Turkey will conduct a new military operation in Syria

1 Turkey — Syria

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara will conduct a military operation against the Kurdish opposition forces in Syria, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates — the Interfax reports while citing the Anadolu agency. According to the Anadolu — the US and Russia are informed about these plans. Earlier, the Turkish troops have already entered the cities of Afrin, Jerabulus and Al-Bab in northern Syria. Soon they will enter the territory east of Euphrates, Erdogan explained. He reminded that Turkey had previously conducted anti-terrorist operations in Syria. In August of 2016 in Aleppo, and in January of 2018, in the Afrin region. Currently, the areas east of the Euphrates River are being controlled by the Kurdish «People’s Self-Defense Forces» and the militants of the «Kurdistan Workers Party.» Both groups are supported by the US. Ankara considers those organizations to be terrorist.

2 India

The Minister of the Interior affairs of India, Amit Shah, announced the intention of the Indian authorities to cancel the constitutional article that gives a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir — TASS reports. The Indian president Ram Nath Kovind has already signed the corresponding document. It was sent for the approval to the parliament. The document states that Jammu and Kashmir no longer have status of a state, and instead they are ‘allied territories’ with less rights than a state. In addition, the Ladakh region is separated from the former state and also becomes an allied territory. At the same time, Jammu and Kashmir will retain their legislative body. After the submission of the bill — India sent additional 8,000 troops to the state. The Indian Army and Air Forces are on high alert. Most of the population of Jammu and Kashmir are muslims. The local separatists perform activities aimed for an independence, or accession into Pakistan.

3 China

The head of the Hong Kong administration, Carrie Lam, announced that a rather dangerous situation is emerging that could threaten the national sovereignty and the principle of “one country — two systems” because of the ongoing protests and riots in Hong Kong. According to Carrie Lam — “Hong Kong was considered to be the safest city in the world” but “a series of radical actions put the city in a dangerous situation” — TASS reports. The head of the Hong Kong administration noted that the crisis has already gone beyond the protests against the extradition law. Anti-government protests on Monday caused transport chaos in Hong Kong which blocked a number of roads which disrupted the work of the subway and the airport. Over 200 flights were canceled. The air traffic controllers — they make up 33% of the entire staff of the Hong Kong International Airport — joined the anti-government strike as well.

4 the USA — Russia

The US treasury department announced that the new anti-Russian sanctions, made due to the poisoning of the former GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia in the British town of Salisbury, will enter into force on 26th of August, after a period of notice to the Congress. This was reported on the department’s website. Earlier, the US State Department announced the introduction of a second set of anti-Russian sanctions made due to the ‘Skripals case’. The US Treasury department also explained that these sanctions won’t apply to the state-owned companies. They concern only the ministries, agencies, and the sovereign fund.