but turkey says the german government is harboring terrorists. turkey's domestic political troubles are now playing out in germany. in february twenty seventh teen turks in the western german city of obama campaigned in favor of a referendum that would give president head one more executive powers the turkish prime minister attended a big rally there john didn't go because of the charges against him in turkey german reporters once exactly welcome there either. no matter what means freedom everyone means freedom. i mean it's looking armisen that's at the top of what we've heard every certainly noticed that some people are criticizing the turkish government without any justification all. lloyd we've invested so much in germany some of us have lived here for decades we pay taxes and contribute to this country's prosperity that we feel betrayed it sliced into garbage for us i was an officer i don't know why but since the one nine hundred eighty s. the german media have to trade turkish working as asians in germany the turkish people and the turkey. n

turkey used old east german army weapons against the kurds in turkey and history is repeating itself in syria. and it's not just german tanks german military trucks have also been spotted on the syrian border. let me bring you up to fit some other stories making news around the world two consecutive car bombs detonated near a mosque in the libyan city of benghazi on tuesday killing at least twenty seven people and injuring dozens more the attack happened as worshippers were leaving the last many security officials are among the casualties they have believed to have been the target of the attack the so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in afghanistan gunmen stormed an office of save the children aid agency in the have gone city of jalalabad two people were killed and twenty others injured when the militants battle security forces huzzah rounded the building the british based charity has suspended its operations in afghanistan police in pakistan have arrested a twenty four year old man suspected of being a serial killer responsibly for the rape and mur

which has been fighting a decades long insurgency inside turkey causing thousands of casualties turkey considers the p.k. k. as does most of the international community a terrorist organization and they say that this wipe e.g. kurdish militia is affiliated to it and they say that this organization is a clear and present threat to turkey they accuse its forces of crossing over into turkey to carry out operations in source port of p.k. k. now the y.p. cheap the nicest and adding to the problem the white beach is a key ally of the united states in its war against the islamic state in syria i mean unger is arguing and i would quote them it has no option but to carry out the military operation but turkey just in fact bombing a territory in syria one of the wider repercussions of this move or turkey argues that it has international law on its side it says that this militia poses a clear and present danger to this country and under international law it claimed it has a right to defend itself but this why p.g. militia has powerful allies not only the united states and in fact the state departm

turkey considers the u.s. backed y p d an extension of the kurdish rebel group p k k that it was for four decades and korea has been angered by the y.p.s. expansion in more than syria after the us backed into the group and the fight against all but of the washington state it will train an army to patrol the border region with the wipe india as a key component tuckey responded with its own military. offensive air strikes and ground up tuck's potentially puts turkey in conflict with its nato ally and turkey say this may expand its operation in mosul in syria to the city of mumbai each after a free and has been cleared the task of taking of a member it will fall off auction of the free syrian army that's allied to the syrian government whether the us will try to convince turkey from taking mumble as it's done in the past is unclear at this stage russia syria's ally says it will not interfere in the conflict but it does control over enclaves airspace which means turkish air strikes that began on twenty january mus

congress controversial operation against syrian kurds we'll get the latest from our correspondent in turkey. balance today the country center left social democrat party is due to hold a key vote on whether to enter coalition talks with merkel's conservatives social democrat leader martin schultz is in its favor of forming a coalition but he faces strong resistance from within his own party a no vote could lead to a minority government which merkel has already said she won't lead or to fresh elections. i'm joined now by our correspondent thomas sparrow at the s.p.d. congress and vaughan thomas thanks for joining us the congress is now underway and martin short is just spoken to the delegates why did he promised members to win them around. martin shows specifically mentioned two areas in his speech which finished a few minutes ago here in bonn one he stressed what the party had achieved in the exploratory talks with the conservatives on social justice issues and also on his european policy which is something particularly important for him the second argument that he stressed is that those exp

and turkey has turned turkey into an open prison. under ten percent of refugees are housed in counts. most refugee children don't attend school and that hinders women from integrating into society. most adults in fact they don't speak any turkish at all. if they do find a job most don't have any kind of legal protection pension rights or insurance that . they are quite simply being exploited. children. until twenty sixteen you arrivals and people smugglers met openly in the bassman a district of his mere bad since the e.u. turkey deal this is the end of the line for thousands of syrians adnan child has sent his family were stranded. here after fleeing the war in syria a family of five now live in an old shack. you know the welcome to our home. this is where we sleep if ten the couch into three beds the others sleep on the fuel and use the cushions as their mattress. we live in a small apartment it's the will of allah and that is our kitchen. their son tomorrow also lives here like the rest of the family he was traumatized by the war

turkey turkey turkey is in fact having a very important leverage over a very important part of the syrian opposition because those people actually who are now taking part in sochi or have actually traveled to sochi last night actually they were they left from ankara from turkey which means that there has been some pressure on them by the turkish government not about submit and in sochi because as we all know today there has been disorder of bargain between between the russians and the turks and we should the russians be allowed the turkish army to enter syria and who started this all of branch operation against the kurdish forces in in exchange for putting bashar on the syrian opposition or at least part of the city opposition to participate in sochi so we have seen in sochi to be. the major military factions syrian factions of the north a ticking bought in so in fact yes i mean turkey is a major part of the syrian opposition or important part of the syrian opposition both military and the military and the political one which actually have access and they have support of the turkish or th

to this take a step there was a similar operation in about how fear a goal of turkey and turkey always indicated the thirty three lot. is the kurdish forces to pose a threat to turkey so i think the fact that the united states and the old these special force was a trigger but they didn't really change to secure a shoe the turkey is determined that the kurdish forces or little the northern syria border will not be if with it's amazing that the us is in the past week managed to completely betray both its rival allies in this in this conflict first a bit of a trail of turkey announcing this border security force made up primarily of kurds without any consultation with turkey and then as soon as turkey you make make an issue of it immediately drop the kurds all together and say oh we're nothing to do with them and basically give turkey a free hand to slaughter them. on wednesday the two koreas agreed to march together under a single flag during the upcoming winter olympics the north will now send twenty two athletes to the pianka chang games the international olympic committee president pr

but opposed by turkey stephanie decker has more from the turkey syria border. shortly before sunset on saturday turkey launched its air campaign on africa in turkish officials had said all week that the operation was imminent. much of the president. spoke just a few hours before the jets to call them academy. we would wipe out this corridor or step by step starting from the west africa operation has to factor started in the field this will be followed by ben being much since the promises made about they should look and kept so far nobody could say anything we do what is necessary . throughout the morning along turkey's western border with the turkish army had brought in bulldozers gravel and concrete blocks appearing to build up their defenses along the border with syria. tank shelled specific locations on the mountain and hours later this mountain would be targeted by airstrikes the army made us move from this position a few hours before the campaign officially began this is just one of the locations that the turkish army is shelling out free in is pretty much

but -- but today turkey. turkey does not play a role yet in the coalition talks, by the way, but this will come up. as a german think and do tank active in turkey and the united states and more than 100 countries around the world, we have really high interests in raising this topic, and we are very proud to be able to organize this conference in crucial times incorporation with middle east institute. i would like to dwell on three areas where i think we also will get some interesting discussions today. one is concerning turkey's domestic situation. after the coup, the rifts aggravated between -- within turkish society between turks and kurds, akp and opposition mr. erdogan and the followers, secularists and devoted muslims, country side and between generations. this is not the situation which should be welcomed by anyone. we should try to do as much as possible to keep the turkish society together and not to split them. so from my point of view no political force inside to bridge these dangerous trends. maybe

turkey is a nato ally. and america will be duty—bound to support them, even though the turks generally view the kurds as terrorist. you mentioned the pkk. it has been calling for an independent kurdish state within turkey for decades. but it is also lending military support to the kurds currently fighting in syria, but also in iraq. it is a listed terrorist organisation, not just also in iraq. it is a listed terrorist organisation, notjust by turkey, but also by several states and organisations, including nato, the us and the european union. the fudge is that kurdish militia groups come ina fudge is that kurdish militia groups come in a number of different varieties. america will continue backing what they view as the good kurds to try to wipe out groups like ices. —— isis. we have to remember that america have been paddling up to fight a common enemy. more re ce ntly to fight a common enemy. more recently in libya, they supported the rebels, many of whom were affiliated with al-qaeda. we also must be

