♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned.

erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" christian: hello, i'm christian fraser. you are watching "the context." >> as we have been walking along the streets, more and more people are joining in, thousands now, everywhere we go, more people joining the march. >> the situation is a wound that will continue to bleed for the syrians until we can resolve it,

answer the questions that remain unanswered. >> i want to avoid sparking any kind of additional conflicts inside syria at a time when we want to see this transition to an interim government enter a better way forward for syria. >> laser focus on the role that we can play with our allies to see a stable, peaceful transition so that t syrians get the government they need for the future. ♪ christian: 65 british nationals linked to islamic state are still detained in prisons and camps in northeast syria but the kurds who guard them are under regular assault from turkish back rebel groups in the north. what future is there for the kurds in syria? will their rights be protected and what wrist does that pose to security here in europe? also tonight, emmanuel macron cut short his visit to poland.

who will be the new french prime minister? later in the program, ai decoded. semiautomated decision-making. is it the future of the beautiful game? welcome to the program. the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in and car tonight for high-level talks with president erdogan. there is an emerging struggle in the power struggle where the countries are notably clashed and that is the role of the kurdish-led syrian democratic forces's. the united states has been predicted the kurds of northeastern syria since the overthrow of isis and its base in 2017. what the u.s. air force was protecting the kurds from was not isis itself nor even assad's forces, they were shielding them from washington's nato ally, turkiye. >> when it comes to what is happening in the northeast,

look, turkiye has a real and clear interests particularly when it comes to the pkk and terrorism which is an enduring threat to turkiye. at the same time, we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside syria at a time when we want to see the transition to an interim government and to a better way forward for syria. and part of that also has to be ensuring that isis does not rear its ugly head again. critical to making sure that does not happen is the so-called syrian democratic forces that we have been supporting. christian: for many years, president erdogan has been supporting the rebel syrian national army which worked with other groups including hds to topple assad, but he has long viewed the kurdish sdf as an extension of the pkk. in turkey, both are listed as

terrorist organizations. until the negotiated cease-fire, the turkish-backed groups were bombing near the border and in the oil-rich cities on the euphrates. hts quickly took control, a move the u.s. did not oppose. it is not clear whether washington will withdraw the 900 troops it has in syria and abandon the kurds altogether. maybe that is part of secretary blinken's discussions tonight but he does have major implications for europe because there are thousands of isis fighters and their families still being held in northeast syria under the guard of the kurdish sdf and u.s. forces. we will talk about the kurds in a second. with us tonight is national security reporter for the washington post. he has written two books on syria and the downfall of assad. you are very welcome to the program. >> thank you. christian: the unknown factor in

all of this is that we don't know what donald trump will do with the residents of the u.s. force in syria. is there a very serious risk that if the kurds are abandoned, those fighters in these isis camps will get out and will become a problem for the greater peace in syria? >> i wish i could dismiss that and say it will not happen but we cannot be assured of that. the last time trump was in office, he nearly pulled the plug on those u.s. diplos in eastern syria. he had a conversation with erdogan in 20 18. erdogan made the case that the turks could control the northern border, no reason for the americans to be there. trump seemed to be fixated on the possibility that the americans could get the oil resources in eastern syria, should belong to the west. that seemed to be his priority.

he was very ready at the time to do a withdrawal. he was talked down, his advisors told him that was not a good idea, all kinds of bad things that could happen including a resurgence of isis, betrayal of these kurdish forces we have been protecting for so ng. ultimately he came back from that but it is still a possibility. that is part of what we are getting in the years ahead with the trump administration, this unpredictability, frankly, and you are not sure which way it will go. christian: some parts of eastern syria that are pretty remote. what conditions are isis in at the moment, do they have access to weapons, heavy machinery? >> thehave been on a rebound. we know this from various authorities, including the pentagon, seeing a doubling in the tempo of isis attacks linked to isis cells. the reason is because syria, the

government, has been less able to control that part of syria. it is very remote, sparsely populated desert villages, so government control has never been great there. when there is no government control, these groups tend to come back. they have local support, and when they don't, they can gain it by attacking police stations and tribal leaders, and we have seen this creeping movement of isis coming back. i must note the other big danger in eastern syria are these huge prisons. one has somethingike 10,000 seasons isis fighters under a couple of roofs, concentrated in a small area, and isis would love to get them back. we are afraid that could be something they try to do. christian: some of those prisoners had been repatriated to their country, but there

