ISIS in Iraq and Syria

Sultan said:
@Kaos

Thanks for the reply. I think you're overstating the figures of fighters. I don't really think Saudi or any Kingdom has much to gin from the likes of ISIS on their doorstep. I would think your posts would be a lot more insightful if they were not always directed towards blaming predominantly Sunni nations, and USA/Alliances for problems in that part of the world. Syria, Iraq, Iran have not been paragons of virtue.
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ISIS have just sent a couple thousand fighters to Kobane to help with the siege there, that's after losing hundreds in a couple of days. Meanwhile, they're committing quite a few to the Iraqi front too. Its evident they have a large number of dispensable fighters.

Regarding my reported bias - I am a secular Arab and Kurd who bears no love for Maliki, the Iranian regime or even Assad for that matter contrary to popular belief (look at my earlier posts in the Syria thread). Its my vehement opposition to the alternatives that often gets me labelled as a stooge. Nevertheless, I still stand by my opinion that this entire mess was as a result of irresponsible US-Arab initiatives to carry out what I see as forced attempts of regime change by many means. I'd welcome any scrutiny of any of my specific opinions and I'll provide justifications for them.
 
Sultan said:
Apologies Rel, I've not followed this conflict much. Is this the guy claiming to be the new Caliph?
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It's a 17 year old boy, Kurdish, who lived in Nottingham, UK, and went to fight for ISIS in Syria. I spoke to him a lot, arguments over all of this stuff for a few months before he left, but I never thought he would go and fight.

Hopefully he's dead now.
 
Kaos said:
ISIS have just sent a couple thousand fighters to Kobane to help with the siege there, that's after losing hundreds in a couple of days. Meanwhile, they're committing quite a few to the Iraqi front too. Its evident they have a large number of dispensable fighters.

Regarding my reported bias - I am a secular Arab and Kurd who bears no love for Maliki, the Iranian regime or even Assad for that matter contrary to popular belief (look at my earlier posts in the Syria thread). Its my vehement opposition to the alternatives that often gets me labelled as a stooge. Nevertheless, I still stand by my opinion that this entire mess was as a result of irresponsible US-Arab initiatives to carry out what I see as forced attempts of regime change by many means. I'd welcome any scrutiny of any of my specific opinions and I'll provide justifications for them.
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I agree it was an ill advised war on Iraq, and Afghanistan. It has actually been the lifeblood of these radicalised groups. However, reading your posts over last few years you have shown on certain degree of bias against Sunni nations.
 
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Suli said:
It's a 17 year old boy, Kurdish, who lived in Nottingham, UK, and went to fight for ISIS in Syria. I spoke to him a lot, arguments over all of this stuff for a few months before he left, but I never thought he would go and fight.

Hopefully he's dead now.
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Don't wish that on anybody. He's a lost kid. Pray he returns safe and well and instead of fighting for these pointless causes he actually becomes a Muslim who exerts his energies on helping other human beings.
 
Loads of pics so I'll just spoiler it all, descriptions in the spoiler:

The city of Amed (Diyarbakir) in Turkey:
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Gunshots in Amed, in this video:


City of Wan (Van):
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City of Mardin, after curfews were announced:
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Mardin:


Kurds took control of a Turkish checkpoint on the border with Syria, crossing to help the YPG:
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Army deployed in Wan because nobody gives a crap about the curfew established.

YDG have also claimed to kill 5 ISIS members in Amed who were clashing with the Kurds.
 
The town of Nusaybin, one which borders Qamishlo (YPG controlled city in Syria) is no longer in Turkish hands. The police have been pushed out of the town, which is now being run by Kurdish youth who are literally riding around on horses.

 
PedroMendez said:
I am really not sure why you are so excited about that. Its fairly obvious, that this will result in a backlash. Peaceful protest would have been much better.
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Yeah I agree with you, but I don't condemn any violence against the Turkish government. Peaceful protests still got a huge backlash in Turkey before, this won't make a difference.
 
Photos circulating of the pro-ISIS supporters killed. Violence keeps on escalating with people expecting hundreds of thousands to take to the streets again, tonight.
 