has reported extensively from turkey high in a good to see you so turkey's foreign minister has said he hopes for better times with germany in the new year but are statements like this really going to be enough or do we need to see more there are not enough clearly i mean the german government's position here is very straightforward it always has been they are saying there cannot be any normalization in those relations. as long as german nationals like dan is you jill the journalist are behind bars in turkey without an indictment and two thousand and seventeen really has been a terrible year for german turkish ties so much damage has been done so first now i'm korea and berlin have to rebuild trust so a meeting like this is certainly a step into the right direction but it's not enough to ease tensions so just what is germany expecting to see from turkey and. what do what does the turkish side expect from germany while germany clearly says we need to see a development in the case of benazir jill and at least five six or seven other german nationals who are believed to be behind bars i

syrian rebels backed by turkey are also reported to have mobilized and near friend and turkey's president says the next target will be man beach that's the time which was recaptured from iceland twenty sixteen by a kurdish led force also backed by the u.s. but opposed by turkey stephanie decker has more from the turkish syrian border. shortly before sunset on saturday turkey launched its air campaign on after the turkish officials had said all week that the operation was imminent. president legit tired everyone spoke just a few hours before the jets took off. we would wipe out this corridor will step by step starting from the list after the operation has defectors started in the field this will be followed but. since the promises made it look and kept so far nobody can say anything we do what is necessary. throughout the morning along turkey's western border with the turkish army had brought in bulldozers gravel and concrete blocks appearing to build up their defenses along the border with syria. tank shelled specific locations on the mountain and hours later this mountain would be target

turkey used old east german army weapons against the kurds in turkey and history is repeating itself in syria. and it's not just german tanks german military trucks have also been spotted on the syrian border. this article look at some other stories making news around the bond meanwhile says it's preparing reception camps for the drugs or return of muslim refugees who fled to neighboring bungler this because of the military crackdown in the buddhist majority country bungled this says it is also preparing for the transfer of but it needs more time. to conservative car bombs detonated near a mosque in the libyan city of benghazi on tuesday killed at least twenty seven people and injured dozens more the attack took place as worshippers were leaving the mosque many security officials were among the casualties they have believed to have been the target of the attack. gunmen have stormed an office save the children aid agency in the afghan city of jalalabad two people were killed when the militants battle security forces who had surrounded the building is the nucleus of the sponsibility th

turkey is violating the sovereignty also. is making things was because they will provide economic aid only to the areas which are lost on the control of the syrian government that border. the presence of refugees in the countries like germany france so next time while merkel will be telling to you all when there was simply no way i couldn't accept that if you geez i hope the german vote does. not financing the parts of the country that are on the control of the sea that all that turkey is invading and attacking the kurdish canton of african which african which has actually been russian protect it well that's ok with a lot of us and we have. to go to a short break and after that short break we'll continue our discussion on real news with art. in order to overthrow the regime it does take popular discontent and popular mobilization but all. also requires actors with in the leadership of the regime who feel that the regime is no longer serving the national interest you need people in the military or the bureaucracy or both who a

what does this mean that turkey is not on an enemy or syria turkey is not on a number of to us turkey is a member of nato so it didn't make sense and i think turkey was quite right in person having this step as a direct threat to its national security in light of the recent events the u.s. state department issued a rather measured statement the department spokeswoman said turkey should ensure its military operations were limited in time and scope and said to the president earlier today accused its allies of providing military support to the kids with washington first and foremost in the line of fire ball this lee has details the techies president added one has come out with guns blazing and some pretty harsh rhetoric for the top administration. america do not encroach on our borders do not provoke us and we will run out of patience i told barack obama the same unfortunately i didn't get any response. those who see the backing of us will not stand the turkish nation it is our national struggle. is essentially turning on and has allies he's accused the west of providing weapons and ammu

