can also take a look at turkish tanks firing shells that could issue positions. breaks down the situation on the border to get a clearer picture of what's going on between the turks and the kurds along syria's northern border we should look at the map this is where the kurds are the two yellow areas the one on the left is the african region that's the new war zone the turkish army entered it from the northwest plus they used airstrikes the green area is where the turkish backed syrian rebels are these are the militias that ankara is counting on on the ground there moving in on afrin from the east turkey's claws are being drawn together turkey has officially made it clear they are determined to create a thirty kilometer buffer zone right here along the border once the actual armed operation is done and dusted there's little doubt that the turks have enough military capabilities for that so the buffer zone will mean effectively that a part of syria is under turkish control at the moment it seems ankara isn't going to stop there they want the operation to extend fur

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 ammunition to the kurdish militia he says that aside from five thousand trucks weapons and ammunition from some two thousand planes has been provided the turkish president also saying to quote that his allies are dishonest when they do not admit to the fact that they have been supplying weapons to terrorists and here of course he's referencing the kurdish militia known as the y p g france is calling for an urgent united nations security council meeting while at the same time germany has expressed that it is extremely concerned with these developments particularly saying that the culture lated risks that could result from this confrontation between turkey and the could is something that might mount at the same time we are hearing from the turkish foreign minister who says that anyone who does not support took his actions in the african region essentially is siding with the terrorists and will be dea

well if you listen to the turkish officials the. name of the operation is declared as eliminating the power of the y p g across northern syria so they define it in a more broad the way but militarily it's an extremely risky move because we can compare this against the turkish militaries displayed. performance in our bob for example two years ago when they were carrying out an operation against the demoralized isis in a town which is way too similar smaller than a much smaller than our friend bob and it took the operation took three months and ice has inflicted heavy casualties on turkish soldiers at that time and also we can compare turkish military capacity in the urban warfare urban clashes inside turkey against probably k.-k. fighters at that time and if you compare this to with afrin which is a much less accessible territory compared to above and a much larger area and turkey will be facing against them a motivated disciplined force which is well armed and in this area is actually a pro predominantly kurdish area so it will all

the school is for young turkish people many of them dream of finding work in turkish television. while john watches his friend at work i try to interview some of the turkish student but they don't feel like talking they'd found out that we were coming and debated whether they should talk to us some said that if they appeared in the same reporters jan it could hurt their careers. because they were going to. and somebody says that she was in the course of a job. once they can cut off. from the project i think the duties of these kinds of things together is of. mostar is working on a new project. it's a film about the twenty thirteen taksim gazey park protests in istanbul showing how the turkish people rose up against repression. in the summer girls legal. age you may be and how they had their hopes dashed. or starve i was among those who tended to the wounded. to do. good work. we didn't leave our country our country left us. even just to read the book it's not a good feeling can do this in the day i did. you work for your country for half a century. you fight for a better society

turkish and y.p. g. forces cast again on saturday as i'm pushes ahead with a military operation aimed at clearing the kurdish militia from the turkish border area. kurdish and other activists say saturday's fighting concentrated in the northwest of the african region and this video kurdish fighters target turkish other cultures with small arms fire activists say turkey is making slow progress on the ground. president richard sipe rather one rather just supporters just over a week into the campaign he claims turkey has inflicted heavy casualties on its enemies. three hundred ninety four terrorists have been neutralized. and we have twenty martyrs from the free syrian army and our military. the figures are disputed and cannot be verified independently turkey took journalists close to the front line in syria on saturday here protest this militia watch over territory they've controlled for the past two years overlooked by white p.g. positions on a nearby hill. the shots of the re continues to show why p.g. f

turkish media report that fighting between the the turkish army and its allies is intensifying in the direction of offering. turkey claims a threat is growing at its school to try considers the y.p. g. to be the syrian faction of the p.k. k. which he sees as a terror group reacting to attack u.s. military attacks in recent days the why p.g. has shelled texas border towns claiming civilian lives while many techs were you for it at the start the military's now a changed history so no war is easy neither for soldiers nor. for civilians you know what i must not have. quoted you both sides of the border fear what operationalise branch could still bring. is in istanbul and joins me now from there though the turkish president has spoken out saying that he's ready to target syria's model bridge reason. what is the significance of this for the military operation. for the turkish forces they say it is key is part of their efforts to remove what they say is his tariff right on the southern border of syria but for nato it is a nightmare scenario because a large number of u.s. soldiers are believe

