Turkish-backed Syrian rebels killed in Russian airstrike; Polish pro-choice protests continue; China plans next 5 years
People attend funeral of fighters killed in an airstrike in the town of Idlib, Syria, Oct. 26, 2020.
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Russian airstrikes killed dozens of Turkish-backed rebel soldiers in northwestern Syria, the deadliest surge of violence since a truce was reached seven months ago. Sending a warning shot to Ankara, the attack targeted Faylaq al-Sham, which maintains a base, Kafr Takharim, adjacent to several camps housing internally displaced persons in the province of Idlib. Civilians harvesting olives nearby were also hit, pushing the death toll to at least 60 people, with some 100 wounded.
While Russia had previously launched smaller strikes on militant organizations, such a major strike in proximity to the Turkish border seems unprecedented and was also the most egregious breach of a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement reached in March. Syrian rebel groups hit back at Syrian government positions Tuesday with hundreds of missiles and rockets.
Some analysts connected the airstrikes to Turkish support for Azerbaijan against Armenia — a Russian ally — in the disputed Southern Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Moscow, Azerbaijan has benefited from the deployment of Syrian fighters to the Caucasus, courtesy of Turkey. Russia also blames Turkey for facilitating the entry of Syrian rebels into the Libyan conflict.
At the same time as tensions are increasing with Russia, Turkey’s row with France has deepened, with the French president saying that Islam was a religion “in crisis” around the world. Turkey has called for a boycott of French products, after Paris supported the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad. Over the weekend, France recalled its ambassador to Turkey.
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A group of Polish women disrupted a Catholic church service to protest Poland’s new near-total abortion ban. Four days of demonstrations followed a ruling by the constitutional court against abortion of babies with fetal defects. Angry marches in cities such as Krakow, Warsaw, Lodz, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk, defied pandemic rules prohibiting gatherings of more than five people.
And, Chinese leaders are meeting this week to formulate a five-year plan for economic and social priorities through 2025. The central committee of the Communist Party is chaired by President Xi Jinping, and is focusing on how to ensure national security for high-tech goods and ways to increase domestic consumption. Meanwhile, the US and India signed a military pact to share satellite and mapping data, amid mutual concerns about Chinese aggression in Asia.
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