I saw a video last week of pro-ISIS supporters praying somewhere in Turkey, probably Istanbul. They'd be completely mental or stupid to do anything of the sort now that Kurdish people are out in full force.

I can see why the Turkish government is doing what it is. I'm by no means saying I agree with it, but I think I could have predicted it would turn out like this.
 
Fener1907 said:
I saw a video last week of pro-ISIS supporters praying somewhere in Turkey, probably Istanbul. They'd be completely mental or stupid to do anything of the sort now that Kurdish people are out in full force.

I can see why the Turkish government is doing what it is. I'm by no means saying I agree with it, but I think I could have predicted it would turn out like this.
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Kurdish youth's response to Ataturk statues:
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Erdoğan and Davutoğlu epitomise everything Atatürk stood for, so they're clearly justified in doing that :rolleyes:

I guess it’s asking too much for them to make that distinction, or they’re not bothered and disrespecting Atatürk is the fastest way to make Turkish people stand up and pay attention. Unfortunately, the man in control is somebody who doesn't seem to fond of Atatürk’s legacy anyway. I think he'd actually like it.
 
@Fener1907 Hi, what is your opinion on everything that has been happening in the past few days regarding Kobane and the riots in Turkey? Interesting to hear the point of view of someone who I assume lives in Turkey. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
If I hear correctly turkey say Kobane will be lost without ground support
What is to stop them providing said support?
Am I naive or thick but wouldn't that be the most obvious solution
 
sun_tzu said:
If I hear correctly turkey say Kobane will be lost without ground support
What is to stop them providing said support?
Am I naive or thick but wouldn't that be the most obvious solution
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They will do it soon, I expect.
 
Kurds destroying everything in sight by the sounds of it. Turkish police shout 'long live isis' in response.
 
Relevated said:
Kurds destroying everything in sight by the sounds of it. Turkish police shout 'long live isis' in response.
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Rel, you're a young guy living in the UK - What's your fascination with this conflict?
 
Suli said:
@Fener1907 Hi, what is your opinion on everything that has been happening in the past few days regarding Kobane and the riots in Turkey? Interesting to hear the point of view of someone who I assume lives in Turkey. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Hi @Suli. Let me just start by saying that I don't live in Turkey. However, I did until very recently (September) and my wife is Turkish, so I suppose you could say I still have strong links to the country and have a bit of knowledge about the general feeling in Turkey.

I can only really talk about Kobane in relation to Turkey, as I'm definitely not good enough to talk about what is happening in the city itself. In that regard, I think the Turkish government is making a big mistake. I think it's important to note that they've tread a very delicate line with the PKK in the last few years and have failed to build on what I can only assume were some positive intentions from Recep at the beginning, otherwise they'd never have agreed to anything in the first place. The lack of initiative since the agreement is worrying, because I can only see it escalating tensions in the future and heightening the distrust from the Kurdish side. The reforms relating to Kurds have been tenuous and I think many Kurdish people see through them.

With that considered, I think the protests are inevitable. He's sat on the fence for other issues, but this is one that Kurdish people won't compromise on. They've done well up until now to avoid becoming involved, and the entire hostage situation was a good excuse for them. After saying the right things to America and giving them hope, you can see why it would escalate the tension when he's perceived to be failing on those fronts. As anybody who's seen him enough will know, though, Recep is his own man. He isn't easily intimidated and he can act when his back is up against the wall, so that obdurate mentality, I suppose it can be said, has only contributed towards escalating the tension. It's somewhat reminiscent of Gezi. This is one, however, that I don't see him coming out of quite as clean. I'll cut it off there because I'm risking just droning on about domestic politics and going off subject.

Sorry if it's not as insightful as you'd have hoped, but everything appears to revolve around him and it's hard to avoid making another subject about him.
 
Reports coming in that ISIS are withdrawing from Kobane neighbourhoods. It comes after YPG coordinated air strikes with the coalition (finally!!) which has led to a huge number of air strikes today. I hope it continues throughout the night, these have been said to be the most effective strikes since the attacks began.

Yan Serkeftin, Yan Serkeftin
 
I think the sheer complexity of the conflict - so many nations, non state actors, religious, tribal, socio-cultural factors, international norms etc. They all make it fascinating.
 
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