was someone who went out to be a bride for islamic state, denied her british citizenship. we just heard from pat mcfadden at the top of the headlines, we will do whatever we can to ensure stability in syria. do you think there will be pressure on european governments to take back the britons who are there in the camps, so they can close down these camps and move on? >> the pressure i think might increase if it looks like the sdf, the kdish forces, may be losing some of their control in the area. that is the big wild. understandable that european countries including britain would have reservations about taking these people back. that is just self protection. on the other hand, this problem is not going away. if there is a degradation of security in eastern syria and these people are just let loose, the safer alternative might just be to quickly repatriate some of

those individuals when we can. in some cases, individuals have no passports, children born under isis, don't have passports at all. a lot of details to be worked out for sure. christian: great to have you this evening. thank you for that. under assad, the kurds have no representation. hundreds of thousands were denied identity papers, although assad did tolerate a military presence inside syria's borders. president erdogan would seem to be the winner from the weekend's big developments. we are going to get a view from a journalist, also a syria researcher. really interesting article that you wrote the otr day which piqued my interest in this map. 100,000 kurds have already been displaced in the last round of fighting this past week. not the fault of hes as it turns out.

we know they promised to respect local minorities. these are ankara-backed militias taking advantage. what dyou think is erdogan's objective? >> they remains the same, to liquidate the kurdish presence on his border, establish 20-mile deep buffer zones which would require a induced construction of the kurdish areas, where they have been able to survive for the past 10 years. further ethnic cleansing of the kurdish populations. these missions that you mention, the syrian national army, relatively disciplined compared to hds, violent criminals, unconcerned with assad but hell bent on seizing territory from

the kurdish population. christian: it's a peculiar position that hundreds of thousands of kurds in syria now. under assad, there was no love lost, they had no representation, but in this new reality, the semiautonomouarea of the country they were running is now open to question. there is the risk yet again that the kurds are destabilized and end up with no say at all on the areas in which they live. >> absolutely. saddam hussein denied the kurdish identity, and now erdogan is trying to repeat the same policy. kurds, syrians have been there for a long time. they have been celebrating, going into those areas formerly under the control of assad, tearing down statues, raising the flag of the new free syria.

unfortunately, erdogan sees things differently. the americans and most others want peace. the kurds want peace, ready for talks, in negotiations with hts. one thing that falls in the way of thatis erdogan's turkiye. unfortunately for those interested in a peaceful negotiation, erdogan holds all the cards and it looks like there will be more bloodshed for that reason. christian: on that point, turkish intelligence was in damascus today while secretary of state antony blinken was talking to president erdogan. that tells you that they are the real power broker right now inside damascus. >> turkish relationships with hts is complex. you could call them frenemies. their objectives don't always

online but hts will pragmatically recognize that turkey is the force that maintains a presence in northern syria. they share a border with turkey, they can access trade and the outside world. turkiye has had some form in this operation. iran and israel going at it hammer and tongs, being pushed out, and erdogan seems to hold all the cards. christian: we have been trying to make contact with syria. joining us now is the former spokesperson for the syrian -- a former journalist covering for the events in syria. thank you for being with us. we were just saying before you joined us, it's a part of the story that has gone under the radar the last week as everyone is focused on what is going on in damascus.

one story we reported on earlier in the week, what role did the turkish forces play in the fall of the city? >> basically, there was not a role for turkiye for what happened. after the fall of the syrian regime of bashar al-assad, these forces took the role of protecting the area to the west and south of the euphrates river. this area is the syrian desert, a location for several isis enclaves so it was the idea to take control over this area and

prevent isis from reorganizing itself and using the lack of security -- christian: so the sdf had only moved in temporarily while the situation unfolded. >> yes, of course. no one knew what was happening all over syria, how the events were moving this rapidly after 14 years of the crisis. after that, there were attempts from other groups linked to turkiye a and the national syrian army to take over deir el-zor using people who were already in contact with them. some clashes happened and later the sdf, in coordination with

the international coalition, to remove itself from deir el-zor city and go back to the eastern side of the euphrates river. christian: generally speaking, how much pressure do you think the sdf is under right now, what is the security situation in the northeastern part of the country? >> basically there is pressure over the sdf. it is the continued turkish attempts to push the sdf back from different bases, especially those areas liberated by isis in deir el-zor and other places. we saw today after several days of fights between the sdf and the syrian national army, they reached an agreement of a cease-fire for five days with

the sdf moving away from the area. this is all based on the turkish pressure to keep them on the eastern side of the euphrates river. this, i think, is undermining the political situation in syria, what is happening with the fall of the bashar al-assad regime. everyone should just make sure there is no fighting anywhere in syria, to secure the syrian people. it is something that is needed for everyone after 15 years of war. everyone should just focus on the political situation, attempting to reach a political solution, rather than fighting for the interest of the turkish state, working for the turkish agenda in syria. christian: really interesting.

