Will they continue to do so as their troops move deeper into syria well have the latest from our correspondent in istanbul. Im brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show germany has moved one step closer to getting a new government formal Coalition Talks between chancellor merkels conservatives and the social democrats have kicked off more than four months after germans went to the polls now both leaders were upbeat going into these talks theres a lot riding on the outcome not only possible future government is at stake but the future of both political leaders as well heres what they had to say just before the talks. You get this flooding down on the spirits not go its important to me is that we make even clear what impulses we want for germanys future. We are experiencing a fast changing world and we must make progress in digitization and especially in our schools for our children. We have to push the planning process harder so that the investments can actually happen. Here lizzie and can you get us on thats fair and also germany also has to be a place where startups receive good investment where investors say germany is the place where the future happens you know for the so this is about a new dynamic for germany not only a new beginning for europe but for germany as well thats been years that instead. Will work toward these goals and make sure that we negotiate swiftly with him and i think the people expect us to found a government quickly so im both optimistic and very determined that we achieve results and i think its possible in the brief time window that i can was not acknowledged as this all in and for place was if i shall bomb site is an oil business began almost certain evidence for the new government must give germany packets proper role the one we should play as the strongest economy in the European Union operation when youre not structurally sharks that europe needs a strongly pro european germany to meet the challenges coming from china and the us. I say this on a day when were expecting to hear from the u. S. President in davos that america is moving in a different direction so strongly pro european germany can only happen with the social democratic participation in the government and should our goods at home to make germany fairer and more modern and the International Level to make it once again a leading power in the European Union you know gratian or more down a party you know this is our intention and becoming into the Coalition Talks in this spirit. These mini these guys thank you recall its ones for you know our go lets go now to our Political Correspondent hans prostrating by at the talks of for us this morning hans whats the mood where you are could this be the start of actually forming a new government. I think the mood you can be described as fairly confident fairly upbeat all the leaders that have been going into these talks today have been saying that now is the time actually to hammer out the details to get down to the nitty gritty of this Coalition Treaty one might call it that the two major parties in germany are likely to agree to it within the next couple of weeks so yes there is a sense of urgency as weve heard from the. Its been four months since the elections its never taken this long in germany to form a government since the Second World War so they want to get down to the nitty gritty they want to hammer out an agreement and its likely that this will happen within the next couple of weeks ok theres a pretty optimistic assessment there you know many social democrats are unhappy with the current basis for these talks and we also have the conservatives saying theyre not going to budge on any key issues now how much room considering that is there for compromise. Well thats correct yes the social democrats are still somewhat reticent about this whole process they have put forward three further demands that they want to bring into this negotiation these include issues such as medical aid in germany issues of temporary employment in germany and also of course the thorny question of migrants that are coming into germany but on most of these issues there has been some signals from the conservative side that there is still room for concession room for maneuver and both parties both the conservatives and the social democrats really are very much invested in this process theyre very interested in having an agreement however the social democrats have demanded that their four hundred forty thousand members still have to take a vote once this contract has been agreed on so that vote is also going to take some time another three weeks or so in addition to the actual negotiations so one is expecting now that the process if it does get finished in a positive manner will last until the end of march ok you want to pick up on that s. P. D. Vote at the base that still has to happen delegates need to approve this deal the young social democrats are proving very reluctant could they hold up this deal. They are indeed pushing very hard against this deal they have been starting outside of the campaign amongst the rank and file membership to lobby for a rejection during that vote of the rank and file but i think at the moment it seems that the majority of members of the social Democratic Party well vote in a similar way to which the vote went this past weekend at a special Party Congress of the social democrats which was necessary in fact to make these talks possible to talk and there the vote went very narrowly with a very narrow margin in favor of such talks in favor of a Coalition Agreement and the expectation is that the vote in the rank and file sometime during march is also likely to go in that direction ok but we have a couple of things out there that still could hold up these talks on sprott in berlin for us this morning thanks very much from those talks now for some of the other stories making news today in south korea at least thirty seven people have died in a fire at a hospital in the city of miryam broke out emergency room of that hospital which is also home for the elderly its not yet no calls place. For julian a song the founder of wiki leaks are asking a london court to drop an arrest warrant against him for breaking his bail conditions on shes been living in ecuadors London Embassy for five years now he fled there to escape the possible extradition