patch up relations between the nato allies that have been tested by turkey is a military operation against the wife. turkey deems the sirico despite to root a terrorist organization the united states and turkey have agreed to a cease fire in syria. turkish pause operation few spying. in order to allow for the withdrawal of y.p. g. forces from the safe zone. for 120 hours all military operations under operation piece spring will be pause in operation the spring

news live from berlin tonight native's dilemma what to do about turkey what to do about turkey and russia as nato headquarters defense ministers are faced with one of their own turkey suddenly patrolling northern syria together with a nato adversary russia can the alliance endure this major test of its unity also coming up tonight the european union's human rights prize. for his work defending china's rieger minority will speak to his daughter who says the family hasn't seen him since he was put in prison 2 years ago. our family members were no longer able to visit and we don't know if he still had. it when we don't even know. and it's more than 4 decades after his death he is a hero for some he haunts spain for others the remains of former dictator francisco franco exuded relocated and reburying easier than laying to rest the legacy of franco for good. it's good to have you with us at nato headquarters they have a problem with one of their own defense ministers are discussing turkey's actions in northern syria in the last 2 weeks unprecedented events. turkey a nato member is now closely

turkey has agreed to. we saw it right away movement in the financial markets. the turkish lira lining in value. 3.5%.p stocks rallied by let's get insight from bloombergs foreign policy reporter. you were listening to the comments. judging by the reaction, this was a surprise. what did we know about the conversations that mike pence and mike pompeo had? nick: they did not have a great deal of time to do it. the vice president was explicit with the marching orders were, which to -- which were to get a cease-fire. the thing that struck me is that you did not have a call from the vice president for turkey to withdraw its two troops -- its troops from the safe zone. there appears to be no mandate for turkey to do mandate for turkey to do so. the end result is, you have a positive fighting but turkey is allowed to keep the military gains that it has made over the last several days in exchange for a halt on sanctions then after five days, possibly getting the sanctions lifted. for me, that was the key takeaway.

in this region at the moment so a very difficult situation for turkey because turkey is original plans of securing the border well damascus will say that has been achieved but beyond that their ideas of resettling millions of syrian refugees that are far from clear now well that will be able to occur ok during we want to take a broader look now about the fighting and how it's not only affecting northern syria but i was also spilling over into turkey our correspondent yulia han has this report on turkish towns that have also been hit by the fighting. in the turkish border town of. the public outpouring of grief. the women mourn the death of their village. and 2 other men were killed in a mortar shelling an apparent repairable attack from across the border into syria. from a sunni we want this war to start nobody should die no soldiers no civilians we just want peace. of course we're scared we're scared the whole country turks are hurt for everyone no one building. and you are never. heard people showing where the victims died. within a radius of 20 meters traces of bomb fragments. windo

we also expect turkey to abide by its commitment regarding isis. as a backup to the kurds watching over them, should something happen, turkey is there to grab them. further, we implore european countries to come and take those fighters that the u.s. captured and bring them back to their countries for incarceration and for trial. until just recently, europe has been very unresponsive in doing what they should have been doing for a long time. now is their chance to finally act. american forces defeated 100% of the isis caliphate during the last two years. we thank the syrian democratic forces for their sacrifices in this effort. they've been terrific. now, turkey, syria, and others in the region must work to ensure that isis does not regain any territory. it's their neighborhood. they have to maintain it. they have to take care of it. there were some political pundits who responded to turkey's offensive in syria by calling for yet another american military intervention. i don't think so. but halting the incursion by military force would have required

actions on the northeast border of c pushed turkey into being a turkey of today. the turkey of today is no longer the secular turkey that was the original member of nato. the turkey of today has an extremist. t's increasingly dictatorial authoritative leader, he has put his own journalists and his own teachers and other civilian in jail repeatedly. he has facilitated through 2012-2014 the iranian nuclear and other programs by going around the blockades and the embargoes and sanctions against ran. he is currently illegally has gas extractions off the coast of yprus. he has purchased the s-400 -- excuse me, from russia, only after which we had to talk him out of purchasing the committee control communication system from the chinese. shall we go on? he dares to come to our capital and unleashes his thugs against protesters who are across the street and push them around and beat them. this is no good buddy of ours that somehow we are responsible for the freeze for the cold air in our relationship. this is a turkey that is not a good ally, full stop. this is a turkey t