turkey russia. and the us i think europe which is very become more like a less relevant actor and of fight despite being bearing. brunt of the fighting in syria with the refugees and attacks in iraq could play a significant role here by mediating between these forces because of actually their economy power political. leverage on russia turkey and others and tokyo and the kurds are two potential allies of europe in the syrian conflict john sinan going to yield is richard weiss thank you very much indeed for your contributions of program and thank you for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a james i sorry you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is. from me on the whole team here by phone now. the latest news as it breaks the government of mali so maggie has pushed to have a series of laws that if as will make argentina's economy more competitive with detail

militia turkey is dead set against that plan. turkey has run out of patience. no one should think will sit idly by to watch events unfold. turkey's government wants to prevent a kurdish zone of influence at any cost from northern iraq to the turkish syrian border which it believes kurdish militias would use to attack turkey turkey's attack on white g. forces an app for a move to achieve that goal. the campaign is turkey's next round in a long conflict against kurdish armed factions they are often supported by the u.s. turkey's nato ally as part of a larger regional conflict involving ever shifting alliances. ok time now to catch up with some of the other stories making news around the wilds thai police have arrested a suspected kingpin asians in the trade in detention species its name has been shy back he allegedly ran a launch trafficking network that smuggled parts to chinese and vietnamese tailless he was arrested on friday in connection with the smuggling of fourteen rhino horns wealth and one million u.s. dollars. the operator of japan's crippled fukushima

this is alienating turkey it's been driving turkey into the arms of russia as we've seen over the last few years turkey was hoping that that relationship u.s. kurdish relationship would begin to reverse once isis was destroyed that is not the case the united states is building an argument for remaining in northern syria. saudi arabia would like the united states remain there israel would like the united states to remain there to cut down assad's government and to deny the syrian government oil water and agricultural land that's what chopping syria up into two and developing a long term relationship with the kurds in the north helping them get to develop greater independence will ultimately do it'll keep syria very weak this is a way to night iran the fruits of it's a victory in syria and also to bring russia down a notch so i think the united states is seeing this as a way to hurt its enemies russia anyone and to help its allies. both israel and saudi arabia the trouble is is that turkey is collateral damage here the united states' relationship with turkey is going from bad to worse an

turkey sees them as terrorists, linked to the outlawed pkk, who have long fought an insurgency in turkey on behalf of the kurdish minority. and it wants them pushed back from the border town of afrin. turkey's president has his own troops fighting for their hero. and with elections next year, war rallies his support base. translation: this is a national struggle, and in this national struggle, we will crush anyone who stands against us. that's a message that resonates in border villages, where grape grower omer gazel and his friends watched the jets. translation: we felt proud and happy as they took off. everyone came out to bid them farewell. but the ypg has backing, too. both in syria, where kurds rallied today, and beyond. translation: we condemn the attack on afrin, and we tell our brothers there that they are in our hearts, and that we are with them. because of the bravery of the ypg heroes, we will win the battle in afrin. the us armed them in the fight against the islamic state group, infuriating turkey. france too voiced support for them today, calling on turkey to pull back. but

this is infuriating turkey an error to want it is driving turkey towards russia and i believe it's a dangerous policy for the united states because it'll be very difficult and it will isolate the united states from assad iran turkey and eventually even iraq met i'm going to turn what do you think the u.s. is up to here how are you gauging take this response and the military response. and i mean just literally three hours ago president are done he made an a very very strong speech and this has been the most inflammatory speech that he made is so far so i. think that to y.p. g. forces take a affiliated forces is an imminent threat for the security of turkey and is very firm on this issue with this rhetorical present and has been trying to emphasize underline this fact and there ma'am i have to say that. when taking into account the military situation on the ground it is very hard it's getting getting increasingly hard at the moment and wait no one taking into ankara's firm stance against by p.g. thinking that i suggest that armed confrontation in the north of syria between turkish mili