turkish artillery continues to show why puji forces with support from the turkish air force more and more turkish tanks are heading into the region as the offensive enters its second week turkey looks set for the long haul. the kurdish demonstrators had hoped their protests would draw attention to the human cost of turkey's military operation in northern syria many of them have friends and family there and say they fear for their lives. they came from across germany united against a turkish military offensive in the kurdish held. this is. her family are from the affected area that civilians are being killed the murder and hatred have to stop it's not rice. turkish troops syrian fighters have led a week long offensive in raging german kurds the use of tongues made in germany has added to their anger. this rise that so full to know that my own government is providing weapons that are being used against my people. to go to start was born in germany it's her home but her thoughts are very much with her family and friends her friends and relatives have been following every development on

attack the kurdish people are not terrorists as there is no such terrorist this is a nonsense for the turkish people anybody wants to run as per the kurdish right they call that it is a terrorist and our opinion is turkey with iran they are both side of the coin whether she ours journey the islamist radical trying to control either iraq the the shia in this case the sunni by turkey control syria and they're each trying to grab the power and have some understanding to undermine us in the international community so in our opinion it is difficult for the us to do anything but i think they can do much better that the truthy. should not have a green light to invade kurdish area that will undermine what the us have done in syria in terms of fighting isis all because the kurds would be forced to evacuate evacuate other areas and send christmas troops from easter and the stone of syria to the western kurdistan of syria thus creating vacuum that hash the shabby and a lot of shia militia led by iran to come and take that area or isis to come back and take that area so for a united state is an interest

the white jeep who say that since those day night some seventy shells have been fired by the turkish military on to their villages now it's one of the only a statement by the turkish president and the one in which he said that the united states has admitted to establishing a terrorist army on the turkish syrian border any chord on the united states to deal with that terror at its infrastructure and these comments by the turkish president so infuriated could see living in the afan region that earlier they took to the streets also they were protesting against what we see happening slowly on the ground which is turkish tanks needing to little buddha this is what citizens of africa have to say. right now our freedom will be the ones graveyard today hundreds of thousands are protesting to tell him that the people of our friend will never leave their land. the international community should send a message to turkey telling them to stop. the y.p. g.m. and stand so we can depend on what sells. well this comes after the statement that the coalition forces were working closely with the syrian

backed forces against the so-called islamic state well the turkish government calls the y p g g terrorists. the shattered turn of yield is evidence of the force that turkey has brought to be enough turkey's government is determined to press on with operation all of branch which to them has been a success so far it appears. the operation will continue until the threat is removed. reject a little but the kurdish y p g wants the world to know that they would surrender the enclave without a fight. we will resist and will not allow the enemy to invade our land to the last drop of blood we have we will never retreat from here on. those appear to be no idle words missiles fired from y p g controlled territory crashed into this mosque in the turkish border tone of killis causing fatalities and panic as worshippers tried to free the wounded from the rubble. the death toll rises on both sides but turkish president rich one says he will expand the offensive eastwards. u.s. troops stationed in northern syria might soon find themselves caught between kurds and turks each ally determined to banish the o

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

certainly are you have to realize that it was moscow that allowed this turkish operation to start in the first place they control syrian air space it appears that they are what they do are allowing turkish forces now to use airspace with impunity for now at least i think moscow is very happy to sit back and watch this deepening crisis between two key partners it's always been a long term goal of moscow to drive turkey away from later to drag its. influence this least for now appears to be succeeding and moscow will be very happy to sit on the sidelines and watch it all on fault although moscow will have the back of their minds be worried about turkey's growing influence in syria with that comes the prospect of turkey clashing with damascus which moscow is backing so it's a difficult game moscow's play but at the moment i think they're very content with the situation right daryn jones in istanbul thank you very much for that this article look at some other stories making news around the world at least three people have been killed and more than one hundred injured ten of them seriousl

we're hearing from the turkish defense minister that a de facto turkish military operation has begun across its border now this is been corroborated by the syrian kurds the white p.g.d. who say that since those day night some seventy shells have been fired by the turkish military on to their villages now it's one of the only a statement by the turkish president and the one in which he said that the united states has admitted to establishing a terrorist army on the turkish syrian border any chord on the united states to deal with that terror at its infrastructure and these comments by the turkish president so infuriated could see living in the afan region that earlier they took to the streets also they were protesting against what we see happening slowly on the ground which is turkish tanks leading to little buddha this is what citizens of us have to say. right now our freedom will be the ones graveyard today hundreds of thousands are protesting to tell him that the people of our friend will never leave their land. and the international community should send a message to turkey tellin

