Eye on Extremism September 9, 2016

Eye on Extremism September 9, 2016 Associated Press: Taliban Push Into Provincial Capital In Southern Afghanistan “The Taliban pushed into the capital of Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, triggering fierce clashes and sending all government officials fleeing from the city, an Afghan official said. The insurgents' surprise attack left authorities in control only of Tirin Kot's police headquarters, which the Taliban were besieging since the morning hours, according to The provincial spokesman, Doost Mohammad Nayab. Nayab said that all checkpoints around the city have been overrun or destroyed and appealed to the government in Kabul for quick reinforcements. He did not provide a casualty toll but said he feared that the city will soon completely fall to the insurgents. Hundreds of Taliban are involved in the assault, Nayab added, without giving any specifics.” Voice Of America: CIA Chief: IS Likely To Remain In Iraq, Syria For Years “Despite the shrinking of Islamic State-held territory in Iraq and Syria, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency is stressing that the group’s influence is not going away anytime soon. ‘I think ISIL [Islamic State] will remain a presence inside Iraq and Syria for quite a while,’ CIA Director John Brennan said Thursday during a national security summit in Washington. Brennan also highlighted the lasting impact of foreign fighters attempting to return to their home countries. ‘While some of them may be rehabilitated and see they were on the wrong path, I do think a number of them will remain a challenge for the United States as well as for other governments for years to come,’ he said. Intelligence officials acknowledge that dismantling IS now will most likely have wider repercussions and present broader challenges for law enforcement as a whole.” BBC: Syria Conflict: Senior Militant Leader 'Killed' Near Aleppo “A senior commander of the Syrian militant group formerly known as al-Nusra Front has been killed near Aleppo, rebel sources say. The group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said on its Twitter account that commander Abu Omar Sarakeb died in an air strike in Aleppo province. It did not say which country's forces had carried out the air strike. Al-Nusra Front changed its name at the end of July, reportedly cutting ties with al-Qaeda at the same time. Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which has its stronghold in Idlib province, is one of the most powerful jihadist rebel groups and has been fighting the Syrian government since early 2012.” Associated Press: 7 Detained Over Gas Canisters Found Near Paris' Notre Dame “Three women radicals with apparent plans for ‘imminent’ violence were detained Thursday after a standoff with French police, as part of a terrorism investigation into six gas canisters found in a car abandoned near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the interior minister said. The discovery of the mysterious car has revived worries about the threat of new attacks in France, which has already repeatedly targeted by Islamic State extremists and remains under a state of emergency. Seven people are now in custody in the Notre Dame case. The three women were detained in an operation Thursday night in Boussy-Saint-Antoine south of Paris in a ‘veritable race against the clock,’ Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters. One of the women attacked police, and an intelligence officer was hospitalized with a knife wound to the shoulder. One suspect was also injured, Cazeneuve said.” RT: British Spooks Delete 1,000 Extremist Videos Weekly – Still Can’t Keep Up With Propagandists “Extremist material is spreading online at such a fast rate, UK security services are unable to keep up, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has admitted. The new minister blamed US tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter for not doing enough to stop terrorists uploading propaganda to the internet. Social media companies have previously defended their efforts in the online war on terror, insisting they are removing extremist content when it is discovered. Rudd was grilled by Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday about how US internet firms could be made to do more in the battle against extremist propaganda. The Home Secretary agreed that companies like Google and Facebook could take more responsibility because of the sheer speed at which such videos are uploaded.” NBC News: Two Syrians In Wheelchairs Make Remarkable Escape From ISIS “Two Syrian siblings with muscular dystrophy managed to escape the advance of ISIS earlier this year despite being confined to wheelchairs for much of their harrowing journey through Iraq, Turkey, and Greece, according to Amnesty International. The human rights organization released footage of the brother and sister, Alan Mohammad, 30, and Gyan, 28, making the daring escape. They only succeeded on their fourth attempt, having