we went to turkey we'd probably be arrested. but. it's difficult for john to find supporters in germany most turkish reporters don't want to work with him in the beginning i was dreaming of what i was thinking of that i mean there are two thousand three thousand he took his journeys into. and there would be no problem to find out people to work with but now i understand that it's not that easy because it's their interests for them when the they feel threatened by the government because of that and i can understand that but it is of course in the beginning it was a bit disappointing for me. in january twenty seventeen turkish journalist heiko baghdad moved to berlin to work with chen he left his wife and children back in turkey. heiko has visited billy and often. sunday will not only to see if you know what i mean this was just another trip. i'll do some work here and then go back home. that's what i plan to do religiously she rejects him i think that things in turkey so calm down soon and i can go back and live in peace. but i didn't

by pushing turkey further away and i think the e.u. as such needs to come up with a more coherent common approach when it comes to its relations to turkey. many thanks indeed for breaking it all down for us. now to some of the other stories making news around the world and the u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley has warned iran that the world is watching its response to anti-government protests her comments came at a u.n. security council meeting but iran and russia criticized the u.s. for calling that meeting saying the protests in iran are a domestic matter mudslides and tarantula rainstorms have left at least forty four people dead in the congolese capital kinshasa authorities say victims were killed by a collapsing walls and by drowning many homes in the city of ten million are built on hillsides where a lack of drainage systems makes them vulnerable to flash flooding. now two jets collided on the ground at a toronto airport on friday setting the tail of one of the aircraft ablaze listen to this. oh. and i witnessed o

and nato between turkey and its western allies because for russia the greatest prize could be if turkey breaks with the west and is special with united states yes speaking of the united states what are we to make of washington's luke warm reaction to all of this. let me ask you i mean why why has america's response so far been so muted. well because washington is walking a very fine line on this issue i mean the u.s. clearly doesn't want to anger turkey a key nato ally but of course it has also no interest in an all out extensive a war against the kurds because of course the course played a key role in defeating isis the islamic state in syria so the u.s. so the u.s. in a way is in a very difficult position here and we heard from europe that one of russia's aims here really is to destabilize already strained relations between turkey and the u.s. so let me show i mean how is the u.s. reacting to that if we if one of the goals of russia is to see to nato allies basically fall out with each other well it seems to be that for now at least the u.s. is siding with the with turkey a key nato a

he's inside of turkey why shouldn't we be placed. take his air and ground forces have been pounding kurdish positions in africa and that targeting the y. page a militia which is backed by the us. took his tanks have been shelling the kurdish controlled syrian on clay and fighter jets have been bombing from the sky and chris says the y. page a is a syrian army of the kurdish workers party opaque. it considers that a terror group. could just on workers party and the why p.g. in syria they couldn't stand worker's party is on the terror list of the us and the e.u. the organization that works within syria is exactly the sign. that the syrian operation doesn't come without risks for turkey of a not sever rockets from syria landed in a turkish border city one person has been reported wounded as turkey escalates its involvement in syria the dangers for civilians grow on both sides of the border. correspondent delia han joins us for more you know you know we understand that turkish forces have crossed the border into syria and are attacking t

of this is probably russians threatening to pull turkey. if the western alliance three thing is it's klink the us position meanwhile remains ambiguous having backed the kurdish militia during the war against so-called islamic state washington is now refraining from direct criticism while urging turkey to quote exercise restraint in its military actions the u.s. has also said it takes turkey's legitimate security concerns seriously. the call on target to show restraint was echoed by the u.n. security council on monday but operation all of branch continues to intensify creating yet another front in the seven year syrian civil war. our correspondent dorian jones is covering this story from bowl dorian it's day four of the turkish pensive in syria what's happening there on the ground. to report intense fighting as the turkish army backed by elements of the free syrian army are grinding their way into our for in tents fighting is being reported in many areas of this enclave turkish military claiming that they are gradually taking control of a nu

done today also war that turkey will be drawn thing these groups because turkey sees why p.g. which is the backbone of s.t. have syrian democratic forces as an offshoot of p.k. the kurdistan workers' party and it's an alp old organization for turkey e.u. and the united states they are listed as terrorist groups so turkey says it as if it's a united states is directly strengthening and arming p.k. k. while arming the i.p.g. and unclear says the weapons that us provided to them will be used against us one day and that's why we should solve this problem immediately we should launch an operation before why p.g. and p k k. fires the arms to turkey this is the turkish discourse but of course one major concern was whether russia would ever say to go for turkey because russia has a strong word over a friend but it seems after today today's statements by love row that russia also will support turkey in a decision to launch this operation and even the syrian regime sees the united states as a traitor because of this corporation with the y. p.g. . and russia says it's a us. foreign minis

