in yemen are using child soldiers that's according to reports in the new york times thousands have been recruited they say to fight with the promise of good salaries it says more experienced gen jaweed fighters from the conflict in darfur are also working as mercenaries more unrest in the eastern democratic republic of congo over the exclusion of three areas from sunday's election two people were killed in a workers' strike in the city of beni on friday and police fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters in goma one presidential candidate has father case at the supreme court trying to reverse the election of britain's home secretary is treating a rise in attempts by migrants to cross the english channel from france as a major incident nearly seventy people were stopped in recent days trying to get to the u.k. by crossing one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in small boats those are the headlines inside stories next.

abandoned by the u.s. and threatened by turkey the kurds turned to bashar al assad for protection and the syrian army says it's now in control of the kurdish held city of monti but is it how would that change the dynamics of the nearly eight year long war and how will ankara react this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm richelle carey the northern city of one of the

last remaining flashpoints in syria's war and yet another example of a complicated syrian jigsaw puzzle it was under the control of kurdish forces but syria says its army is now in the city for the first time in six years at the invitation of the kurds u.s. backed kurdish group considered a terrorist organization by turkey there's an all out offensive on monday by turkish forces and that fear has heightened after president trumps shop decision to withdraw american troops from syria turkey and russia now say they have agreed on coordinating with each other to fight with they called terrorism and syria so why is monday so important the city lies northeast of aleppo and just thirty kilometers south of the turkish border it's considered one of the strategic areas for the kurds who hold almost thirty percent of syria it was captured by the main u.s. backed syrian kurdish group the wife two years ago turkey wants to prevent the kurds from consolidating their hold on. syrian territory and forming forming that

is an autonomy region on its border coalition forces including u.s. and french troops remain on the outskirts of the city but the americans are set to leave. let's bring in the panel now and joining us on skype from istanbul then at teluk managing editor of the daily newspaper in moscow to me tree babich political analyst at recess a gun you news agency and in beirut allies for hot retired lebanese army general and strategic analyst all of you welcome to the program so apparently this request by the y.p. g. first syrian forces to return took american officials by surprise what should they have been surprise and well i mean i don't think they should've been surprised they should have known their partner on the ground much better but given

the fact that this is a terrorist group i don't think it's rising for anyone for them to be aligning or attempting to align with one wherever they can or who are or whoever they would find support from. the same time the u.s. should be surprise that they're aligning or they are it seeking support of assad regime which the u.s. has been you know. directly or in directly trying to get rid of the from from the from the beginning and a side and assad regime which has been supported by russia which the us sees as the main wireless you saw yes they shouldn't have been surprised but it comes as a surprise because i mean i think they are alternately. turned a blind eye to what the y.p. g.'s actually is in syria or whether the p.k. kate is in the region as

a whole so they may have been surprised by this but i don't think it's very spur they should be so surprised for the fact that once the us pulls out its support the white b.g. will seek new alliances in the region to ensure it can maintain its position on the ground ok and to be clear that what you're saying that that is the position of turkey that's how they characterize the way in the p p a p k k everyone doesn't necessarily but that is definitely what the position of turkey is so dimitri let me ask your your thoughts on this the should the u.s. have been surprised that the way fiji made made this move i mean what options did they have once the us decided that they were were going to announce they were going to pull out. well i think only the inattentive readers or western press should be surprised because if you'll look even at the news like new york times or the washington post or the french newspapers but it's like he got all

there has been diminishing. the assad regime for years and in reality they were not that is the whole truth the assad regime may not be perfect but would turn into if it's terrible and then return it if it is the slimmest the so-called islamic state and. you know all the needed in groups such as. strained others not are they real i think or the surprising that the kurds but that's that comparison are made and i hear you so i will just it won't take i want i want time before i absolutely don't take a long time so even if you read the thank you really of the western press you will see that stajan from two thousand and thirteen the western press started to acknowledge that the main enemy is over mr ross that were actually they saw him it's very cruel dangerous people and all the truth is that the united states