brent: and we know the turkish forces are coming across the border. there is a russian component to this, and also a u.s. component. the u.s.s. has backed kurdish forceses in the pasast. they consider the militia to be the best ground troops in the battle against the islamic state in syria. now america appears to be doing little to stop turkey's offensive. do the kurdish fighters deal the u.s. has abandoned them? vladimirir: the f fighters arart happy with the statements, because it seems that turks are being allowed to attack. a call between donald trump and president erdogan had trump calling on turkey not to escalate and to show restraint because civilians could be hit byby these aacacks. in generalal, the kurds want president trump to call turkey to immediately stop is a tax. -- to stop those attacks. brent: the turkish president has announced his country's military will expand this offensive and move even closer to u.s. forces stationed in syria, so vladimir, are we going to see a confrontation between two o nato allies? vladimir: well actually,

we're hearing from the turkish defense minister that a de facto turkish military operation has begun across its border now this is been corroborated by the syrian kurds the white jeep who say that since those day night some seventy shells have been fired by the turkish military on to their villages now it's one of the only a statement by the turkish president and the one in which he said that the united states has admitted to establishing a terrorist army on the turkish syrian border any chord on the united states to deal with that terror at its infrastructure and these comments by the turkish president so infuriated could see living in the afan region that earlier they took to the streets also they were protesting against what you see happening slowly on the ground which is turkish tanks leading to little buddha this is what citizens of us have to say. right now our freedom will be the ones graveyard today hundreds of thousands are protesting to tell him that the people of our friend will never leave their land. the international community should send a message to turkey telling the

fairly confident that the turkish military or the turkish leadership or the turkish state had nothing to do with this incident although you are right this part of it is supposed to be controlled by turkey games but let's be frank about it let's face it even we are not always able to control the territory that we are in charge of in turkey sometimes these and they will to do that as well the situation is quite complex and they were supposed to have their observers in this area but they were unable to do so so for it's not that easy you remember when we deployed our military police. the militants attacked them and they were encircled. and then it took some professional and courageous action by our rescue teams our military our. helicopter pilots and our special forces we were able to bring all our people out of this pocket successfully i recently met with the officer who led the team i think he is from dagestan and he said we have never seen such a thing ourselves so i said. what did you do we just to raise the russian flag and we went into this corridor and there was another column now

killed by by the turkish turkish air strikes and turkish artillery fire and. and likewise on the other side of the border with the kurds fighting back nicolas the it's interesting you know the big elephant in the room we have nato allies against each other so to speak the u.s. president has warned turkey against further escalation in syria and any actions that could lead to a confrontation with the u.s. do you think the president everyone is taking that warning seriously at all. i don't know i think quite honestly he probably. at this point would take the views of the russian and syrian government's more seriously because ultimately. you know the not a whole that the u.s. can do yes they have two thousand and special forces and other forces on the ground there and they. you know they they've been bombing islamic state it's been the heaviest heaviest bombing by the u.s. anywhere for a very long time bombing mosul and rock other areas. but you know that the u.s. is not really in a position to militarily take on the turkish army in northern syria so you know what

turkish politicians agree as well and it's not just the ruling a.k. party that supports the offensive in syria opposition leader kamal kill extols says he also backs the operation as does meryl action are the head of the new party that wants to challenge president dredge of tired aragon in the next election she tweeted that she's praying for a glorious army the only party to condemn the offensive is the pro kurdish h d p g . a former spokes person calls it inacceptable. the olive branch has always been a symbol of peace but now it is stained with blood it's also the one is extending the olive branch to bashar al assad in syria who once used to be his allies said it was upmarket this operation is an attempt to massacre the kurds opus we hope that statements like this one by jimmy are dangerous right now in the past days the turkish government has detained dozens of people including politicians activists and journalists for criticizing the military operation in syria the official charged terrorist propaganda. the journalist who knows servile colleagues