to sweden over rape allegations. India has been celebrating republic day in spectacular style in the capital delhi the parade marks the anniversary of indias constitution which came into effect in one nine hundred fifty soldiers of performers putting on an impressive display as they made their way from the president ial palace along belize central russia possible. Well turkeys Health Minister saying the death toll from the countrys operation in syria has now reached fourteen that figure includes three turkish soldiers eleven fighters with turkish allies now president aereo on travel to the southern border for a briefing on the offensive against Kurdish Forces in syria turkey began what it calls operation all grants nearly a week ago its targeted the area around afrin in Northern Syria in an attempt to clear that town of Kurdish Militia the attacks have opened up a new front in the already complex syrian civil war. Our correspondent johans following the story for us from istanbul the turkish troops are continuing their offensive pushing eastwards now what our president plans there. Well today in a meeting with representatives of his ruling a party he reiterated his intention to expand this military operation to other cities in north and syria syria basically all the way to the iraqi border so off to afrin thats the plan the Turkish Military is going to move further east to monday each which is part of a larger kurdish controlled area in Northern Syria while offering is a smaller kurdish controlled enclave but in money thats the area where u. S. Troops also station because they are supporting the y. P. G. The Kurdish Militia in syria seeing them as proxies in the fight against the socalled Islamic State so turkey is basically by moving further east its basically risking a confrontation with a nato ally there but the local threat perception the threat perception and is that with this kurdish controlled area in syria they could be Something Like a kurdish corridor or something close to a kurdish state actually develop along the border and this is increasing fear us that further separatist notions could come up within turkeys own kurdish minority and thats why turkey is so determined to continue and expand this military operation a majority of turks at home according to. The Government Strategy that you just mentioned in Northern Syria but as you mentioned if this offensive continues to expand could we see that Public Attitude changing if the death toll rises. Well i dont think so the three turkish soldiers who died so far are being celebrated here as heroes as martyrs who died for the right cause their pictures of being shared on twitter on National Television and thats part of the yeah patry arctic nationalist sentiment here in turkey thats a very deeply rooted in this Society Overall the Media Coverage has been very positive very favorable and you barely hear any critical voices when it comes to this operation let me show you what i mean i went out here in istanbul and talked to a few people about what they think about this operation lets have a look at my report. More on every channel the military operation in syria as the top story on Turkish Television the tenor of the reporting they re petry ot how critical the majority of tickets people it seems support operation all of branch in this tea house at least no one thinks the offensive is a mistake view that the terrorists are looking for an opportunity to divide the country but we will not so much of them over the years desertions cautious all we have fighting against isis and other terrorist groups those who dont want to help us should at least not stand in our way out of the will only a little motion of. No Army Fighting and a friend in strength through it and i hope that with ahead. We will take home a week to resolve it it was. Me to my new duty. When im absolutely sure of it. Turkish politicians agree as well and its not just the ruling a. K. Party that supports the offensive in syria Opposition Leader came out kill it stole says he also backs the operation as does meryl action are the head of the new party that wants to challenge president dredge of tired aragon in the next election she tweeted that shes praying for a Glorious Army the only party to condemn the offensive is the pro kurdish h d p. A former Spokes Person calls it inacceptable. The olive branch has always been a symbol of peace but now it is stained with blood its also the one is extending the olive branch to Bashar Al Assad in syria who once used to be his ally said it was upmarket this operation is an attempt to massacre the kurds. Statements like this one by jimmy to chile are dangerous right now in the past days the turkish government has detained dozens of people including politicians activists and journalists for criticizing the military operation in syria the official charged terrorist propaganda. The journalist who knows servile colleagues who got into trouble with authorities over reports criticizing the offensive he says the government gave editors of turkeys leading Media Outlets directives on how to reply which country how to clean. With congress i mean you know how all of the newspapers have similar headlines. This is actually government propaganda. Journalists must sense of themselves to avoid trouble. Unfortunately cant do proper journalism in turkey anymore. But mahmoud a columnist for the government friendly daily sabbat disagrees he says the government is not influencing coverage of the afrin offensive. When it comes to National Security every journalist bears responsibility thats how it is everywhere in the world. But that doesnt mean theyre not free to report on everything but there are some media and intellectuals in turkey who cant use a freedom of speech with hatred of the government. Or the offensive enough in looks set to stay turkeys main story for now the government has announced that it intends to further expand the operation. That report and interview from did abuse speaking with me earlier from istanbul this is the news live from berlin wall more news throughout the day and were live to davos and fourteen hundred c. D. T. For president come speech please join us for that but i. See it find it here it discover. Video and audio podcast to language courses in the d w media center at e. D. S. Center dot dot com. Climate change. Least. Pollution