oh mild. stuff. t.w. secure learning course. maybe see. this is utopia news line from berlin serious protracted war just got more chaotic and alliances shift kurdish militia in syria say they are teaming up with president assad's forces to push turkey out of the border enclave it invaded last month meanwhile critics fear the german tanks like these used to attack kurdish rebels in syria are part of

a deal to secure the freedom of an imprisoned journalist i believe it might have been turkey's price tag for the reporters freedom. from layla herat great to have you long everyone here when rights monitors say the syrian government has stepped up its bombardment of a rebel held area close to the syrian capital damascus killing scores of people and syrian observatory for human rights says the government's air reads on the eastern ghouta have killed seventy one people over the past twenty four hours and injured three hundred twenty five a suburb has been under siege by regime forces for more than four years the united nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis in the area which is home to four hundred thousand people. i'll swear in the syrian conflict the syrian state news agency. he says pearl

regime forces are going to help kurdish militias expel turkish troops from the border region that turkey invaded last month turkey's foreign minister responded by saying that if the syrian regime moved to protect the kurds a turkish offensive would continue present era to oncet the syrian government would have to face the consequences. all right well to help explain the potential ramifications of a possible deal between the syrian kurds an aside i want to turn now to eva savile's america is head of the berlin based european center for kurdish studies a very good evening about how much of a surprise is this reported decision is this something that was being discussed to your knowledge. well there are people who already said like three weeks ago that the assad regime will come in when turkey doesn't stop its in ways and and i think it's not really a surprise because some of those currents in power at the moment the white b.g.

which is the syrian branch of the p.k. has been working closely with the regime for a long time all right so this is not a surprise so it's not really a surprise that necessary i mean if this materializes if they get the backing of assad's forces well the big question i think is how will turkey react for turkey it's of course most important that they get a solution for the security problem tokyo's the security problem with the could just north of syria because the those who are in branch of the p.k. k. is currently in power there and the question is will there trust the regime to really. keep the influence of this low or will then or to that's basically the question for those living in syrian kurdistan it's a different question i think they will neither they neither like to live under turkish power nor under such power and there are many of course of the criticizing the why p.g. ok well let's let's let's first start with deal with damascus with the assad regime

. are they willing to grant these currents autonomy independence some know that they aspire to no i don't think so there is no reason to believe that the us who seem a lot with the kurds any form of autonomy any form of federalism any form of them local government so what are they turning to that well actually for the. turkey is the big and in need. and they have always been dealing with the assad regime and so for them it means that if they can fight with the assad regime turkey they were turned to the us have to assume they are more or less not really interested in the interests of the kurds living in syria but they are interested in the interests of the party of the care of the p.k. k. ok let's look a little bit now towards turkey why is this such an existential issue for them that they're even willing to get bogged down in syria over this over this issue well in a way it's understandable i mean there was a wall between the p.k. k.

and the took est since the one nine hundred eighty s. and now the americans have really armed the y.p. . militia with a lot of really great so there are about twenty thousand well people now right on the border to turkey so for turkey it's really a security threat this white turkey came in and one could know for a long time that they wouldn't except for at least not for mid term that. were encouraged why p.g. would stay there with all those arms on their border so it was quite clear that they would intervene of course there are other sources say that the fact that no one wants to be elected again next year is important and of course if you want to be elected in turkey it's always good to go against the courts because you can then collect certain number of people behind you so if this seems to work to what i wonder though do kurds have any viable options in syria but i think they would test head well it's difficult to say i'm not sure if they really have other options i

mean they could of course try there are groups that try to fight against the way but those groups were not really strong and to the white could turn them down because they were the only ones armed so currently there are no good options for this there are no good options for the syrians and where does this all leave the americans very brief i've got twenty seconds left for the americans right who have been supporting the kurds of course and our allies with the turf. well it seems at the moment that the americans are beginning to let the courts want to let the y.p. g. down and this seems to be at least for those living there a good thing but now since turkey came in we don't know what's going to happen to solve. she is head of the berlin based european center for kurdish studies thank you if you. were turkey engaged in syria anchor is looking to improve ties with some of its allies including germany where the past few days have seen a thawing in relations this after anger released german turkish journalist denis yourself who was held in istanbul for

a year without charge but now some are wondering what turkey might get in return they think a deal for a tank factory maybe turkey's price. seeking speedy approval from germany turkish prime minister banally yielder him is hoping the two countries might soon cooperate on building tanks in turkey a deal potentially worth billions. in january german foreign minister sic mark gabriele signaled berlin would ok a proposal to retrofit tanks with new anti mines systems but that plan was put on ice after turkey invaded syria's a freedom region with german built leopard tanks gabriele rejected speculation the deal for a tank factory would be approved critics fear there may be a secret deal to approve the factory in exchange for the recent release of the german journalist dennys you tell. the foreign minister would never admit it but in my view it's perfectly clear there's a connection there if you look at the whole story that i assume is

