erdogan's phenomenon. and i think the best thing was to refuse to have any political collaboration with erdogan, and it was the right choice because as john mentioned, the future of kurds is directly linked to the future of democracy. if he had compromised, it would be against the whole idea of establishing a democratic turkey. so let me bring to your question and my first insight about the issue of morality. as i understand, more than half of erdogan's constituency, which means more than 25% of turkish voters are islamic conservatives. islam is important. islam is important, and erdogan makes the two almost the same thing. islam, islamism. the boundaries are in turkey. the educational system, there's strong emphasis on the schools. even the turkish police, we have seen videos on youtube, the turkish police are taking an oath referring to koran and allah and islam and et cetera. and akp people share these videos celebrating, and when they hear me criticizing, they say you're no longer a muslim. what kind o

erdogan. the fragmentation erdogan has been severely trying since the peace process will be significant. i think the challenge, if any, i don't want to paint too much of a grim picture, if any, will come from outside turkey. >> excellent. again, showing it's difficult to extract domestic and foreign policy in turkey. >> thanks for the question. in that case i've been critical of my colleagues studying elections in central asia because they study something which does not matter at all. they say whenever you say someone you don't die before finding your self in his or her shoes. i find myself in the same position discussing turkish elections which do not matter at all. because erdogan will never do with any electoral results. he will rig it, he will cancel it. he has the power. no one can challenge him. he has full control over the media. he has full control of the economy. he has full control of beaurocra beaurocracy. so i don't think elections matter in turkey. what i think matters is economy.

does erdogan have moscow's support? dorian: that is a big question.cow has been playing a double game here. on the one hand, it has been happy to see this deepening row between nato allies. ankara has been gravitating toward moscow, causing alarm in washington. on top of that, moscow has been supporting behind the scenes the same syrian kurdish militia, the cause they see the syrian kurdish militia as an important force in the future outcome of syria. moscow will have in many ways to make a big choice, it ankara does go ahead and launch this operation. in particular, there a russian forces in this area which ankara is threatening to attack. on top of that, ankara will be looking for permission to let its planes cross into syria to carry out air support. until now, moscow has been reluctant to do that. moscow is facing a big choice and will be trying to calm tensions. it will be forced to choose one side or the other. brent: before we let you go, when you look at what is happening with turkey and what we are hearing from russia and the palestinians, do

reporter: president recep tayyip erdogan should be here any minute.ehind me, you see the toublicanan g guard is in place welcome him. the president is on a mission. he wants to improve relations with the european union. today, turkey has become increasingly isolated and as the turkish president said, he wants to reduce the number of turkey's enemies and increase the number of turkey's friends. he sees in macron the new leader of europe, the new strongman, and a potential friend today. molly: that being said, walk us through what we are expecting from this visit. not see the leaders do i to i on many issues, not least of which journalists in turkey. estimated 135 journalists in turkey are in prison. among those detained were two french nationals. certainly a sensitive issue for the two leaders, one macron has vowed to address today. but recep tayyip erdogan hit back yesterday, saying emmanuel macron was misinformed, that he lacked information. high on the agenda is the syria now that the war against the islamic state group is almost over and the i.s. g

president trump has urged resident erdogan to limit the advance or risk confronting american forces onhe ground. >> operation olive branch continues on its path eastwards. soon, they could reach -- and the enclave where some u.s. forces are stationed. ankara in washington are increasingly at all its. there's a serious trust issue between the allies. >> i stated the reasons why we cannot trust the u.s.. they have supplied the kurdish e.g. with weapons. president trump said in a phone call that they would stop equipping them, however, no actions have been taken. i stated that we needed concrete actions to reestablish the trust necessary for negotiations. >> with ankara seemingly disregarding the u.s. concerns, washington saying they would prefer turkish troops to leave the area. >> i think erdogan will make a decision to deescalate in that region. i think he'll make that decision with the full support of the united states. >> meanwhile, airstrikes and ground operations have killed civilians. u.n. officials, more than 5000 people are fleeing for their lives once again. >> fled their homes

