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Turkey

Extra! Turkey Wants To 'Wipe Out' PKK After Attack

"Trapped in the fog: 16 martyred," reads Tuesday's front page of Turkish daily Hürriyet, after PKK fighters reportedly ambushed and killed 16 Turkish soldiers in southeastern Turkey Sunday by taking advantage of the bad weather.

According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, two armored vehicles were targeted with roadside bombs between Daglica and Yuksekova in the southeastern province of Hakkari, which borders Iraq and Iran.

The attack led Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to pledge to "wipe out" the Kurdish organization in southeastern Turkey. "The mountains of this country, the plains, highlands, cities will be not abandoned to terrorists," Davutoglu said.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Don't Underestimate How Much More Putin Needs Xi Than Xi Needs Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow was a much-needed favor Vladimir Putin. But make no mistake, Beijing is there to serve Beijing — and holds virtually all the cards.

Photo of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin toasting with glasses of white wine

China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's President Vladimir Putin a state dinner hosted by the Russian president at the Faceted Chamber in the Moscow Kremlin.

Anna Zafesova

-Analysis-

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated visit to Moscow begins with a diplomatic mystery. In the first minutes of formal greetings at the Kremlin, Xi congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Russia has achieved significant successes under your leadership. Next year you have elections coming up, and I am convinced that the Russian people will give you their support.”

The Russian president’s candidacy in 2024, officially, is one of the biggest mysteries in Russian politics, as Putin has not yet declared his intentions, even though it is extremely unlikely that he would voluntarily move out of the Kremlin, and even less so after amending the constitution in 2020 to allow himself to enjoy two more six-year terms.

Still, the fact that Russians learned that their president will run again from Xi is extraordinary enough that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters they had "misunderstood."

According to Moscow, the Chinese president said more generally that his Russian “friend” would continue to be supported by Russians next year.

It was hardly a gaffe — not at this level of politics, where every blink is weighed and measured. Maybe it was a translation error, or a courtesy Xi wanted to show Putin, in response to his host's compliments. Putin's welcome speech included the phrase "We envy you a little bit” (for China’s rapid pace of progress), which must have truly pained the Russian leader to say.

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