essentially puts turkey in direct conflict with the united states a risk that turkey for now appears willing to take had a net positive no lose votes and regardless of the price. we will tear down the head of kota door that they are trying to establish in the region. well there's some tough talk coming from turkey yet it concedes that it discussed this military offensive with the u.s. and with moscow beforehand well let's pull in our correspondents in russia and the us tonight your english other joins us from moscow and we shellac nigga is in the u.s. capital washington to both of you good evening yuri i want to start with you can we confirm what russia is saying i mean did it give turkey its blessing for this operation olive branch. hi brenda there was indeed a small russian contingent in africa contingent and to the chorus believed even the russians who was there would be more or less safe from terror attacks experts say the kurds obviously believed that the turkish and forces wouldn't come because russia has a sort of agreement with the pentagon covering that part of syria but las

about half a year ago of turkey and turkey always indicated that it we lot. the kurdish forces to pose a threat to turkey so i think the fact that the united states and now these special forces was a trigger but they didn't really change the situation that is determined that the kurdish forces or little the northern syrian border will not be left with it's amazing that the u.s. has in the past week managed to completely betray both its rival allies in this in this conflict first bit of a trail of turkey announcing this border security force made up primarily of kurds without any consultation with turkey and then as soon as turkey make make an issue of it immediately drop the kurds altogether and say well we're nothing to do with them and basically give turkey a free hand to slaughter them turkey's military action against the kurds in syria triggered protests across europe people took to the streets in a number of capitals to denounce the shelling and demand at the escalation of the crisis we're closely following the story and we'll of course be bringing you a

and turkey i think actually it's. it's a problem for turkey but it's also a major problem measured by lamar for the u.s. so i think that the u.s. it's very likely that they weren't expecting turkey to follow through on these threats over turkey have a sense that american remarks about a border some kind of border hammy within syria turkey has been threatened or threatening to take action i don't think that these words but second very seriously by washington now as i said this creates a dial m.r. to washington it's also at the same time something which the syrian government would object to the syrian government considers this to be a violation of its sovereignty so we have the you know the reactions could come from everywhere you we have a u.s. turkish dispute i think as a result of what's happening at the same time you have a dispute between the syrian government and turkey because the syrian government has cut the categorical or express that it's categorical rejection for any such step so you could this could lead ev

turkey wants to preserve. the integrity and keep open the possibility of a unified syria by preventing a continuous syrian court all. controlled by. kurds in the north and i think this is why we are. watching the way you look at it mr mccauley washington's two allies on now what why do you think that the u.s. will intervene and if it doesn't which side would it take. i don't think they're us really into. the us is responsible is the reason why turkey felt compelled to intervene to stop this operation in the first place because. the us even though they backtracked. to the initial announcement today said they want to establish an army of course parallel force in most all countries off the road there is only one flag one army so the us says i'm going to create another force to patrol and control and secure syria's border but turkey what of the screen work is not an enemy of syria turkey is not one and i mean of to us in turkey is a member of nato so it doesn't make sense and i think turkey was quite right in pers

of thirty million kurds in turkey there was no way turkey would ever allow that in a million years they didn't see this truck campaigned on ending the process of nation building ending the process that euphemism of democracy promotion and ending regime changes which he said as counterproductive and destructive to u.s. policy across the middle east he also said what are we doing in syria if hillary clinton has her way we will be starting world war three with russia in syria over al-qaeda and this is the trump administration has compete clearly capitulated to the. and they're running trends foreign policy tell us in the house it permanent in deafening if you open the occupation of syria their goals are now open to regime change once again back to the obama era confronting iran because iran is not allowed to have influence in syria no matter what damascus said i think tillerson should give us a list of the countries in the world that are allowed to decide who their allies are and which ones aren't because it's always complained in eastern europe that countries are allowed to ally with enjo

