A free parts of an assault to drive out Kurdish Peoples Protection units a y p g turkeys president is vowing to crush the group which views as a Terror Organization static or reports from the turkey syria border. The border echoes with the sounds of war turkeys offensive on africa is now well underway the ground operation started on sunday turkish soldiers supporting Free Syrian Army fighters inside syria. Turkish president brigitte type edge was defiant as he addressed a large crowd in the city of course a juggler. This is a National Struggle and then this National Struggle we will crush anyone who stands against us let this be known. Its been a week of rhetoric politicians promising that turkey was going to attack a free to rid of the y. P. G. Kurdish fighters that im proud considers terrorists but theyre also the us is best ally on the ground in fighting i still regardless of International Complications turkey is fully committed to this offensive were on turkeys border with africa and throughout the day weve heard the sound of jets in the sky also intense artillery and machine gun fire outgoing from a turkish base behind that mountain although why p. G. Are extremely well trained they know the terrain in turkey has superiority when it comes to the skies and that gives it a huge advantage. Belligerence here heard the airstrikes late on saturday as turkey started its offensive and they are a little uneasy. Over the move. Although we are right next to the action with planes flying over our heads and this is a lot of shelling of course we are confident but at the end of the day anything can happen shells have already fallen in turkey so we are worried this could happen here. Turkey says it will continue its operation until its pushed the y. P. G. Away from its borders no one knows how long that will take what the implications may be Stephanie Decker al jazeera on the turkey syria border. Afghanistans interior minister says four afghans and fourteen foreigners were killed in a siege on a luxury hotel in the capital kabul. The taliban said they were behind the sixteen hour attack on the heavily guarded Intercontinental Hotel they say they were targeting government workers Security Forces and foreigners. Germanys social democrats have voted to go into formal talks about forming a coalition with anglo americas conservatives delegates naturally approved a step at a conference in bonn some had argued they shouldnt prop up another merkel government shes been unable to form a Coalition Says the elections in september these five people have died in antigovernment demonstrations organized by Catholic Church leaders and democratic republic of congo around sixty nine have been arrested the protest is saved president Joseph Kabila is violating the constitution by staying in office beyond his term two people were killed during a similar protest in the capital on years of Jordans King Abdullah has appealed to the u. S. Vice president to rebuild trust and confidence after the trumpet ministrations decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital mike pence says the u. S. Still believes in a two state solution to the israel palestine conflict is now in israel as part of his middle east tour where hes expected to receive a mixed welcome hope francis is due to lead a final mass in the in just over an hour as his tour of south america comes to an end up to a Million People are expected to attend the service at an airbase in perus capital ahead of the mass of the poor local bishops and nuns but his visit has been overshadowed after the accused victims of a sex abuse scandal in chile of slandering a bishop they say tried to cover up the crimes of course you can keep up to date with all the stories were following on our website you can see our front page right there plenty of input from our correspondents all over the globe twenty four seven so those are the top stories stay with aljazeera next up in the first part of struggle over the nile which looks at history and modern day politics of the river. The nile the worlds longest river. A seven thousand kilometers a lifeline for almost four hundred Million People. Flowing north the nile runs through ten countries. From the highlands in the heart of africa to the shores of the mediterranean sea. A source of sustenance but also one of tension even potential conflict. For centuries egypt has sought to be must of the not. Seeking to tame the rivers some predictable flow until ensure exclusive control over its use. But today countries upstream much challenging this dominance and of pushing for a greater say and a greater share of the river nile. Cairo capital of egypt. A teeming metropolis. That is grown on the banks of the nile. Its the first day of spring when egyptians from the roots of life. Flock to the river. To celebrate the arrival of the new season. Ticket to the america field of view of good and mostly every egyptian wants live by the nile is the thought that if they cant then at least they can sit and picnic there then the soviet a its the place of their dreams and mahmud everybody from young lovers to troubled souls come here for Different Reasons either to enjoy themselves or to wash away their pain as you heard him on. The ancient greek writer who wrote it has described egypt as being the gift of the nile it was a fitting description. When major cities that run along are only there because of the nile and the novel that it would just be another part of the Sahara Desert you know it would just be dust and sand you couldnt live without the nile it is the life blood. Attached to this source of life ninety five percent of the egyptian population lives along its banks just five percent of egypts land the rest just desert. The nile maybe most commonly associated with egypt. But its waters begin their journey thousands of kilometers