fighters from a swath of territory south of turkey's border, cementing vladimir putin's role in turkey as u.s. troops depart and american influence wans. do you agree with that assessment? >> not completely. >> well, it clearly leaves turkey and russia in control of territory formerly held by kurdish fighters. >> that is true. >> okay. and it certainly cements vladimir putin's very significant role in syria now. correct? >> putin has long played a very prominent role in syria and he sees this as playing an even more prominent role. >> you do as well, as an expert in the region, don't you? >> i'm very troubled by this agreement. >> okay. because it increases the role of turkey -- i'm sorry the role of turkey and russia both in these region, correct? >> there are many reasons. >> that's two of them, at least, right? >> probably. >> okay. you also said that you thought we could continue our relationship with sdf. i hope that's true, although it's hard to imagine that they would have much confidence that they can rely on the united states in light of our conduct and the notion that because

turkey's. had a great concern about their border and while the united states of america did not approve of. their military crossing in into syria. we have always indorsed a safe so it was a matter of discussion and negotiations and we believe that. that the kurdish population in syria with which we have a strong relationship will continue to endure. the united states will always be grateful for our partnership with s.d.f. in defeating isis but we recognize the importance and the value. a safe zone to create a buffer between. syria proper in the kurdish population and and the turkish border and we're going to be working very closely so we we think the agreement today 1st ends the violence which is what president trump sent us here to do. i said again and again to the president heard of one is president trump sent us here to end the violence. and achieve an immediate cease fire. and thanks to the agreement that we negotiated today in the strong stand the president took in the preceding days we've

trying to ignore turkey recognizes. it's organization as a terrorist group but why did you order syrian regime doesn't see it that way saw how the things are going to unfold in the near future is still unknown but germ everybody believes that they have the wind. everybody but the kurds i think that in fact you very much for that sin and cos you really live from istanbul let's take a closer look now at the so-called safe so an anchor a wants to create as we mentioned it will run along an area around 30 kilometers inside syria along the turkish border and russian and turkish joint patrols will run up to 30 kilometers deep on both sides of an area that runs between. and angel let's get more on this now we're joined by karl schembri media advisor for the middle east at norwegian refugee council and he's joining us live from the jordanian capital amman to schembri always good to have you with us on al-jazeera so let's talk about the situation now for the civilians in this in this area that these joint patrols will be taking

and turkey conducting these patrols up this safe zone. now with the green light the presidenls with russia. iran is around the edges of this thing. i'm unclear what the president is going to say syria and the middle east, the president's decisions, how have they affected that? >> they have diminished our influence to zero. we no longer have a seat at the table. i see our very good ambassador, jeff jeffreys who is working on this. frankly, this is a low point for u.s. influence in the region. look, i get it, everyone gets it. we want to, quote, get out of the endless wars. this is a small deployment, two or 3,000 sand troops compared to at one time we had 150,000 troops in afghanistan, we had 185,000 troops in iraq. by pulling out this small number of u.s. troops, we have ceded this incredibly important terrain to russia, to iran, which now has an open field of play from bagdad to the shores of the mediterranean. it's a bad day for u.s. diplomacy before we even get to the islamic state fighters. >> what, if anything, does it say to you tha

turkey. all was. at bringing comprehensive peace and justice to this region. and this operation will be the 1st step of other steps to bring justice and peace to the syrians we will complete. this operation. you know to be a real source of peace. in syria. yeah we need life and safe life to go back to syria we need peace and stability to be in syria we need to sort out what's the syrian crisis yes and we will hand these territories to. their real owners. and we are keen to take part in all meetings and summits that. am at sorting out the syrian crisis. this operation will be a sow's of peace and this will bring peace and we'll sort out the syrian crisis in the radical way. this operation led by president ratchet gun. is. one of the steps is one perceived among the other procedures on the steps taken by president. for the sake of syria and for keeping the unity of syria. turkey. since last year has been a target a conspiracy and then economic crisis and we have done all what we can in order to

and the government of turkey to show due care and attention and patience in this issue. well more news coming up for you right here on al-jazeera that's coming up after a witness letters from death row thanks for watching bye bye. if. lost and they don't get the whiskey cassy at their. faces in the golden feeder tough wall jinman was a flop by jadakiss hallam a b c was on a buyout of which one involved with what he did with the tiki tickets and not me at the theater but i get you to da like get cheered will be added up in a mic at that they're not listening to a little $700.00 m. not that. given a good for them to get. the chip that danielle with a middle tier will be but will have oben alien. $9074.00 to win it with that. double bogey shot due to goals will this will shatter. the bottle scare sati mana got. in the game to. get all my bug out there a lot of. the men up need to dighton him for the. mattock manifesting than mickey. was going on many. are sick i'll admit that the one with the chair marwood to comment on a sub drew nice work on little cotton over. faint as a

