Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 11 May 2017
Turkey calls on US to reverse decision to arm Kurds Tunisia deploys

By PHILIP ISSA extension of the decades- But the Kurdish-led Syrian the Tabqa Dam and a army amid rallies
SUZAN FRASER long Kurdish insurgency Democratic Forces, of SDF, nearby town, also called over jobs, graft
Associated Press raging in its southeast. “We which has driven IS from Tabqa.
BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey want to know that our al- much of northern Syria over It was the latest IS strong- By B. B. BOUAZZA
hold to fall to the Kurdish- Associated Press
led fighters as they ad- TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tuni-
vance toward Raqqa — sia’s president is deploying
the seat of the militants’ the army to protect petro-
so-called caliphate along leum and phosphate facili-
the Euphrates River. The fall ties amid growing demon-
of Tabqa leaves no other strations over unemploy-
major urban settlements on ment and corruption, and
the road to Raqqa, about Tunisian police fired tear
25 miles (40 kilometers) gas Wednesday on pro-
away. testers after a vendor tried
Ilham Ahmed, a top official to set himself on fire.
in the Syrian Democratic The vendor was treated
Forces’ political office, for burns after the tensions
hailed the U.S. decision in Tebourba, according
to provide heavier arms, to the TAP news agency.
saying it carries “political While the incident ap-
meaning” and would “le- peared to be quickly con-
gitimize” the Kurdish-led tained, the self-immolation
force. recalled a similar desper-
Ankara says the Kurdish ate act by a vendor that
militia, which forms the unleashed Tunisia’s 2010-
backbone of the Syrian 2011 revolution and subse-
Democratic Forces, is an quent uprisings around the
extension of the Kurdis- Arab world.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Kemal Kilicdaroglu left, head of tan Worker’s Party, or PKK, President Beji Caid Essebsi
the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Turkish officials took the unusual step of
have criticised a U.S. decision to provide arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters, saying every weapon which has been waging a deploying the army, an-
given to the Syrian Kurdish group poses a threat to Turkey, which regards the group as terrorists. decades-old insurgency in nouncing in Tunis that “the
(Press Presidency Press Service, Pool via AP) Turkey and is considered
a terrorist group by Turkey, state must protect the
slammed the Trump admin- lies will side with us and not the past two years with the the U.S. and other Western people’s resources” after
istration’s decision to sup- with terror organizations,” help of U.S.-led airstrikes, countries. protests in impoverished
inland provinces in recent
ply Syrian Kurdish fighters he said. are among the most effec- Erdogan said he would weeks.
with weapons against the The dispute could ignite tive ground forces battling take up the issue during Sit-ins and other demon-
Islamic State group and more fighting between the the extremists. In announc- a planned meeting with strations have blocked
demanded Wednesday two key U.S. allies in the ing the decision on Tuesday Trump on Tuesday. “I hope roads and notably led to
that it be reversed, height- battle against IS as Syrian to arm the Kurds, the Pen- that they will turn away a halt in production at oil
ening tensions between Kurdish forces gear up for tagon’s chief spokeswom- from this wrong,” he said. and phosphate facilities.
the NATO allies days before a major operation to drive an, Dana W. White, called Earlier, Turkish Foreign Min- Essebsi said the “grave but
the Turkish leader heads the militants from their de the militia “the only force ister Mevlut Cavusoglu also necessary decision” was
to Washington for a meet- facto capital, Raqqa. on the ground that can denounced the U.S. move, made at a top-level gov-
ing with President Donald Turkey, which has sent successfully seize Raqqa in saying “every weapon that ernment security meeting.
Trump. troops to northern Syrian the near future.” reaches the (Kurds’) hands He insisted on the people’s
President Recep Tayyip in an effort to curtail Kurd- On Wednesday, the SDF is a threat to Turkey.” freedom to demonstrate,
Erdogan said the fight ish expansion along its bor- said it captured the coun- The spokesman for the U.S.- but said protests must be
against terrorism “should ders, has for months tried try’s largest dam from the led coalition against IS, Col. “within the framework of
not be led with another ter- to lobby Washington to cut Islamic State group. The John Dorrian, told reporters the law.”
ror organization” — a refer- off ties with the Kurds and fighters, which are Kurdish- at the Pentagon Wednes- After extremist attacks and
ence to the Syrian Kurdish work instead with Turkish- led but also include some day that the weapons political violence in recent
militia, known as the YPG, backed opposition fighters Arab fighters, said they ex- would be delivered to the years, Tunisia is in a pro-
which Turkey considers an in the fight for Raqqa. pelled the extremists from Kurds soon.q longed state of emergen-
Egypt officials: Islamic extremists kill 10 Sinai tribesmen cy that allows authorities
to take exceptional mea-

By ASHRAF SWEILAM tants approached them in No militant group immedi- bomber killed four tribes- sures such as sending in the
army to assure security.
Associated Press a vehicle and opened fire, ately claimed responsibility men standing watch in Ra- “The democratic process
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Is- said the officials, speaking for the attack. fah. in Tunisia is seriously threat-
lamic extremists in Egypt’s on condition of anonymity Sinai’s powerful tribes have The tribes retaliated by kill- ened,” the president said.
restive northern part of the because they were not au- stayed on the sidelines of ing eight suspected IS fight- He argued that the Tuni-
Sinai Peninsula ambushed thorized to talk to reporters. the battle between Egyp- ers in a battle in the town sian economy has lost 5
local tribesmen who were Local residents who wit- tian authorities and a grow- earlier this month. Moussa billion dinars ($2 billion) be-
securing an area in the re- nessed the attack told The ing insurgency led by the Is- al-Delh, a powerful mem- cause of phosphate mine
gion on Wednesday, killing Associated Press that the lamic State group that has ber of the Tarabin tribe an- stoppages, worsening gov-
10, security officials said. militants were using a se- been raging in North Sinai nounced earlier this month ernment debt.
The men were from the curity vehicle they had ap- in recent years. in a statement on his Face- The protesters are desper-
Tarabin tribe and were parently captured in fight- However, an open con- book page that the tribe is ate for job opportunities
manning a checkpoint ing from security forces. The flict between the tribesmen in war with militants under and better living conditions
near a militant-stronghold eyewitnesses also spoke on and the militants emerged the leadership of the state, in inland regions blighted
south of the border town condition of anonymity, in recent weeks. inviting other Sinai tribes to by poverty in comparison
of Rafah when the mili- fearing retribution. In late April, an IS suicide join the fight. q with richer coastal cities.q