european union has been hiding is that. your forces are feared by the kurds in the north of syria they are despised by the syrian government forces and by a lot of sunni arabs so it's not surprising that when the kurds were food before the option. all very well known also the governments or mr erdogan they have chosen the government of mr assad as for that official position of turkey as far as send us understand it's not so crude as. the previous speaker has presented it where our host and now the turkish foreign minister the turkish. minister of defense here in moscow and they say that together with russia and with iran during you will continue to walk in on the new constitution of syria and let me remind you that the turkish foreign minister troubleshot goya few days ago said

that if mr also elected. all honest election without turning just kind of this turkey will recognize that there's a huge shift in the position of ok mr bout that ok reminder that me started on was a friend of president also done till two thousand there well ok mr babbitt you said it wouldn't take long but i want to get this to far and i want elias to have some say so and then if you've been listening to what dimitri said i'd appreciate your take on that his saying that bashar al assad is the best alternative for syria. and the white b.g. is kurdish organization a military security and even a business that it was created at the end of my twenty eleven when. even starts in syria they were equipped trained and organized by the united states and supported in their war against isis by the united states or pans for

a long time and the kurds did not imagine one day that the united states will abandon them and some day now happened that the united states about done them without telling them where they do they go so it was. in front of the kurds to choose either the turks which means that they are committing suicide all of the less danger or the minimum danger from the syrian central government where they were. seven years ago citizens of this government i think that is the no a third of the in front of the kurds and north and syria but to invite this year an army to enter. strongholds in north in syria that would be the minimum danger that they will receive and then that you say that that there really

is no taking over of mandy's right now because there is still the presence of turkish and some u.s. forces there he said that that's actually not realistic to what extent does turkey and the u.s. still have a presence there. well turkey and the united states they still do have troops in the members in the greater members area and it is not very realistic because in the sense that if if if we think ofa and as assad force or as and it's our group or military as a whole is willing to confront with the united states and turkey at the same time image i think that's will create further problems and i think russia is also aware of that and that's hence why it today in today's meeting turkey and russia were agreed on some of the key things being the territorial integrity or or elimination of terrorist groups yes the russian government does not recognize y p g a the

terrorist group but it also does not want to make sure does not want to take a position where it will confront with turkey on a hard level turkey has been a key ally in syria for russia given the fact that we also have done and yes four hundred deal as well as the energy related projects that turkey and russia has ricky is already a key ally for forward the russian government so the russian government will ensure and give assurance to turkey that the assad regime does not take such risky steps that will turn the. situation on the ground into a more complex and more. you know to escalate the tension as far as turkey's position on assad turkey i mean jill show lou i think was misread when it comes to his position he's he's put his or his position on assad is that if assad is elected

in a fair free election and and all of the parts patients are very inclusive and in an ideal case if you selected or struck you will respect the decision. of all the syrians and trick you will not ever see in that however i mean such case is very unrealistic at the moment given the fact that thousands and thousands of people were killed by the assad regime and also millions have been displaced of course at the end of the it is the syrians as a whole without exclusion of any group if they decide it is not turkey's place or anyone's place to criticize their decision ok to me we're with. just one a what will come back we'll come back i want to bring an end to metering of this because he talked a lot about russian i met in dmitri as in moscow so who are talk you talk touched on this a bit earlier but what role does russia play and making sure that this doesn't

escalate and become more complicated as the met said you know it's a possibility but he doesn't think is likely what role does russia play in that dmitri. well i think i don't disagree with the math math. on the main points i think that rush and turkey and now are indeed allies in the bringing peace to syria because. if you just forget the lies from the western press russia never wanted just mr assad to stay in power whatever happens around his position is that syrians themselves should elect their government eve syrians want us out it's not the business of the united states it's not the business all over the european union to tell them who their new president should be so in that sense the position of mr travel chicago and the position of the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov they are identical there in fact the same and sergey