a lot of this is about erdogan appeasing his base, which is very anti-kurdish.rankly not enamored with nato or western europe. so this is really about local turkish politics and erdogan's ability and desire to consolidate his own power within that country. >> well, then let me bring up the bear in the room, be russia. they have stitched together iran, syria, hezbollah. can turkey really get along with russia? you're a historian as well as a strategist and a military guy. russia and turkey, you don't think of them as allies, do you? >> no. you're rattling old ghosts in their cages, hugh. on one side, the empire centered on turkey and the other the russian czars who pushed to control that near broader around russia. ultimately russia and turkey are not going to be the best of friends. that is a leverage point we should be exploiting as we work with our turkish colleagues. this is going to require delicate diplomacy. i think we can get this done because in the end turkey's broadest geo-political strength will be working with the west, not defaulting to that new, as

president erdogan promising to extend the offensive further east. plus, a look at the cost of waging jihad. this daughter left home to join islamic state jihadists. four years later her mother in chechnya fears she will never return. i'm brent goff. good to have you with us. it was a packed house today when europe took center stage in the swiss alps. angela merkel spoke first in the day, but it was emmanuel macron who had the headliner slot. he told the forum that globalization has to ensure prosperity for everyone for all classes in society. emmanuel: the globalization in general is going for major prizes. organizations, states, companies, civil society should find and implement solutions. brent: angela merkel made the case for closer european ties, as well as more free trade. her warning against economic nationalism comes one day before u.s. president donald trump is due to arrive in davos. it was a chance to break political gridlock here in berlin. >> the chancellor's speech remarked her return -- marked her return to the political stage. her add

will london and paris come to help, or at least support erdogan?wait to see in the coming weeks. thank you very much to all of you. that's all we have time for on dateline london this week. we'll be back with more passionate debate next week at the same time. thanks for being with us today. goodbye. hello there, good morning. winter is set to return this week but nothing too serious, nothing out of the ordinary. what was unusual was the temperatures we had over the weekend — 15 degrees in that mild south—westerly on sunday. there's colder air to come down from the north, and it comes in initially behind this weather front here. that is moving southwards, it's been bringing the rain that we've had across the northern half of the uk. and that rain, on monday, is moving south across england and wales. behind it, we're starting to see some colder air already, by the morning, in scotland. maybe some wintriness over the tops of the high ground, as those showers come in. one or two showers coming into the north of northern ireland, but much drier, by this

but will london and paris come to help or at least support erdogan?oming weeks. thank you very much to all of you. good to see you as ever. that's all we have time for on dateline london this week. we'll be back with more passionate debate next week at the same time. thanks for being with us today. bye bye. hello. some very mild weather across the british isles today, in fact it could turn out to be the warmest day of the year so far, not saying much because it is only 28 january but today if you see the sunshine, high of 15 degrees could be yours, the mild air has come from across the atlantic, with the moisture underneath it has picked up some and it turned into cloud, some western hills command here we are, with this picture across bristol recently the cloud is hanging low and it's a grey and dreary picture but that shelter around some of our coasts, glorious sunshine in devon. to give us an idea how it shapes up across the british isles as a whole here is the satellite picture, the white areas showed the biggest cloud but the welsh mountains takin

will london and paris, to help or at least support erdogan? have time for on dateline london this week. we'll be back with more passionate debate next week at the same time. thanks for being with us today. goodbye. hello. some rather gloomy weather prospects for the british isles this weekend. an area of low pressure to the north is feeding all of this cloud our way. hopefully this clearer slot you can see would bring some sunshine in northern ireland and scotland this afternoon. it will be windy with the risk of gales for the north and west of scotland. hopefully some sunshine despite some showers this afternoon. further south, a mass of cloud. here is a closer look. very windy for the northern and western isles. quite a few showers on the wind as well. there will be sunny spells. northern ireland, after a great start coming infora sunny ireland, after a great start coming in for a sunny afternoon. sunshine in northern england. quite a bit of low cloud as we make our way through the midlands, wales and the south—west. some drizzle possible he