good to talk to you. thank you for your thoughts this evening. we will take a short break. you are watching bbc around the world and here in the u.k. ♪

christian: the u.k. government has set out sweeping changes to the planning system in england to build 1.5 million new homes during this parliament. some councils have expressed concerns that the targets are unachievable. our correspondent alex forsyth has the latest. >> how are you? >> this might look a bit familiar. politicians in hi vis promising house building, but this time they say it will be different. >> i have 1.5 million homes for you to build. >> that is what they have promised. to get there, they say councils would have to get on board, meet much higher housing targets, and if they cannot find land, they

will have to look for low-quality green land. >> for years, we have had not a nut being built. that means family don't have the security they want, determined to break through that, to do what is necessary. of course we get t balance right with nature and the environment. >> the hardhats may come in handy because development can be divisive. in rural north kent, this land is earmarked for eight and a half thousand new homes, schools, doctors, and roads, but you don't need to go far to find someone who is unhappy. >> all of this would be houses. >> it would no longer be a village, just another part of a commute toward london. >> what do you say to the people that say we need houses? >> what is proposed a monstrous amount of housing with a tiny portion that is affordable. what is desperately needed is affordable renting accommodations. >> what are the government even

considering developing farmland which we need for u.k. future food security? >> the local council was poised to reject the scheme but the government stepped in, saying it would make the final decision, to the fury of some here. >> what is happening is the government's example of the challenge of housebuilding. they sayore homes have to be built but there is often lots of local opposition. the question is, will minister be prepared to press on when they come up against real concern? some ministers seem to be willing to get the building needed is welcome. this supper club would get a new ground if the bit development goes ahead. the chairman says the whole area would benefit. >> we need the roads and this gives us a new junction on the motorway which we need. the business community definitely wants this to retain jobs in the area and hopefully expand in the area.

>> that is the government's hope, too, more houses and growth, but delivered on this will be complex, and in some places contentious. christian: part one of the planning changes coming here in the u.k.. we will get into that with our panel. the french president emmanuel macron will name his new prime minister in the morning. the president cut short his visit to poland today amid criticism about the prolonged political crisis in france. the big questi is who will he pick and from what side of the assembly? whoever it is will be confronted with the same problem, the national assembly remains divided into three irreconcilable blocks. the leftist new popular front, the centrist grouping of several parties including macron's, and the national rally of marine le pen on the far right. back with us on the program is a european political analyst at the european university institute. thank you for coming back on.

rushes back from warsaw but fails on the promise that he made earlier in the week, that he would choose a new prime minister within 48 hours. what has gone wrong? >> well, i think it's a delicate task. he said 48 hours, he is giving himself an extra night. to some extent, what has happened is what we might have anticipated. this is a very, very difficult compromise to strike. before he left for poland, president macron called in the leaders of some of the main parties. he excluded the far left, who excluded itself, and excluded the far right, and basically tried to put together essentially a pact of nonaggression. trying to get these parties who are committed to the governing to try and govern together, agree that if the government and the next prime minister does not

use the now infamous 49 .3 article to ram through legislation, they will not try to bring theovernment down. this is what he's been trying to do, trying to find a prime minister that could go along with such a nonaggression pact, find ways to strike comomises because that is what is needed. christian: one of the key names, a long time centrist. i wonder if it has to be someone from the socialist party, does it have to be someone that can split the block on the left in order to have a rainbow from left to right, enough to keep the government in power? >> i think that's a really important point. you alluded to this left block in your introduction, and that left block looks like it is finally coming apart. this is extremely significant

because prying the socialist party away from that electoral alliance would mean that they would be available for this sort of centrist, general coalition. this is really important. i think that the socialists are willing to go along -- they are obviously asking for a left wing pre minister. the sense is they may settle for france while beirut. he is not a man of the right, really is a centrist. he might be the most palatable candidate, but as you know, in the naming of a french prime minister, there can alws be surprises. christian: all eyes on the palace tomorrow morning. we will see which name he chooses. thank you for coming on the program. we are going to take a short break. on the other side of the break, we are going to talk about

artificial intelligence as we do each week, and the role it is playing in sport. i can hear you all running for the hills. var has proven controversial but this semiautonomous use of ai might be a way forward, may be more accurate, may be more palatable. we will see. join us after the break. announcer: funding for prentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned.