On Friday (28/8/15) Turkey conducted it's first air-strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as part of Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR) as the US-led coalition is formally known. Beyond stating that these strikes occurred in Syria no information has been provided about the number of strikes, where they took place or what exactly was targeted.
However in that time period CJTFOIR did conduct two air-strikes against an ISIL artillery piece and an excavator in Al Hawl which sits around 35km (21 miles) east of the city of Hasakah and 12km (7 miles) west of Syria's border with Iraq. They also conducted four air-strikes that destroyed two ISIL ground units, three ISIL bunkers, an ISIL anti-aircraft gun, a mortar position and an rocket launcher in the vicinity of Hasakah city itself.
If Turkey was involved in these strikes it is somewhat alarming because Hasakah city marks the southern boundary of the 33,000km^2 (20,000mile^2) buffer zone that Kurdish forces have established across northern Syria and Iraq. Given the hostility between Turkey and Kurdish forces - particularly the Kurdish People's Protection Forces (YPG) which Turkey describes as a terrorist group this close proximity does seem to run a high risk of Turkish aircraft 'mistakenly' bombing YPG positions.
The US continues to remain tight-lipped on what this Turkish involvement will mean for the wider fight against ISIL. For example will aircraft from CJTFOIR now be free to fly from air-bases within Turkey such as United States Air Force (USAF) base Incirlik the use of which has long been blocked by the Turkish government. For their part Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) remain convinced that the air-strikes are just the first step in a plan that will eventually see Turkish forces invade Syria under the guise of creating a safe-haven.
Today the rather spectacularly named Mr Saleh Muslim who leads the YPG's political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) reminded the coalition that it is more then welcome to use the YPG established buffer zone to train anti-ISIL forces and provide a safe-haven for refugees. Unfortunately it would appear that not making use of this buffer zone is a pre-condition of Turkey's involvement in air-strikes.
Since Turkey launched it's air campaign against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq the popular metaphor used to describe it is that of an air-disaster. Sticking with that format Turkey's first strikes as part of CJTFOIR were marked by yet another air-crash at an air-show - this time at the New York Air Show around 115km (70 miles) north of New York City, US.
The type of aircraft involved in this crash was a Giles G-202 which is a very cheap type of aircraft that members of the public can buy in kit form and then assemble at home. Due to this non-professional manufacturing it is classed as an experimental aircraft despite this particular one having been in operation for the past 17 years.
As ISIL are largely formed of foreign fighters who were encouraged to travel from Europe to Syria as almost an experiment in overthrowing the Syrian government this seemed to be the US mocking the concerns raised by the UK and other European nations over Turkey's inclusion in CJTFOIR. Authorities in the US were quick to stress that despite the crash and the death of the pilot the show would go on.
This contribution from the US actually struck me as being so superficial it seemed that rather then attempting to have a serious discussion about the future and direction of the war against ISIL the US were almost trying to hype up talk of a clash between the US and the UK to boost the ratings of the UK season of Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) that launched the previous day (27/8/15).
Yesterday (30/8/15) there was yet another crash at an air-show - this time in Carinthia, Austria - which was much more serious in tone. Depending on who you talk to the name "Carinthia" either comes from the Celtic word "Carant" meaning friend or family or from the pre-historical Slavic word "Karanto" meaning stone or rock. Taken together it seems to indicate a rock solid friendship between Austria and the other European nations such as the UK, Germany and Switzerland who have expressed concerns over Turkey's actions.
There is also a company called Carinthia Military Systems who make clothing and equipment for Arctic/Alpine troops. That is exactly the sort of company you would want to call on if you were fighting a war whilst out in the diplomatic cold.
Amid certain circles the Carinthia region is reasonably famous because it has recently been plunged into a Greek-style debt crisis. This seems to be a reference to what has become known as the Balkan Route/Road for Syrian refugees that sees them cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. From there they travel up through Macedonia and Serbia back into the European Union (EU) via Hungary. From there they travel onto other EU nations via Austria.
On Wednesday (26/8/15) the stench of death alerted Austrian police to a Hungarian registered refrigerated lorry parked by the side of the road. When they opened it they discovered decomposing human remains which they now believe were the bodies of 71 Syrian refugees - 58 men, 8 women and 4 children including an infant. Earlier on Sunday (30/8/15) Austrian police intercepted another van containing 26 refugees including several children who had to be hospitalised suffering from severe dehydration.
It is obvious that short of winning the war against ISIL there is nothing to be done to stop Syrians being forced out of their homeland. As such Austria is clearly concerned that Hungary's plan to build a razor-wire fence along it's border with Serbia will only force more refugees to risk their lives at the hands of people smugglers which is big business in poorer European nations such as Hungary and Romania. As a result Austria has begun to massively step up checks on all vehicles and trains entering the country from Hungary.
On September 11th (11/9/15) EU leaders will meet in a summit in an effort to introduce a much needed quota system that will see refugees fairly distributed throughout the EU. Alongside nations such as the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark it is primarily eastern EU states such as Hungary and Romania that are opposed to this.
On a related note yesterday evening I had dinner with my younger brother who is recently back from a 10 day holiday that saw him travel from Slovenia to Croatia via Bosnia & Herzegovina. If this was a UK fact finding mission to discover how the current refugee crisis is affecting the delicately balanced politics in the former Yugoslavian nations that only a few years ago were producing a refugee crisis of their own then the UK probably picked the wrong man. Most of the over dinner conversation was about whether Bosnia & Herzegovina have split apart and whether Croatia is an EU member state or not.
I wonder if the US State Department can answer either of those questions without having to ask Google.
In case you were left in any doubt as to why ISIL are driving this current refugee crisis then today they released another video. It showed them chaining 4 prisoners of war to a children's swing set and burning them alive.
17:25 on 31/8/15 (UK date).
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