will london and paris come to help or at least support erdogan?k you very much to all of you. that's all we have time for on dateline london this week. we'll be back with more passionate debate next week at the same time. thanks for being with us today. goodbye. not the most inspiring of days today. we have had some pretty mild weather to enjoy. with that mild air which has been pumping its way in from the south west, across northern areas, this curl of cloud is an area of low pressure to the north of scotland at the moment, and here we will see some strong winds through the evening, gusts of 60—80 mph for the far north of the mainland, the western and northern isles. some clear spells overnight, turning chilly, but then more cloud from the south—west by the end of the night, misty, murky conditions, very mild, starting tomorrow morning at 10—11 degrees. that is because we will have this mile south—westerly airflow, but trapped within the south—westerly wind will be a weather front. it is south—westerly wind will be a weatherfront. it is not south

will london and paris come to help or at least support erdogan?e in the coming weeks. thank you very much to all of you. that's all we have time for on dateline london this week. we'll be back with more passionate debate next week at the same time. thanks for being with us today. goodbye. hello again, good morning. yesterday, we had some rain for a time, then we saw the cloud thinning, but we will see the clouds thickening up again and more rain returning across northern parts of the uk on that weather front. that area of low pressure to the north, though, for a while has been bringing some very windy weather across northern scotland, the winds easing by the morning, and we will have mild air all the way from southern parts of the mid—atlantic heading our way. this is tropical maritime air and it means a lot of cloud. across scotland, some rain. it won't be as windy by the morning across northern scotland. there will be some showers here, but rain across central southern scotland and quite a soggy start probably across northern ireland. and some r

what do you think is the best erdogan can ta ke you think is the best erdogan can take out of this?ermined to press on? it depends on how he sees it, actually. if he is after a fool wiping out of the ypg force in the afrin so turkey to this turkey to control this region against protestations from the syrian regime, the ypg itself, and the usa probably, because any weakening of the kurdish led forces, the ypg, on the ground, it might give ground for radical islamic groups who can retake areas which we re groups who can retake areas which were cleared of them by this group. about what you think the rest of the world will think about this? particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we‘ll particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we'll we particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we'llwejust sit back and say it is up to turkey if they want to do this sort of thing? probably won‘t last very long, internal domestic politics. or do you think erdogan might face serious protest? it also depends on the public reaction. if we see a huge public

earned onesident o party in a to ruling group today, president erdogan appeared to be in defiance of the united states, which has

erdogan wants to intimidate us. but we will kill any attacker who sets foot. reporter: 20 kilometers further north, turkish tanks roll on unperturbed towards the border region. security there is high. media reports say there have been exchanges of gunfire, but no one was injured. turkey called the kurdish militias in northern syria terrorists. ankara says they had the extended arm of the banned pkk. however, some kurdish militias are u.s. allies s in the fight against so-called islamic state. >> we are telling the turkish army straight we are ready. we are prepared for anything,g, and our r troops are well-equipd toto defend afrin. reporter: it now fears a military strike that could drag the entire region into a new war . sarah: with me in the studio now is the chief negotiator for syria's opposition at the upcoming geneva peace talks. thanks for being with us. i understand you are not supposed to speak on afrin, only here to talk about negotiation. maybe i can ask you this -- are you worried that american support for the kurds will lead to the partition of sy

president erdogan says he hopes the incursion will be brief.as increased to 18 in a militant attack on a luxury hotel in kabul. thousands of protesters have taken pa rt thousands of protesters have taken part ina thousands of protesters have taken part in a women's march as part of an international campaign to combat gender inequality. it follows similar marches that took place yesterday in the us — on what was the anniversary of donald trump's inauguration. those marches have entered a second day now, with one of the biggest events is planned to take place in us city of las vegas, rajini vaidyanathan is there for us. the main focus is this event in las vegas. it has not kicked off yet, but as you can see over there, thousands of women have packed into the stadium just outside the centre of las vegas. the focus of the event is actually trying to get women to register to vote, because it last year was a rallying cry, this year is all about getting things done and getting more people in positions of power and also encouraging people to run to off

