Day: October 6, 2023
A US F-16 fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone after it flew near US forces in northeast Syria, where Turkey has been intensifying its attacks on Kurdish-held areas. The incident sparked a diplomatic row between the two NATO allies, who have divergent interests and policies in the war-torn country.
The Pentagon confirmed the downing of the drone, saying it was in self-defense and after several warnings were issued to Turkey. A Turkish defense official denied that the drone belonged to the Turkish military, but said Turkey reserved the right to defend itself against any threat from the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that Ankara considers a terrorist organization.
The latest escalation in northern Syria comes amid a fragile ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey in March 2020, which aimed to end the violence in Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in the country. The ceasefire has been repeatedly violated by both sides, and humanitarian groups have warned of a looming catastrophe for millions of civilians trapped in the crossfire.
The US State Department said it recognized Turkey’s legitimate security concerns regarding the PKK, but also urged restraint and de-escalation in northern Syria. It said it was concerned about the impact of the military escalation on civilian populations and the efforts to defeat IS.
BAKU — Police in Baku briefly detained the leader of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), Ali Karimli, before letting him go amid allegations he was trying to undermine public stability.
Opposition politician Tofiq Yaqublu told RFE/RL that police detained Karimli on June 28 as he was leaving an event in the capital to raise money to help activists in the former Soviet republic pay fines resulting from what they call bogus charges.
Police officials gave no explanation for Karimli’s detainment, but Yaqublu said the authorities were trying to disrupt the fundraising event organized at the headquarters of the opposition Musavat party. Critics of longtime President Ilham Aliyev’s government say authorities of the oil-rich South Caucasus nation frequently seek to silence dissent by jailing reporters, human-rights activists, and civil-society advocates without grounds. Dozens of AXCP members have been arrested, and some imprisoned, in recent years on what their supporters have called trumped-up charges.
Aliyev denies any rights abuses. He took power in 2003 shortly before the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled Azerbaijan since 1993.
BAKU — Police in Baku briefly detained the leader of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), Ali Karimli, before letting him go amid allegations he was trying to undermine public stability.
Opposition politician Tofiq Yaqublu told RFE/RL that police detained Karimli on June 28 as he was leaving an event in the capital to raise money to help activists in the former Soviet republic pay fines resulting from what they call bogus charges.
Police officials gave no explanation for Karimli’s detainment, but Yaqublu said the authorities were trying to disrupt the fundraising event organized at the headquarters of the opposition Musavat party. Critics of longtime President Ilham Aliyev’s government say authorities of the oil-rich South Caucasus nation frequently seek to silence dissent by jailing reporters, human-rights activists, and civil-society advocates without grounds. Dozens of AXCP members have been arrested, and some imprisoned, in recent years on what their supporters have called trumped-up charges.
Aliyev denies any rights abuses. He took power in 2003 shortly before the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled Azerbaijan since 1993.