and turkey saying that the u.s. did not keep a quote single promise to turkey regarding the kurds and that there is no trust between the countries but he also said that the u.s. has distorted a recent phone conversation between the two leaders president trump relayed concerns the escalating violence in africa syria risks undercutting i shared goals in syria he urged taking to deescalate limit his military actions and avoid civilian casualties. one time statement about the content of the phone call between trump and i was one was probably drafted before the conversation took place because it did not reflect the truth well turkey claims trump didn't express any concerns about escalating violence saying that it was just an exchange of viewpoints but the call comes after on current nouns that would be extending its operation and syria to another kurdish held city well the operation has been underway for over a week now with casualties on both sides but neither side seems to be willing to wave a white flag m m m . should

are we is it being discussed in turkey that we could have turkish and u.s. forces standing you know face to face. well of course this is a huge topic here that you have to know there are no american soldiers inside the efren area so we will not see turkish an american soldiers actually fighting each other directly but yes this is highly highlighting the complexity of the situation you have a nato ally turkey actually bombing kurdish forces that the u.s. considers its most important ally in their fight against the so-called islamic state group so you see this is a very messy situation ofter all and of course at this is a very huge topic and it's going to further complicate relations between the two nato partners turkey and the u.s. and also comes down to the fact that turkey and the united states have very different attitudes and opinions about kurdish groups we know the turkish president . has failed to flush out what he describes as terrorists from the kurdish enclave in northern syria why do kurdish groups why do they pose such a threat to turkey well to k

in jail in turkey than in any other country. from germany we arranged for our turkish crew to meet with john sculley go to trial against the two of them is still under way in turkey. adam girl and i were colleagues and chant the same fate because of our reporting. we posted a video showing turkish intelligence officers sending weapons and ammunition to islamist rebels who were fighting the assad regime in syria. adam's crime was that he published these allegations the turkish government says that the trucks contained humanitarian aid not weapons and president had no one made a very public threat. was. your point the journalist who published this story will pay a high price. and we did pay we quarter at one committing a crime and were arrested the toaster's in jail for allegedly revealing state secrets adam and i were put in solitary confinement sounds right next to each other . but the constitutional court ruled that we had done nothing wrong and ordered our release but i had one doesn't carry. on a couple of big i don't accept

is also said it takes turkey's legitimate security concerns seriously the call on turkey to show restraint was echoed by the u.n. security council on monday but operation all of branch continues to intensify creating yet another front in the seven year syrian civil war. correspondent dorian jones who is covering this story from. dorian so day for this offensive what's going on on the ground. well the fighting appears to be continuing to intensify not only in the rugged mountainous terrain but now increasingly in the villages the numerous villages that dot the are for an enclave there's been reports of very fierce fighting several villages are being captured then recaptured also a lot of very fierce confrontations are occurring over a very strategic mountain there has been continued reports of both sides are claiming to have seized it and then the other side recapturing it on top of that there is all going airstrikes bombardment with turkey air force continue to pound the syrian kurdish militia but those operations are being hampered by very bad weather heavy fog and clouds on top of that t

turkey used old east german army weapons against the kurds in turkey and history is repeating itself in syria if you know we see it's really. not just german tanks german military trucks have also been spotted on the syrian border. let's bring in political correspondent hans blondie standing by at our parliamentary studios hans leaning foreign policy expert in merkel's conservatives has labeled turkey's syrian offensive illegal what the socialist chancellor merkel taking on the conflict the chancellor herself has not said anything publicly about the conflict but her spokesman has spoken of all those and has been very reluctant in fact to condemn what's happening in the oven syria at the moment to condemn this turkish action the government's position is that. it is not clear whether international law is being broken by this offensive and to the whole thing should be seen in the context of developments in syria in in its entirety so the german government is pushing for a peace initiatives in syria to be accelerated and this situation in a free in northern syria to be included in those