cnn turk broadcasts every erdogan speech in entirety.n turk, accused an american professor, with no evidence at all, -- monette informed enter ten amendment turkish channel journalist says that cnn amplifies the xena phobic narrative of the erdogan regime. the question might be interesting to get an answer to is how much is cnn making in exchange for spewing one side of authoritarian propaganda on behalf of a hostile foreign power? we contactedou cnn to find outd we have not found an answer but we'll let you know when we do. if you're a middle-class conservatives, youth probably gw up thinking of the chamber of commerce was on your side, standing up for small business, pushing back against pointless socialism. that is what you remember. here's an idea from the new and definitely not improved chamber of commerce. higher gas taxes. in order to fund federal infrastructure spending, the chamber of commerce is pushing an additional $0.25 a gallon fee on gasoline. that's more than double the overall w federal gas tax. who would pay that tax? n

president erdogan says he hopes the incursion will be brief.nd the deadlock over the budget which has led to the federal government being shut down. and these pictures of a dramatic rescue from a mountain in scotland are proving popular on bbc.com. they show the moment when a coastguard helicopterfinally reached two climbers, who'd been stranded overnight in sub zero temperatures. they'd got into difficulties when a blizzard swept across them, but were eventually hauled to safety, alive and well. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times focuses on the displays of unity between the two koreas in the upcoming pyeong—chang winter olympics. the paper says some south koreans believe their government went too far with a so—called "political show" — and see the lull in the tensions as "meaningless" amid the olympic euphoria. the china daily reveals that china is to begin the process of selecting the next generation of astronauts. it says the new recruits will train to work on the country's planned space station, whi

turkey's eu bid has stalled in recent years, leaving president erdogan to admit to french president erdogantu rkey‘s president macron on friday that turkey's long way from the ship was exhausting. his government has also arrested tens of thousands of officials, academics and activists in the wake of a botched coup attempt in 2016. this drew criticism from rights activists. so perhaps it is not surprising that the german foreign minister's words urge caution. translation: we should not expect to have the same opinion of all subjects. there are differences of opinion. but i think it is in our best interest to continue our debate with openness and mutual respect, on an equalfooting. for with openness and mutual respect, on an equal footing. for now, with openness and mutual respect, on an equalfooting. for now, it with openness and mutual respect, on an equal footing. for now, it seems, the sides had agreed to disagree. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: orthodox christians from bethlehem to moscow are beginning their celebrations of christmas. the japanese people are in mourning f

bitch there it is also it is a city also controlled by the kurds and it could be turkey's game plan erdogan has already said after he's done with afrin man beach is next this operation hardly came out of the blue you know the kurds have been historically a major thaw in turkey but what catalyzed things now was the pentagon saying they're going to create a so-called syrian border force the coalition is working jointly with the syrian democratic forces to establish and train the new syrian border security force currently there are approximately two hundred thirty individuals training in the inaugural class with the goal of a final full size of approximately thirty thousand one very precise description of america's intentions there by that point turkey had had enough ankara beefed up its forces on the syrian border deployed tanks and president erdogan vowed to destroy quote this terrorist force before washington even has a chance to create it u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson tried to do some damage control saying that the situation has been most portrayed misdescribed and that some people

turkey had had enough ankara beefed up its forces on the syrian border deployed tanks and president erdogan vowed to destroy quote this terrorist force before washington even has a chance to create it u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson tried to do some damage control saying that the situation has been trade misdescribed and that some people misspoke well that was a nearly enough to contain turkey's fury ankara has been keeping the united states in the loop about the operation against washington supposed america which arguably pitted to. against the kurds has now called on them to focus on the fight with eisele pretty much the same as saying it's every man for himself in this conflict turkey has also notified syria about the action which damascus is not happy about at all russia in its turn has been cautious and called for all parties to pull the punches the main reason behind the developing crisis in this part of syria is the provocative steps taken by the united states which were aimed at isolating areas with predominantly kurdish populations uncontrolled deliveries by the pentagon of m

i wonder what president erdogan feels about president trump.t's quoted you remember on the sidelines of the u.n. ga in september president trump said that president erdogan has become a friend of mine. i think now we're as close as we've ever been, he said. does the president -- your president share those views especially at this moment. >> well, they obviously have a good recommendation. they developed a good et chemistry and have talked many times and they've met in person a number of times. and they will be talking again. buthere are key issues that we have to resolve really at the leadership level. i think the american turkish relationship is just too important, too significant to be damaged or shadowed by you know groups like pkk, pyd, et cetera. we have greater strategic interests in the region if we work together for the region, for ourselves and obviously for the americans. >> ibrahim kalin, presidential spokeman thanks for joining from us ankara tonight. >> thank you. >>> so what of the american perspective? joining me now is the forme