a direct link to. the german foreign ministry has denied those claims it says the country's acting government doesn't have the mandate to make such a deal in the putting on the stick or in this country's future governing coalition has agreed in its negotiations to further tighten the weapons exports so i wouldn't be able to support an agreement like that. after turkey's controversial use of german leopard tanks against the kurds in northern syria both sides know a strengthening of ankara and butlins military ties would likely be unpopular. turkish officials have said that the trial of difference you show will begin on june twenty eighth in istanbul no charges were made against him during his ear in detention but on the day of his release last friday he was charged with supporting terrorism or i want to tell you now about some of the other stories making news around the world. the premier of the tiny german state of saarland has been put

forward as the new secretary general of chancellor angela merkel's christian democrats it's a significant move for on a cat come our the decision is fueling speculation that chance americal is grooming her successor iran's civil aviation authorities say they cannot confirm reports that wreckage from sunday's plane crash has been found they asked men airlines a domestic flight went down in a net in this area in the south of the country all sixty five people on board the plane are presumed dead. indonesia's mount sinabung volcano has shut a huge column of ash into the atmosphere measuring five kilometers that's after a fresh eruption on monday no fatalities or injuries have been reported in the airlines on the highest level of alert. at the winter olympics in john chiang a russian alexander crucial mid ski one who won

a bronze medal with his wife in mixed doubles curling as tested positive for a banned substance the international olympic committee is currently we have the results of the tests on his b. sample and the court of arbitration for sport has launched what they call a doping procedure. a heart medication that is once again at the center of a russian doping controversy the over the counter drug can give athletes an edge by boosting stamina in twenty sixteen dhoni and was classified as a banned substance in many sports which led to maria sharapova is fifteen month ban from tennis. after winning a bronze medal with his wife in the mixed curling event alexander crucial netsky tested positive for the drug a fact that has surprised his countryman. yes no. sports me i know that all athletes repeatedly during the season and before their departure underwent doping

controls and the probes were always negative otherwise nobody would have allowed them here if this is confirmed then in my opinion it means that it was brought in by someone who some bottle was swapped or something. fellow cole is a confused by the idea of doping in a sport focused on accuracy rather than stamina and strength i don't see any reason for that because. i'm now in this business for the last thirty years and i don't see any advantages doubling or if crucial netsky is banned there will also be wider ranging consequences for the russian athletes competing at young john should this case be proven or should this case cup come to fruition that will also be part of the consideration. as to whether they will be allowed for them to march in the closing ceremony under their under the flag if the case is confirmed it will be a major setback for russian athletes and their attempt to restore their image. the

berlin international film festival is in full swing and scott rockstar is there scott get to see what's happening behind you. behind me it's the right carpet of three days in the key ball which is a competition i can't see if the yet looks like the actress. the lead actress has just gone in with her director of me the. tif. quite a famous star here she plays me schneider now romy schneider for the younger among our listeners and probably for you too because you're a bit younger than me but remember she was a huge huge european star austrian born lived in france for many years and for a period in the seventy's and early eighty's she was one of the biggest film stars in the world this film tells a story one of her stories but it's not the typical story instead they focus on three days in her life and the last interview she gave with

a german magazine and over those three days she sort of discovers herself and confronts some of her her demons it's a really interesting and compelling film and i'll be interested to see what what audiences here in berlin think about. she wasn't just an actress she was an icon to three days in. a fragile magical romy schneider a woman who seemed to reveal her soul while still maintaining a shroud of mystery the film portrays one of her rare interactions with the german press a visit by photographer who got me back in a magazine reporter who tries to dig beneath her charms. and i listens and. some. don't. but. the best of them have. black and white portraits of the star count to the

world in one thousand nine hundred one the year before she died aged forty two read . through the inspiration for director emily octets film a snapshot of a woman marked by glamour by tragedy. scott were a few days in are any of the fluids you've seen potential winners. yeah no i think so i mean it's still early days yet but the opening film isle of dogs the wes anderson movie i absolutely loved just the joyous wall. that they presented for us really lift everybody's spirits and i think that has a maybe a good chance the only thing that could stand against it isn't the quality of the film isn't the stars on offer but it's maybe that it's just too entertaining berlin doesn't tend to give its top prizes to really fun films they tend to go for things they're bit more serious than a bit more depressing and in that category i would look at transit which is

a german film that's old which sort of a catholic i asked drama very very compelling very interesting one of my favorite german directors and i think he might have a chance to pull off the big win this year our transit we're going to be on the lookout thank you so much scott. and thank you for spending part of your day with us many things will be up next with all the headlines and as you can at the top of the hour. my first by state the most sewing machine. i come from women are almost by this ocean for. something as simple as learning how to write a bicycle isn't. since i was a little girl i want to have them. and it took me years to understand.