has warned against any incursion and is also threatening to shoot down turkish jets turkish president richard type out of the water is promising to expand his country's border operations is well he had to say earlier today not yet up now we will clear this terror corridor from our border step by step just as we have prevented a terror corridor from being formed along our border with drabble those and bob operations. we've launched a military operation into the northern afferent province of syria an operation in mamby it will come after offering. the promises made to us have not been kept up to now so nobody can object if we do what is necessary. ok for more we're going to talk to door injun's our correspondent in istanbul adoring are there any signs at this point that turkey is preparing to send large numbers of ground troops into syria. no not yet and i think that what's going on is a very sustained air bombardment already over one hundred targets have been hit according to the turkish military this bombardment is expected to carry on for several days possibly even weeks and the reas

this is due to the news live from berlin the currents mobilized to protest the turkish intervention in syria demonstrations and let those let alone it's like the turkish embassy as germany also prepares for a large kurdish demonstration later today. fighting corruption tops the agenda of the african union and you will still listening theo are responding takes us to nigeria for it means that has close and is affecting people's daily lives. i'm on a welcome to the program we begin with breaking news this hour reports are coming in of a large explosion a police checkpoint in the afghan capital kabul the blast is believed to have been caused by a car bombing near a foreign embassies and government buildings it's also being reported that there are several casualties at the scene. we'll be bringing you more on that story as it comes and police in the german city of cologne are preparing for a large protest by kurdish groups against turkey's ongoing military offensive in northern syria police expect more than fifteen thousand at the rally which german intelligence say has been organized by gr

also coming up turkish troops rolled into northern syria mortar fire crossed the border clears the way for land forces to move in it's part of it all feds have against kurdish militia and will find out from our correspondent in december why al grows offensive is causing a controversy. and in the bundesliga hamburg says farewell to coach walker's just all and move comes after a bitter loss to fellow relegation candidates for. i met her thanks very much for joining us it has been four months since germany's parliamentary elections. tonight the country is finally one step closer to forming a stable government the social democratic party voted to enter a formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives initial show of hands was too close to call so every vote of more than six hundred delegates at the party conference had to be counted individually the outcome in the end was a clear majority in favor of moving forward with negotiations is more. the vote was too close for comfort but in the end relief for the s.p.d. leadership martin childes has the green light to continu

secretary of state rex tillerson spoke to his turkish counterpart. today i'm not pressure on from washington is expected to step up particularly as washington called on not to intervene turkish president reject typo's want slime washington said they cannot be trusted and they are supporting terrorists torian jones for us in istanbul thank you very much afghan officials say a group of gunmen have stormed a luxury hotel in the capital kabul the attack on the intercontinental hotel is understood to be ongoing officials say security forces are on the scene and are exchanging fire with the gunmen at least one of the attackers is believed to have been killed some residents and staff managed to flee the raid comes days after a u.s. embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the city turning to the u.s. now it's been a year since donald trump was inaugurated and despite trump's protests promised to bring people together the country remains wracked by political division the federal government shut down overnight after congress failed to reach a last min

turkish troops roll into northern syria clearing the way for ground forces to move in it's part of an offensive against a kurdish militia the united states has asked turkey to show restraint. and pope francis says goodbye to a group wrapping up a latin american tour that's been overshadowed by angry protests over the church's handling of a sexual abuse scandal. i my a waiter thank you for joining us. it's been some four months since germany's parliamentary elections and tonight the country is finally one step closer to forming a stable government the social democrat party had voted to enter formal coalition talks with chancellor angela merkel's conservatives and initial show of hands was too close to call so every vote of the more than six hundred delegates at the party conference had to be counted individually and the outcome was a clear majority in favor of moving forward with negotiations it was a nail biting finish to a long debate with john hoping to steer three hundred sixty two voted yes with two hundred seventy nine zero and one abstention with that the s.p.d. will enter into

the turkish army fires mortars terms of the syrian a conclave of the offering making way for its troops to cross into the area it's part of the 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 jus

the turkish u.s. relations are in trouble due to so many reasons that i want just to enumerate a few of them. different views on syria, syrian kurds, the zurich trial, the arrest of americans and the halt of visa services in turkey just to name a few. now let me come to the turkish-german relations. they are deeply in trouble as well. since the violation of basic rights, the jailing of germans, german citizens, journalists in turkey, the med lipping of turkish officials in the german election campaign, "the refusal to german lawmakers to visit german troops on the nato base and the linked relocation of the units outside nato territory to jordan. this is unprecedented but it happened. ladies, we have a lot to discuss. i'm looking forward to that, your input and active participation. i would like to thank middle eastern institute and mei and the friedrich foundation for making it possible. let me introduce the panel, from johns hopkins, well informed specialist. doctor, the floor is yours. >> thank you