been shot at by Turkish police along the Turkish-Syrian border during their previous attempts to flee.” Bloomberg: Boko Haram Fighters Surrender To Nigerian Army As Factions Clash “About 18 members of the Boko Haram Islamist militant group and their families surrendered to Nigerian soldiers after clashes in the northern state of Borno between factions loyal to the group’s founder, Abubakar Shekau, and the new head Abu Musab Albarnawi. ‘They are under custody of Monguno command and we believe the dual battle between Albarnawi and Shekau’s camps may have compelled them to sneak out and surrender,’ Ali Mohammed, a member of a vigilante group in northeastern town of Monguno, said Wednesday by phone. Nigeria’s military said it may have killed Shekau, the disputed leader of the Boko Haram, during an air strike on the Sambisa forest in Borno on Aug. 19. The Nigerian authorities have reported Shekau’s probable death at least twice before, including in 2014 and 2013.” The Washington Times: Hezbollah Using Syrian Civil War To Prepare For War With Israel “Hezbollah has been Iran’s proxy ground force in the Islamic Republic’s fight to prop up the Shia, Assad regime with the Russian Federation’s help. The terrorist army has been heavily involved in the fighting against the anti-Assad opposition fighters supported by the United States. Hezbollah has gained enormous battlefield experience in large scale, mobile warfare and enhanced its capabilities from the small unit tactics it specialized in during earlier conflicts against Israel in Lebanon. There are signs that Hezbollah is using the civil war to prepare for the inevitable conflict against the Jewish state. Primarily, these concerns emanate from Hezbollah’s use of the Golan Heights to store large numbers of sophisticated weapons near the Israeli border.” Associated Press: Israel Strikes Syria After Projectile Lands In Golan Heights “The Israeli military says its aircraft struck targets in Syria after a projectile hit the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights. The military said on Thursday that it hit Syrian Armed Forces mortar launchers overnight. The military declined to describe the projectile that landed on Wednesday, saying only that it caused no injuries. Israel has largely remained on the sidelines of the war in neighboring Syria, but has carried out similar reprisals on Syrian positions when errant fire has previously landed in Israeli-controlled territory. Israel is also widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments said to be destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.” Reuters: Iraq Gears Up For Late-Year Push To Retake Mosul From Islamic State “The U.S.-led war on Islamic State has depleted the group's funds, leadership and foreign fighters, but the biggest battle yet is expected later this year in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his ‘caliphate’ two years ago. The jihadist insurgents have lost more than half the territory they seized in Iraq and nearly as much in neighboring Syria, but still manage to control their twin capitals of Mosul and Raqqa, symbols of the state they sought to build at the heart of the Middle East. Military and humanitarian preparations are now in full swing to retake Mosul, the largest city under the ultra-hardline group's control. American troops are establishing a logistics hub to the south, while the United Nations warns of the world's most complex humanitarian operation this year.” Deutsche Welle: IS Territory Loss Could Heighten Risk Of Attacks In Europe “Many fighters who don't die on the battlefield will seek to return to their home countries to launch IS-inspired attacks, CIA Director John Brennan said in Washington on Thursday. Meanwhile FBI Director James Comey said that if the IS caliphate is crushed, many surviving militants could flow into western Europe and aim to duplicate the Paris and Brussels attacks. A breakup of the so-called Islamic State could send hundreds of sympathizers underground around the world, lying quietly in wait for years to build new networks and plot attacks, Brennan said. ‘The threat that I believe will dominate the next five years for the FBI will be the impact of the crushing of the caliphate,’ or the IS group, said James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” United States Reuters: Kerry To Meet Lavrov About Syria In Geneva On Friday “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday in an effort to move toward a political agreement to end the Syrian civil war, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. ‘Their discussion follows recent conversations on Syria and will focus on reducing violence, expanding humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, and moving towards a political solution needed to end the civil war,’ State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a written statement.” Syria Reuters: Syria Ready To Cooperate With U.N. Watchdog On Gas Attack Accusations “Syria said on Thursday it was ready to cooperate with the global chemical weapons watchdog over accusations it had used poison gas against insurgent held areas. A Syrian foreign ministry statement said Damascus was ready to cooperate with a team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) currently in Syria and looking into incidents Damascus blames on ‘terror groups and their foreign operatives’. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the chemical weapons watchdog last month found Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used sulfur mustard gas, according to a report seen by Reuters. The year-long U.N. and OPCW inquiry - unanimously authorized by the U.N. Security Council - focused on nine attacks in seven areas of Syria.” Voice Of America: US, Russia Resume High-Level Face-To-Face Diplomacy On Syria War “As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed into another round of talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, the American diplomats accompanying Kerry sought to downplay expectations of an imminent deal on a Syrian cease-fire. ‘We can’t guarantee in any way we are on the cusp of finality,’ said one U.S. official. But Kerry, who spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at least four times Wednesday and Thursday, was optimistic enough to fly back to Switzerland for what is expected to be no more than a single day of negotiations. The sticking points, for days, have been described by U.S. officials as ‘technical matters.’ A key one, it has been revealed, involves ensuring ‘there will not be a siege of Aleppo,’ according to a second State Department official who spoke to reporters aboard Kerry’s plane.” Fox News: Syrian Aid Workers Break With UN Relief Effort Over Its Assad Ties “Scores of Syrian non-government humanitarian agencies working in the battered country have suspended their coordination with the United Nations, whose relief efforts, they charge, are controlled by the brutal Bashar Al-Assad regime. They have also called for an investigation  into, among other things, the ‘political influence of the Syrian government on humanitarian actors in Damascus,’ and creation of a new monitoring body  that includes their participation ‘to ensure that all Syrians have sufficient and sustained access to aid and that international law is respected.’ The gesture by the 73 Syrian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which provide aid to some 7 million Syrians in areas outside the control of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, is largely symbolic.” Iraq Associated Press: Iranian Faction Among Kurds Trained By US Against Militants “An Iranian Kurdish rebel group received military training in weapons and explosives from U.S. and European advisers as part of the international program backing Kurds in the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq, the group's commander told The Associated Press. The group, called the Kurdistan Freedom Party, is one of several Iranian Kurdish factions that have carried out attacks this year inside Iran, sparking a crackdown by security forces. At the same time, the group has been fighting alongside Iraqi Kurds against Islamic State group militants in northern Iraq. The training is a further twist in the complex web of alliances and enmities swirling around the wars in Iraq and Syria. Iran is a powerful backer of the Iraqi government and Iraqi Shiite militias against the Islamic State group.” Turkey Reuters: Syrian Kurds, Allies To Approve Federal Plan Despite Turkey “Syrian Kurdish groups and their allies will approve a constitution for a new system of government in northern Syria next month, a top Kurdish politician said, defying a Turkish incursion aimed at curbing Kurdish influence in the area. The new system will be established in parts of the north where Kurdish groups have already carved out autonomous regions since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, alarming Turkey which fears the rise of Kurdish influence on its border. ‘We have decided to convene a meeting of the founding assembly of the federal system at the start of October, and we will declare our system in northern Syrian,’ Hadiya Yousef, who chairs the assembly, said in an interview.” Voice Of America: Kurdish Fighters Blame Turkey For Deadly Border Attack “Six Syrian Kurdish fighters were killed and a dozen were wounded as Turkish military artillery fired across the border Thursday into Syria, Kurdish officials and rights activists said. Some of those wounded in the attack on the northern town of Afrin were civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that has researchers across the country. Afrin is controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, known as YPG, that are allied with the United States in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey views the YPG as a terror group linked to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).” CNN: Turkey Suspends Over 11,000 Teachers For Suspected Terror Links “Turkey