forces from turkey able to get today. well this is just it's a beginning this is a bombardment ahead of the expected ground operation which could start in the coming hours we have seen the turkish jets taking off from their bases all along turkey syrian border pounding syrian kurdish militia bases and also towns along turkey's border we've heard reports there's been a mass panic in some of these towns reports of civilian casualties and injuries many people are reportedly now leaving the area streams of refugees piling out of these towns of turkey ahead of what is specter to be a very potentially bloody operation given the fact that the kurdish militia saying they are on and fight. took a shit today we also has been pounding this area tombs of black smoke would be pulling up into the sky all along to the syrian border but the major operation is expected possibly the next hours will such think the next day the ground operation is when the real fighting will stop but this is the heart of a very long time operation and one in

turkey has been fighting with kurdish militia in turkey for over 30 years. they are being —— they have been clashes, it has been lodging attacks targeting civilians as well. and it is considered as a terrorist organisation by turkey as well as the united states and european union considers it as a terrorist organisation as well. and by pg on the other side of the border is the main body of syrian democratic forces and turkey says that it has connection with pkk, it provides a safe haven for militants and thus weight poses a threat to national security and the turkish government has a security and the turkish government hasa main security and the turkish government has a main claim for this operation. there are all kinds of regional applications as we have been hearing and concerns, if turkey is successful, it will benefit turkey but it will also benefit russia. successful, it will benefit turkey but it will also benefit russiam will benefit the assigning state group. what is the feeling about all this within turkey? when we talk about pkk and the fight a

being reliable inside nato so this russian alignment with turkey might defeat turkey inside made over this is not a sign of stability of this side of weakness for nato ok mark to speckle that he's i was forced to say thanks very much for that marcus thank you. well turkey advanced into northern syria last week to eject a kurdish militia which ankara considers a terrorist organization at least 160000 ethnic kurdish civilians were uprooted as the turkish our army and its allied arab militias moved in we have this report now from a syrian town near the border with turkey. a few boxes and some clothes that is all they could rescue from the house and russell i know after days of bombing a classroom is the new having their old one is now just rubble shaka to his family found shelter in this school with dozens of others mostly kurdish refugees from russell i'm a border town is now under the control of the turkish army and the allied malicious . lies there joe know when they leave our homeland we will return to turkey and their allies have come to plunder they don't want to rebuild they want

over a fellow nato member turkey as an ally so turkey has not been able to garner international support for its operation in syria that operation has deteriorated relations with a nato ally of the united states and now serious differences with russia ok zain thank you for that update from check how they well at 700 hours g.m.t. you're watching algis 0. diplomatic it's a plume added pressure has intensified significantly in the past hour for the turkish president. to hold his military offensive in northern syria and the u.s. president donald trump who is troop withdrawal is blamed for triggering the crisis is sending a diplomatic mission to ankara while the u.n. security council warned of a deteriorating humanitarian situation after a meeting in new york president or 2 on though has vowed to keep fighting until all of his country's goals have been achieved particle hain is joining us from the white house to talk us through what more trump is saying about the delegation he's sending to turkey and what their mission is going to be. well he was sending mixed messages as the vice president s

spent a lot of time in turkey in 2013. look, i love the country of turkey. turkey.great erdogan is the leader of turkey but he's not going to be there turkey has a think brighter future but let me tell you about these conversations in 2013. why was i in turkey a lot in 2013? reasons, one of which was iraqi oil revenue from iraqi kurd stan was going into the halt a k, and that might be concern for u.s. officials. we used to discuss that quit a bit with the turks. look, all of these jihadists are coming in through are you goingwhat to do about this? the answer was that's the second war. of assad and then those guys. my response was it sounds to me ike you're raising baby crocodiles in your basement. eventually you're going to have a lot of big crocodiles. in any event this kept on going, and mike's document is awesome, should read it, this war against isis was a vicious, brutal street by street war. and no one should be mistaken by that. 2014, fallujah falls to isis. fall of until the mosul and i was in iraq at the just and again, it was hard to know what was

to launch an invasion in the region and give turkey rich will make turkey responsible for capturing isis fighters in the area so basically turkey is about to invade the same parts of syria the u.s. invaded to defeat the so-called islamic state except now turkey is invading to defeat the kurdish proxy force the us relied on to fight isis because turkey considers that proxy a terrorist group now here's the irony since 24 you know the pentagon had relied on the kurdish fighters from the kurdish people's defense units to fight alongside american forces in the long battle to defeat i says but the problem is that various curtis' militia groups have also been fighting on and off the turkish state for over 40 years and since turkey is an important geopolitical ally of the us and a fellow nato member has never been pleased about america's prefer proxy against geodes now you see even before the rise of isis the u.s. even agreed with turkey's assessment of the kurdistan workers party which is why this organization is still designated a terrorist entity in washington and turkey claims that the