has also said it takes turkey's legitimate security concerns seriously the call on turkey to show restraint was echoed by the u.n. security council on monday but operation all of branch continues to intensify creating yet another front in the seven year syrian civil war. standing by for us in just dorian what is turkey's military objective in this operation is it just striking a blow against what i regard as a hostile militia or is it planning to establish a buffer zone in syria. well that is what the prime minister of italy use rim says he's talking about creating a thirty kilometer buffer zone into africa beyond that turkey has reiterated it threats to expand this operation fall beyond our friend looking men beach this is another syrian kurdish enclave a stronghold of the white peachey they've rewritten rated that they were cool be looking at that region and even beyond that to talking about removing the whole of the presence of the syrian kurdish force from turkey's a southern border so this operation at the moment appears to have a long term perspective and it's all about what turkey se

who turkey considers to be a terrorist organization so through all that that's where turkey is the real issue is coming to a head and after they announce these border forces air to one was infuriated and like in the attempt to the u.s. creating a terror army on turkey's border now after that reaction from air to want us to try and backtrack a little bit with tillerson saying that the announcement was misconstrued of course not a terror army on turkey's border but that really didn't seem to appease anyone and that's where we are why we are here today obviously over the last year or so territory has been an international battleground but again it is sovereign territory this is a sensitive area what's the international reaction been to these offensive well everyone has been threatening this operation for about a week now but everyone does still seem pretty. offguard that he's actually gone through with it we heard about it yesterday from some of the actual army saying that they were taking care of it but and one did confirm today that this operation both air and ground is happening and tur

biggest friend of turkey is actually i think it's the biggest enemy of turkey today turkey is trying to create more options approaching to russia or thaw it feels like turkey is trying to make a deal with it so he wants to be more you should speak up the future of the syria. northern syria is all about the relationship between them of course and they position to wipe they did they will work together they prefer to. rallies against the military operation have been held in turkey as well as a number of european countries and broke up a gathering and aimed at least a dozen.

turkey considers the y.p. g a terrorist organization but fighters from the kurdish groups across syria make up the backbone of the u.s. backed syrian democratic forces crucial and the most effective in the battle against ancyl. this is said to be video gin that is an area close to the border with turkey that has been heavily targeted sources have told al-jazeera that most people in these areas have fled due to the heavy bombardment. and the u.n. estimates around fifteen thousand are now displaced inside the region of africa. we're also told there been civilian casualties after random shelling in turkey denies this and says it only targets why peachey positions turkey's offensive is now well into its second week the village with the smoke coming from it is inside syria now turkey has been shelling these border areas on a daily basis i was also supported on the ground by free syrian army fighters this is the syrian rebels that turkey supports and they have a presence here in turkey along the border. we spot a fe

from his prison cell in turkey. said he rejected any trade off that would see him released in exchange for new arms sales to turkey he told the german d.p.a. news agency for my part i don't want my freedom tainted either by the sale of tanks or by the deeds of any war mongers i don't want to be a part of any dirty deals you tell was responding to an interview in news magazine with the german foreign minister. to block a major arms sales to turkey he said quote it will stay that way as long as the case remains unresolved. rejected characterization of the talks between the two countries. if it's a deal that the public about the arrangement that's not the case here. on monday you kells lawyer filed a motion with the turkish constitutional court calling for him to be freed the country's foreign minister. said he hoped release was imminent. but for days another istanbul court has ignored a constitutional court order to free to turkish journalist prompting fears you chelles imprisonment could drag on. in other news the eu

turkey views them. views them as terrorist groups to kurdish military organizations kurdish military wing turkey views them as terrorists and it all started this whole conflict started when the united states decided to create this so-called syria border defense force and they'd were going to create it in northern syria and so this is the situation in northern syria right now here you have the the yellow the yellow areas are the ones controlled by the kurds the greens or the turkish turkey backed rebels and the red ones are the syrian controlled syrian government controlled areas now when the united states decided to carve this whole thing into to basically that this is this is how the united states described this syrian border defense force from the outset to have a listen. the coalition is working jointly with the syrian democratic forces to establish and train the new syrian border security force currently there are approximately two hundred thirty individuals training in the inaugural class with the