has suspended thousands of teachers over alleged links to a militant Kurdish group, according to sources and state-run news agency Anadolu. At least 11,285 schoolteachers across the country were suspended over suspected links to a separatist terrorist organization, Anadolu reported Thursday, citing Turkey's Education Ministry. That number could reach 14,000 during an investigation conducted in coordination with governors' offices across the country, Anadolu reported. Although the ministry did not specify the group, the term ‘separatist terrorist organization’ usually refers to the Kurdistan worker's party, or PKK. Later, a senior Turkish official confirmed to CNN that the ‘separatist organization’ is PKK.” Afghanistan The New York Times: Taliban Close To Overtaking Afghan Provincial Capital, Officials Say “Taliban insurgents on Thursday were on the verge of overrunning the southern city of Tirin Kot, the capital of Oruzgan Province, Afghan officials and local elders said. Dost Mohammad Nayab, a spokesman for the governor of Oruzgan, said that all security posts around the city had been overrun by the Taliban and that the insurgents had started firing on the police headquarters and the governor’s compound. ‘The security forces are engaged with the Taliban inside the city, and fighting is ongoing,’ Mr. Nayab said. By late in the afternoon, however, Mr. Nayab said the situation had improved after NATO airstrikes began targeting Taliban positions.” CNN: Failed Hostage Rescue Attempt In Afghanistan “A few days after an American and Australian were kidnapped from American University in Kabul last month, US Special Operations Forces from SEAL Team 6 attempted to rescue them but failed to find them at the location they went to, according to three administration officials. There was a firefight on the ground in which seven enemy fighters were killed, according to the officials. The US was never certain the professors were at the site, or if they were, when they had been moved. Some electronic media was recovered indicating the identities of those who were holding them. SEAL Team 6 used a HALO jump, which is a high altitude jump from an aircraft, in the operation. A HALO is generally only attempted when there is no other option.” Yemen Associated Press: UN Calls Yemen Fighters To Abide By Cease Fire “The U.N. Security Council is calling on all parties in Yemen civil war to halt all military activity and abide by the terms of a Cessation of Hostilities agreed upon in April. The council said in statement issued Thursday that the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate in the absence of a durable peace agreement and urged all parties to resume talks with Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Houthi rebels and forces allied with ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee the country. A Saudi-led coalition has conducted an extensive air campaign against the Houthis since March 2015, pushing them out of southern Yemen, but failing to dislodge them from Sanaa.” Associated Press: HRW Accuses Yemen Rebels Of 'Cruelty' Over Use Of Land Mines “An international rights group has criticized the use of land mines by Yemen's Shiite rebels, saying they have resulted in many civilian casualties. In a Thursday report, Human Rights Watch accuses the Houthi rebels of ‘cold-hearted cruelty toward civilians’ over their use of land mines in the city of Taiz, which has been besieged by the Houthis. The group quotes a Taiz-based organization as saying that 18 people have been killed and 39 wounded by land mines in the city since May 2015, shortly after a Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi positions. Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch, says ‘Yemen's warring parties should immediately stop laying mines, destroy mines in their possession and ensure that demining teams can work unimpeded so that families can safely return home.’” Egypt Reuters: Egyptian Prosecutor Heads To Rome To Discuss Regeni Investigation “Egypt's public prosecutor left for Rome on Thursday to present his Italian counterpart with the latest findings in the investigation into the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni, state news agency MENA said. Regeni, who was doing postgraduate research into Egyptian trade unions, was last seen by his friends on Jan. 25. His body, which showed signs of torture, was found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3. The prosecutors' meeting will be he third since Regeni's body was found. MENA did not give any details on what the latest findings were. Egyptian judicial sources said there had been no new breakthrough in the probe. Egyptian prosecutor Nabil Ahmed Sadek was responding to an invitation from his Italian counterpart to discuss the latest developments in the case, they said.” Middle East Haaretz: Palestinians Freeze First Local Elections In Years Due To Hamas, Fatah Spat “The Palestinian Authority's Supreme Court ruled Thursday to freeze the local elections in the West Bank and Gaza this October due to what it described as serious irregularities – chiefly a court ruling in Gaza to remove candidate slates identified with Fatah in Gaza, and the exclusion of East Jerusalem from the election process. Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the election process was seriously harmed when the Gaza courts, which are essentially Hamas-run, decided to annul the lists of candidates associated with Fatah in Gaza. They also claimed that the Palestinian Authority had failed to properly prepare for the elections and were now using the court to – which they says is behold to Fatah and Abbas – to postpone the elections.” Associated Press: Israel To Build Underground Barrier Against Hamas “Israeli defense officials on Thursday said the government has begun work on a massive underground barrier along the border with Gaza meant to block Hamas militants from tunneling into Israel. The project is the hallmark of a huge Israeli effort to halt the Hamas tunnels, which military officials have identified as a strategic threat. Hamas militants have used underground tunnels to attack Israelis. During a 2014 war, Hamas militants managed on several occasions to make their way into Israel through their tunnel network, though they did not reach nearby civilian areas. Israel destroyed some 32 tunnels during that conflict and has announced the discovery of several more tunnels since then. As a result, the military has invested great efforts in technologies to detect, destroy and block them. Israel has already surrounded Gaza with a sophisticated above-ground fence fortified with sensors, cameras, barbed wire and watch towers.” Associated Press: Russia: Israel, Palestinian Leaders Agree To Meet For Talks “Russia's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that the Israeli and the Palestinian leaders have agreed ‘in principle’ to meet in Moscow for talks in what the Russians hope will relaunch the Mideast peace process after a more than two-year break. But the wide gaps between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas left it uncertain if or when the meeting will take place, and raised doubts about whether they would make any progress if they do get together. In another twist, an Israeli TV station reported that a document discovered by two Israeli researchers indicated that Abbas had worked for the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, while living in Syria in the early 1980s. The professors said they were coming forward with the information to discredit Moscow as an honest broker in peace talks.” Libya BBC: Libya Chemical Weapons: 'Last Ingredients' Set For Destruction “The final batch of chemical weapon materials from strife-torn Libya has arrived in Germany to be destroyed. Libya destroyed its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014. However, hazardous materials the country still held remained a cause for international concern. ‘These chemical weapon precursors have not been weaponised and now they never will be by anyone,’ the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said. The international chemical weapons watchdog will now verify the destruction of all the component materials at a specialist plant in Muenster, Germany. A ship from Denmark, accompanied by both Danish and UK naval vessels, left the Libyan port of Misrata on August 30, carrying the final shipment of chemical containers.” Nigeria Newsweek: What We Know About Boko Haram’s Factional War “For seven years, Boko Haram has terrorized northeast Nigeria and surrounding countries, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. Despite the Nigerian government claiming a ‘technical’ victory over the militant group after retaking much of its territory, Boko Haram still has a massive capacity for inflicting destruction and casualties. In the first nine months of 2016, Boko Haram has been solely responsible for almost 400 deaths in the West African country, according to the Council of Foreign Relations. Nigeria’s efforts to vanquish the Islamist group, however, may have received a boost by the growing reports of factionalism and infighting within Boko Haram, which is turning increasingly violent.” United Kingdom BBC: Birmingham And Stoke Terror Arrests: Four Charged "Four men have been charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism. It comes after raids in Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent by West Midlands counter terrorism officers on 26 August. Those charged are: Naweed Ali, 28, of Evelyn Road, Sparkhill; Khobaib Hussain, 24, also of Evelyn Road, Sparkhill; Mohibur Rahman, 31, of High Lane, Stoke-on-Trent; Tahir Aziz, 37, of Wulstan Road, Stoke-on-Trent. They will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday. A fifth man, aged 18, was released without charge." BBC: Two Arrested In London On Suspicion Of Terror Offences “Two men have been arrested in London on suspicion of terror offences. The men, aged 19 and 20, were arrested at a property in west