the turkish government. under. the count but first of all the operation in africa should be finished and should be completed i do not expect at the moment that turkey is undertaking operation directions which. just weeks to go until the winter olympics in south korea more russian athletes are now expecting their dreams of competing to be dashed to the international olympic committee has sent a list of eligible participants to russia and it excludes many athletes who have never failed a doping test. tensions in the sports world are hitting another high as the i.o.c. has confirmed that the number of russian athletes that are eligible to compete in the upcoming winter olympics is to be reduced now unexpectedly and without explanation now the full list of who is eligible has not yet been released but the russian olympic committee has disclosed a number of names that are thought to be who will be disqualified and that decision is ruffling feathers not only in russia but abroad as well a french sports outlet has publishe

one turkish citizen. live punch a little go boom did and deter. 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

turkish officials had said that the. president. spoke just a few hours before the jets to call them a cult then they're going to go to. this corridor or step by step of the way this. has defectors started in the field this will be followed by bad since the promises . kept so far nobody can say with. 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 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 surrounded turkey to its west and north and there's also been a build up inside syria by free syrian army fighters to the east about three now those are the rebels that turkey supports. turkey and reinforce the f.s.a. with thousands more men over the last few d

the turkish army has been shelling kurdish positions on the other side of its border. and i'm curious says if it takes off free in its may advance further east along the kurdish covered or in northern syria they're. going to go to. step by step will totally destroy this corridor. operation has defacto started in the field. and speech will follow. photo the y. p.g. or peoples protection units is the syrian army at the kurdistan workers party an enemy of the turkish state for the us the why p.g. has been useful against the so-called islamic state and washington arms the kurdish group to defeat i asked now the us is calling for a border security force in syria that would include the wife 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 from northern iraq to the turkish syrian border which it believes kurdish militias would use to attack turkey turkey's attack on forces in the free looks to achieve that goal the campaign is turk

controls the afrin area in northern syria the turkish government considers the wikipedia as having an alliance with the p k k who they say. we are a terrorist organization since last week we have been hearing with threatening that it's going to launch this operation in the african area particularly after the united states issued a statement saying that it was going to train as well as implement a border protection force that would see the syrian democratic forces involved now the u.s. that is if is aligned with the white p.g.d. that the turks are against you understand why took you so angry over this whole issue but of course you also have the kurds in the african area he have taken to the streets in anger and frustration as well they have denounced the statements made by the turkish president and those sentiments were echoed in front of the two cliche embassy in london where around one hundred fifty people gathered they were holding placards and they were chanting that the turkish government is a terrorist government that has links to islamic state on that whole issue of whether or n

but street protests song going to stop turkish president. he's announced his forces will now push further east to a town called man beach no one should take issue with this because the real owners of man beach aren't these terrorists there are arab brothers there. afterwards we will continue to fight up to the iraqi border until no terrorist is left. other one threat to attack the entire kurdish controlled area of syria is in direct contradiction of the interest of his nato ally the united states just hours before a senior white house adviser had called on everyone to take his troops and all armed fighters out of the conflict he appealed to or want to focus on the longer term strategic goals of ending violence in syria but the turkish president seems to be in no mood to heed the call. saying that the syrian conflict syrian opposition says it will boycott russian sponsored peace talks next week opposition spokesman says the meeting is an attempt to sideline the united nations peace process. was speaking after two days of bilateral talks invol

we'll get the latest from the afghan capital also coming up the kurds are mobilizing to protest the turkish intervention in syria thousands of members of germany's kurdish community are demonstrating and cologne police have beefed up security fearing clashes with german turks who support the ministry operation. i know it's on a welcome to the program we begin with breaking news and it's reported that at least forty people have been killed in a major explosion in the afghan capital of kabul the country's interior ministry also saved more than one hundred forty were injured in the attack which happened after a police checkpoint in the city on saturday morning the blast was caused by a car bombing near foreign embassies and government buildings the taliban have claimed responsibility. earlier i spoke to to here to derry in the afghan capital kabul who says that the authorities there often downplayed the extent of the chaos let's have a listen to what he had to say. yes there actually as you say severe has been a really tragic day here in afghanistan in kabul actually it is a serious and the fo