lavrov at today's meeting in moscow with his turkish colleague says that we want the so-called constitutional committee or syrians which comprises both their position members and their representatives of the government we wanted to start working as soon as possible in geneva as for russia's role in syria look russia does not have a russian minority in syria historically syria was never a part of russian empire so we don't want to force anything on syrians what we want to avoid is that syria become said base for some kind of a islamist terrorist organization or islamist terrorist state. like isis try to be let me remind you of that thousands of russian citizens unfortunately who became militant islamists they. emigrated

to syria and they took part in the fighting against. the syrian government russia condemns these people. of course ok so what russia wants is that the syrians should rebuild their own country the syrian government should control the territory that is the other day she said unite who they want and we see now that the darker side doesn't object if if if there is no terrorist state or that there are two of syria was russia and turkey are great ally as you leave syria is a major illness that you can see military thank you alliances if ellison we bring you into this the turds the kurds pardon me say that they feel betrayed. by donald trump should they be are they. yes they are betrayed from a subject point of view. the government and this union government have

a common target which is this a shooting the b.g. even dismembering the military security administrative system of. because if there is an entity on the syrian side of this he has tired of the turkish syrian border of for the kurds that would threaten the integrity of turkey which is not in the national security interest of turkey from the syrian side any any attempt to. independent state or. and and it kind of dependent and it is also threats the syrian and dignity so both sides have the same target now how to bring both sides together in order to realize the start get i think it's business of the russian government because so far. the political distance between mr of the ban on president assad is very far.

i think that now the russian mediation after the. united states will out from all north and syria will be sensitive and very important and crucial in. making the. phased north and syria very small and safe for all the constituents of the region is a great point so met how how bout that how significant how much is at stake based on how turkey and syria work this out between themselves. well i think turkey has a few points that it has been arguing from the from the from the very beginning first of all it does not want any terrorist group. stablish ing some sort of defacto autonomy along its border particularly the y.p.

g. given the fact that there isn't a very close thing between p.k. k. terrorist organization and the y p g and also any sort of other extremist groups along its border because these are these locus to just like the previous speaker said national security threats to its citizens other than that turkey wants to establish. you know some sort of stability turkey wants to be part of the establishing the ability in syria because we are hosting nearly four million syrians in our country and that they need to eventually lead a day or need to be able to go back to their homes once they live in and thirdly they turkey wants to make sure that the political transition in syria is not enforced but it is it through peaceful process through a democratic process that will bring a long lasting stability once other actors are removed from the ground so

these if these are established through negotiations obviously with with the with russians and with the iranians as they are also part of the for example the stana process. and ultimately through these two backers of the assad regime alternately they need to have. some sort of linkage with the assad regime as well so if these are established turkey like you know for example praise the no nonsense in fighting turkey does not have any interest to stay in syria for longer than it needs to are we shouldn't forget that it is the it is also a very harsh economic burden that turkey has been sort of facing with regards to the military and also be a military aspect of took his involvement in syria dimitri what does this mean what's happening and non-base now what does this mean for asada eventually being able to reclaim all of syria talk about the significance of monbiot. well i think

that monbiot she is crucial because i think it was a test it was a test to all of. loyalty it whom do people actually fear i mean people in syria. are sunni muslims are. alawite christians. talk amongst whom do they fear most it turns out that they don't fear most and they don't distrust bolster the syrian government or russia or even turkey they distrust and fear the islamists and unfortunately of their western backers because what we see now is a terrible embarrassment for the west it turned out that the civil war the insurgency which the united states and the european union and saudi arabia have been supporting since two thousand and eleven that insurgency is not pull people