resident erdogan says the operation will extend eastwad, where u.s. forces are currently stationed.lso ahead, trying to tame corruption in africa. the fight against corruption is at the top of the agenda at the african union's main annual summit in ethiopia. we ask our correspondent whether the plans under discussion can actually succeed. i am sarah harman. thank's for joining us. u.s. president donald trump has told leaders gathered in switzerland that america is open for business. but the u.s. won't tolerate trade practices he sees as unfair. trump was delivering closing remarks at this week's world economic forum in doorposts. one of his key messages -- growth in the u.s. spells gross for economies around the world. >> the anticipation was palpable. politicians and highflying executives waiting in line for over an hour to get inside the hall where donald trump would deliver his speech. the first u.s. president to do so since bill clinton two decades ago. and eventually, with plenty of pomp, trump arrived on stage. he did not mince his words. pres. trump: as president of the unite

turkish president recep tape erdogan said his forces would not back down. campaign was backed by moscow. all in. i offering will be settled. also indicted out. i would be step back from friend. is a little. rules we discussed this with our russian friends. lubbock items but we have agreements yet what is going to city to comb through. the russian foreigngn minisy boys concern encouraged her he to show restraint pulling its own troops from the region. meanwhile the us position is increasingly ambiguous. washington is one of the mamain backers of the syrirn democratic forces and the white bg. working directly targeted by ankara. us defense secretary jim mattis said washington was given advance notice from jersey before saturday's are strikes hours. he called her he entrusted nato ally with quote legitimate security concerns. turkey said the ypg militia as part of the pkk. a pro independence kurdish movement which it considers a terrorist organization. well here is your castle has been discussing the situation off the fronts requested a meeting of more that we

germany banned political rallies by turks ahead of the presidential referendum that gave president erdogane no relation whatsoever to democracy! you should know your current actions are no different to those of the nazi period! when we say that, they get disturbed. why are you disturbed? chancellor angela merkel, in turn, poured cold water on the prospect of turkey's long—running eu membership bid ever reaching fruition. turkey is now trying to turn the page, but concerns remain. turkey's eu bid has stalled in recent years, leading president erdogan to admit to french president macron on friday that turkey's long wait for eu membership was exhausting. erdogan‘s government has also arrested tens of thousands of officials, academics and activists in the wake of a botched coup attempt in 2016. this drew criticism from rights advocates, so perhaps it is not surprising that the german foreign minister's words urge cautious optimism. translation: we should not expect to have the same opinion of all subjects. there are differences of opinion. but i think it is in our best interest to continue our

on the wall long time we've long argued it was going to happen and the hours and days ahead what erdogan actually does and how much damage he does in syria and whether he will then turned on the american backed kurds is is is up in the air you know the interesting thing is is that one has to wonder where turkish soldiers go do they stay or do they you know do they have you know it's like the russians went in had a mission said mission accomplished very limited. did what they wanted to do and basically with through with the turks state and again we're looking at how they do their part to say well the turks are more likely to be like cyprus looks like my impression is that russia kind of acquires to the fact that there will be turkish influence in the north of syria russia agrees that there is a turkish minority there so they have their interest we cannot say for syria a little right let's be realistic about it and i'm not sure russia really wants to grab a wedge between turkey and need to i think we would like to be in peace with their well i know of course they want to do i mean but they

and had enough ankara beefed up its forces on the syrian border and deployed tanks and president erdogan valen to carry out quote infanticide and what he called this he calls this terrorist force your secretary of state rex tillerson try to do some damage control but that wasn't enough to contain his fury and has been keeping the united states in the loop about their operation against washington supposed america's called on turkey and the kurds to focus on the fight with ice or pretty much the same as saying it's every man for himself in this conflict turkey has also notified syria about the action an ultimatum which is not making damascus happy at all russia in its turn has been cautious and called for all parties to restrain from confrontation the main reason behind the developing crisis in this part of syria is the provocative steps taken by the united states which were aimed at isolating areas with predominantly kurdish populations uncontrolled deliveries by the pentagon more than weapons to pro american formations in northern syria contributed to the rapid escalation of tension in t