upstream. There are two main sources of the river. One is the great lakes of eastern africa. And the other is in the ethiopian highlands where the majority of the nile waters originate. This is the summer rainy season in ethiopia. The rainfall forms gushing rivers and tributaries. They collect here in like ton. Ethiopias largest lake and a main source of the nile. The six hundred year old monastery is situated on one of the lakes many islands. Decorated with biblical paintings it belongs to the ethiopian orthodox church. The custody of the monastery adult who believes the nile holds magical powers and is akin to god. And of men and buying of the nile is one of the four rivers mentioned in the holy bible that feeds heaven and i know that. The nile gives us as well as other countries like egypt all sorts of benefits mithun are you going to have and that. Water isnt the niles only get. The surging streams in ethiopia turn red with silt washed from the volcanic to turn. This silt rich in nutrients and minerals is born downstream. It was to prove a blessing for the first settlers in the nile valley thousands of years ago. Each year rainfall in ethiopia caused the nile downstream to flood its banks in what is today egypt. This unusual phenomenon known by the ancient egyptians as the inundation was celebrated as a divine event. It was de fide in the form of a god known as hobby. In manama most how happy if you look at the pictures of this character and graves on the walls of egypts temples you find that have is their strange character on the whole hes a man with large breasts but not a woman welcome most of the caribbean he also has a Petroleum Belly so these two characteristics symbolize fertility and generosity granted by the nile xeon local school. Was the key gift. When the nile flood receded the rich silt carried by the river remained behind fertilizing the soil creating arable land in stark contrast to the surrounding desert. Ancient egypt was the birthplace of agriculture. Techniques developed thousands of years ago. All are still in use to this day. Early thunder in the herd envelop dylan was with still used the old plough the one pulled by cutting for there are many cracked that here my uncle has a truck my neighbor has one everybody has attracted and that would what a one at any thought but i pray. The traditional method. The pharaohs have long since passed from the stage of history but some of their legacy and years. From time immemorial the river has been a subject of adoration. And yet news poll found a full mile old bountiful iowa old bountiful miles of the ancient egyptians exulted the river nile theres an old chant that goes people dont eat jewels they eat the bread made from the wheat that grew on the banks of the river nile and. But theres a darker side to this love of the nile. Such adoration can lead to possessiveness. For the egyptians the nile is unquestionably their river above and beyond the claims of any other nile basin country. By the early one thousand nine hundred six Great Britain ruled the length of the nile. Egypt was strategically crucial as the suez canal controlled access to india the jewel in the crown of the british empire. To coopt their allies in one thousand nine hundred twenty nine britain awarded the egyptians exclusive control of the nile to phuket does our issued in the one nine hundred twenty nine agreement stated that egypt had the right to veto any project on the nile that would affect its share of the waters or the flow of the river to the north towards egypt. This stipulation was based on the fact that egypt completely depends on the nile waters and while the upstream countries have other water sources before they have more to go. Thirty years later in one thousand nine hundred fifty nine a second agreement was signed. Freed from colonial over rule egypt and sudan agreed on dividing the rivers waters. During the one nine hundred sixty s. African nations upstream gained independence. Nowadays these countries are challenging agreements signed when they were under colonial rule. We had two countries sit down. And id need to say. That they want to share within that country. To this day egyptians regard the nine hundred twenty nine and nine hundred fifty nine agreements as technically binding. Egypt has its reasons for wanting to uphold the treaties. The chair of the nile water has remained at fifty five and a half billion cubic meters a stipulated in the one nine hundred fifty nine agreement. Since then egypts population has tripled over eighty million. Taking the country into water poverty. These agreements give us a minimum amount of water. Less than what we actually need. Any of the countries they dont need they get their water from. The annual amount of rainfall of the sources of the one point six trillion cubic meters egypt use less than five percent of this amount the rest thats ninety five percent is lost through evaporation and. But sometimes rainfall is not enough. Famine has ravaged states through which the nile flows. Here in ethiopia one of the river sources the failure of the annual rains has led to catastrophe in the past. Millions have died. Beyond such tragedy upstream states claim the past agreements violate their National Sovereignty and prevent them harnessing the river for their own development. I know that some people in egypt. Fashion i. D. s. Fashion i. D. s based on the assumption that the night of the longs to egypt and that egypt has a right to decide us for gets what of the night water and the countries that are unable to use the night water because it will be unstable and because they wont be for. This circumstances have changed and changed forever. The change came in may two thousand and ten at a meeting going into your ganda when the upstream countries took matters into their own hands. In an