out it's you don't train your way to me to me to say i'm popular not only in the mission that arab sunni areas but also in the kurdish area mitri is it fair for you to say that syrians don't fear bashar assad hundreds of thousands of people have been killed he is accused of war crimes is it fair to say that the people of syria don't fear him well i think that if he had not been full pillai if he didn't have the support over huge part of the population he wouldn't be able to reclaim ninety percent of the territory in our popular and then the third or fourth through art when man beach would not have surrounded him. ok let me bring it out let me bring in more foreign agents including some people from saudi arabia and from libya so that's good that's your assessment i'm going to bring in elias now because that being that said without any evidence that short opinion elias what do

you think about. what it is the syrian people want now. and their feet are important the want peace and stability in syria they want a central government they want an administration they want public services pumping courts they want schools universities but health they want an integrity to their country this is what they want and this cannot be achieved unless the mr assad and his government to whoever was this government stayed. in power does that was depend upon and. elections fair and fair and just elections and all or. where all parts conserve take part in this elections as to the getting what is now in the media most of the people killed in syria i can't by that i forget the groups by isis and most of the burned cities are burned by by by those

people i am aware that. the. syrian air forces bombed. many places in syria but then that there are people that are going to prison and as ever here and now the army their army i mean the army was and the defensive last waltz of the country and that the at back of isis and i that i forget the groups that so this is this is shadowed in the in the media the role of al qaeda i forget that group and not that in syria and on the borders of lebanon and in southern syria and the role of isis in destroying syria and the east and the bad so now they are got threat of most of those still some remnants and. need some cooperation with turkey and russia in order to get get that of us at the in the gods of religion and. which is the. sham in syria

so i mean the there is there should. be a cooperation between russia durkee in order to get there of the remnants of this these sort of are going to be ok and you know to a disease that they should they should meet with the with the turkish obsessions about the. y.p. . who are going to zation constitute an affair with the you are at the met let me let you have the final word on what we're really are at a time but fight the final word is do you think that we are now any closer to the civil war being over well i think we are closer than what we were before however i just want to make a very short comment i think to syrians to the average joe on the street who were you know before two thousand and eleven you know what assad is to them is not is

not what assad is to damn right no ok so that i think that's a very clear fact that we need to acknowledge and what you know what it comes to the threats to the average syrians. as saudis as thread fall as many other extremist groups on the ground be it their y.p. gee. they did die or other extremist groups ok however assad has the best rates to record cyo but he will not be able to cover the war crimes he committed that will be the last word at that thank you very much and that sell it to me tree babiche and gentlemen thank you offer the discussion and thank you for watching can watch the program again any time get our website al-jazeera dot com for further discussion on our facebook page at facebook dot com ford slash a.j. and sad story and you can also join the conversation on twitter i had a last at a.j. and sad story from the richelle carey in the entirety i can now be

a. more and the most hands initial response had been inadequate but now it was time for a vibrant buckler it was the muslims no moved from merely reacting to taking action putting the western crusaders on the defensive with hindsight this is seen as a breakthrough as a revival of the jihad in the muslim near east the crusades an arab perspective episode to revive at this time on a. problem it's

a daunting climb to one of the holiest sites in bhutan tiger's nest ball astri seems to defy gravity every few cities is expected to complete the pilgrimage to ensure peace and happiness what it became a democracy in two thousand and eight the time put happiness at the center of all political policy inspiring the un to pass a resolution urging other nations to follow betimes example but how do you measure it many brits unease happiness is what we ensure it's if that is quantifiable but by simply turning its pursuit into policy time has done what no other country has. thanks love to make it lands to sufferance because behind the suffering a millions of taxpayers because as taxpayers never go away there's a new one born every single day a nineteen it is an urgent national necessity and we put it we officially request the accusation of the support mechanism we created together because i happen to

live in greece somehow i'm a sinner i'm a bad person. that's machine on al-jazeera. this is al jazeera. has this is the news hour live from coming up in the next sixty minutes planning for life after u.s. troops leave syria turkey and russia plot a new course in the region egypt returns fire security forces kill what they say were forty terrorists in a coup.