turkey had had enough ankara beefed up its forces on the syrian border deployed tanks and president erdogan vowed to destroy quote this terrorist force before washington even has a chance to create it u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson tried to do some damage control saying that the situation has been most portrayed misdescribed and that some people misspoke well that was a nearly enough to contain turkey's fury anchorite has been keeping the united states in the loop about the operation against washington supposed america which arguably pitted to. against the kurds has now called on them to focus on the fight with eisele pretty much the same as saying it's every man for himself in this conflict turkey has also notified syria about the action which damascus is not happy about at all russia in its turn has been cautious and called for all parties to pull the punches the main reason behind the developing crisis in this part of syria is the provocative steps taken by the united states which were aimed at isolating areas with predominantly kurdish populations uncontrolled deliveries by the p

turkey had had enough ankara beefed up its forces on the syrian border deployed tanks and president erdogan vowed to destroy quote this terrorist force before washington even has a chance to create it u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson tried to do some damage control saying that the situation has been trade misdescribed and that some people misspoke well that was a nearly enough to contain turkey's fury ankara has been keeping the united states in the loop about the operation against washington supposed america which arguably pitted to. against the kurds has now called on them to focus on the fight with eisele pretty much the same as saying it's every man for himself in this conflict turkey has also notified syria about the action which damascus is not happy about at all russia in its turn has been cautious and called for all parties to pull the punches the main reason behind the developing crisis in this part of syria is the provocative steps taken by the united states which were aimed at isolating areas with predominantly kurdish populations uncontrolled deliveries by the pentagon more

east syria with the kurds it would face blowback politically both from turkey and from iraq likewise erdogan has created this situation where he calls kurdish terrorists there's no evidence that any. kurds have been involved in terrorism on his territory but he created this by illegally arming training and cellaring sectarian militants you know united states. of the arming and supporting the kurds are there is one good thing in a bottle of this situation finally with kind of the truth about the united states financing terrorists out of the mold of big snow out of the mouth of mr erdogan and so he's the guy who. well that's why you see it's not exactly a charge of the mold of no shortage of people who are being punished in terrorism. but here basically admitting to something that all the other need to remember us have no home but they have been hiding it yet so i had to put in these. where he drove himself by his decision to change the regime in syria he is now i'm sorry he's now spewing the truth let me know where to go if i can if i go if i put in. the existence the possibility of a kurdish

president erdogan, we understand your legitimate security concerns on your southern border, and we are going to work with you very closely to get through those concerns. >> woodruff: the turks shelled afrin again today, and they warned that some 2,000 u.s. troops in the region could become targets. turkey also complained that the white house gave a false account of yesterday's phone call between presidents trump and erdogan. china promised today to work with the u.s. on cutting the flow of illegal opioids to american dealers. that's after u.s. senate investigators found chinese sellers are largely able to circumvent package checks by the u.s. postal service. the influx of opioids has fueled a wave of overdose deaths in the u.s. the nation's emergency alert system came under scrutiny today, after hawaii's false warning about a missile launch. the incident touched off panic earlier this month. at a senate hearing today, democrat brian schatz of hawaii suggested the responsibility for such alerts should not be left to the states. >> we have lively debates about federalism, about the role

on robert mueller and his investigation make you believe it was taking place in a banana republic, erdogan turkey, putin russia, not in the united states of america. what has been done by house republicans and gone along with by just about the whole republican establishment is not worthy of this democracy. it makes us look like a banana republic, and it's shameful. a different kind of president would be encouraging special counts or mueller's investigation, shouting down those forces who tried to interfere with it. a different kind of president would want to know how precisely russian metals in our election and would have severely punished putin for it to discourage him from ever trying it again. but here we are, 180 days since the president signed the historic russia sanctions bill passed by this body, and he hasn't even implemented those sanctions. he is supposed do it today, the state of the union. again, mr. president, implement the sanctions tonight or at least tell the american people why you were not. letting russia, opening an invitation to russia to dota it again. now, why won't d