London as part of a planned operation by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. The teenager was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. The second man's arrest was on suspicion of funding terrorism and failing to disclose information. It also related to the preparation of terrorist acts. His arrest was made in relation to a separate investigation by the South East Counter Terrorism Unit. Scotland Yard said it was searching a number of addresses and vehicles in the west and south-east of London, as well as in the Thames Valley area. A third man, 19, was arrested in south-east London on suspicion of a religiously aggravated offence in relation to a separate incident. All three men remain in custody, officers said.” France Associated Press: Paris Attack Suspect Invokes Silence For 3rd Time With Judge “The only surviving suspect in last November's attack on Paris refused to speak to a judge Thursday for a third time, in frustration at 24-hour video surveillance of his prison cell. Salah Abdeslam's lawyer, Frank Berton, said the judge repeatedly asked questions to no avail on Thursday. Berton said Abdeslam wasn't obligated to explain his silence but ‘obviously’ it's linked to the constant surveillance. Authorities hope Abdeslam can provide information about the Islamic State group's strategies and networks, and identify others who might have had a connection to the Nov. 13 attacks, which killed 130 people. The same network that attacked Paris struck again in Abdeslam's hometown of Brussels in March, days after he was tracked down in his hideout and arrested.” CNN: Hollande: Republic Must Create 'Islam Of France' To Respond To Terror Threat “French President Francois Hollande called for the creation of ‘an Islam of France’ and the removal of foreign-trained extremist imams in a key speech Thursday on the challenges radical Islam poses to democracy. Addressing the debate surrounding Islam following a summer of terror attacks and burkini bans, he stressed that French secularism was not at odds with the religion. ‘Nothing in the idea of secularism is opposed to the practice of Islam in France, as long -- and that is the vital point -- as it complies with the law,’ Hollande said in Paris, stressing that secularism was "not a religion of the state that stands against all other religions." The Wall Street Journal: Police Officer Stabbed In Paris Terrorism Sweep “A French police officer was stabbed and a suspect shot as authorities detained three women Thursday in connection with a terrorism investigation into a car found Sunday near Notre Dame Cathedral that was loaded with cooking gas canisters. The three women, one of whom was the car owner’s daughter, were taken into custody in the southern Paris suburb of Boussy-Saint-Antoine, authorities said. One stabbed a police officer before being shot and severely wounded, according to a police officer familiar with the investigation. ‘These young women, ages 39, 23 and 19, were radicalized and fanatical,’ Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. ‘They were likely preparing new violent and imminent actions.’ France is on high alert after a spate of terror attacks that have killed more than 200 people over the past year.” Europe Sputnik: Special Forces Counterterrorism Units To Guard Belgian Nuclear Power Plants “In the past months, Belgian nuclear facilities have been guarded by a force of 140 army personnel. According to the newspaper De Morgen, the government has decided to replace them with a special unit composed of federal police officers trained to intervene in the event of a terrorist attack. The counterterror unit will be armed with semi-automatic weapons, and should be ready for deployment next year, the paper reported. Security at Belgian NPPs is generally provided by unarmed personnel from private security firms. However, after the deadly March 22 attacks in Brussels, the government decided to increase security measures at the two country's two plants where its seven operating reactors are located. These, Brussels argues, could be targeted by terrorists; it sent military personnel to help guard the NPPs.” The Wall Street Journal: EU To Provide Debit Cards, Cash To Refugees In Turkey As Part Of Migration Deal “As many as one million refugees in Turkey will receive debit cards and monthly cash transfers to help pay for food and housing under a new €348 million ($393 million) humanitarian program from the European Union announced on Thursday. The EU’s largest-ever humanitarian program is part of a €3 billion package of assistance the bloc promised Turkey to support some three million refugees the country hosts, mainly from Syria. Turkey has complained that the money, which was agreed to in exchange for Ankara’s help in preventing migrants from entering the EU, is arriving too slowly. Relations between Turkey and the EU soured over the summer when Turkey accused the EU of failing to show its support for elected authorities after the failed July 15 military coup.”