unprecedented move six of the eight nations signed a new agreement declaring greater autonomy in Decision Making over the niles waters aware of the agenda egypt and sudan had refused to attend. What was signed in entebbe set off alarm bells in cairo. Touching the very core of egyptian fear about its water source of law would must it is a red line for egypt existence. There is a difference between security and existence itself. We are wholly dependent on the nile we have no other water sources in eight so the truth is that any threat against the nile waters will result in the reduction of egypts share this would threaten us with thirst and death. And the specter of a water war looms over the region. For egypt securing the nile waters is a matter of National Security even if it means military action. A common feeling shared by most egyptians. Egypt would die what would we dream about it of course we would fight we would fight anyone who attempts to stop i would force a water. Throughout its history egypt has been at the mercy of the nile. Along the river columns such as this known as my limit as have been built to measure the height of the waters. Controlling the river was of paramount importance. With the well being of the state dependent on the level of the annual flood waters. The key was in finding a way to reserve these waters for use during the drives summit periods. The ancient egyptians first attempted this. But it was the founder of modern egypt Mohamed Ali Pasha who built the first ever down on the nile in the mid nineteenth century. To this day the old brick dam known as the delta still stands. In the land as long as i live in the now was on muhammad alis agenda it was extremely important because egypt was threatened by drought that if. You wanted more cotton and grain plantations as well since in those days egypt used to export these products to your. Muhammad ali himself laid the dams first stone in eight hundred forty seven. But this was only the beginning. As demand for water grew more irrigation projects were completed in the first half of the twentieth century. But it wasnt until the early one nine hundred fifty s. That egypt began to put in place plans to finally control the nile once and for all. In july nine hundred fifty two a group of Army Officers carried out a coup detat. Egypts king was dethroned then exiled a new regime to power. The main office a behind the coup was Jamal Abdul Nasser were going to gender to modernize and strengthen egypt. Adoptive plans for a massive new dam to be built in southern egypt to harness the full potential of the nile. Called the last one high dam it would be built on this stretch of river at a cost of some one billion u. S. Dollars egypt was going to need help in the beginning britain and the United States went together and told big bank thats it and they were supporting him. However that support came with strings attached. Egypt was expected to join the western camp. But nasa was his own man. In the cold war setting he was committed to a policy of nonaligned. Policy that displeased the americans. On july nineteenth nine hundred fifty six John Foster Dulles the american secretary of state withdrew the offer to finance the us one high dam. Nasa would not be intimidated one week later he hit back. With the. Masses decision to nationalize the company that owned the strategic suez canal was a bombshell. The revenues paid by ships passing through the canal could help egypt finance the us one hide them. It was a trump card but it rattled the powers in europe and led to the suez crisis of nine hundred fifty six. Last. Britain france and israel conducted a joint attack on egypt to win back control of the canal. British and french troops landed in port sight on the northern tip of the suez waterway. But this was as far as they went. The invading armies were forced to withdraw on the heavy International Pressure from the United Nations. Egypts relations with the west was shattered. Nasser now look for friends elsewhere. In one thousand nine hundred fifty eight egypt signed an agreement with the soviet union for the financing of the hide them. The russians in egypt to others or four hundred five hundred million finally this was not a question egypt paid back these loans from the suez canal revenue streams. With the soviet loans inaugurated the start of construction of the us one high down in general nine hundred sixty. The project was immense. It is said that enough rock was used in the construction of the dam to build seventeen great pyramids. Through the eleven years of construction egyptian saw the dam as a symbol of National Pride and defiance to the west. To shock the muslim operetta lot of the egyptian people proved that ingenuity and bracing behind them project we should but only if they glorify it in their songs in t. V. And radio shows movies plays and everyday activities thats how it became such an icon of the nation it was shot something everybody rally behind that would have set in. Massa the father of the project never lived to see the completion of the dam. Just four months before construction was finished he died of a heart attack. The Opening Ceremony in general one thousand nine hundred seventy one was attended by egypts new president anwar sadat. The dams save the flow with over thirty billion cubic meters of floodwater each year water that otherwise would be lost into the mediterranean sea. Behind the dam a huge manmade reservoir known as lake massah was created. The water held in this lake was egypts insurance policy against the rivers unpredictable flood. They also. Gave the egyptians a guarantee that the rain always the water there i mean during the drought in the night and said it is ninety eight is in sudan and i feel go. To gyptian so they could go on cultivating as before because i dont theres a lot behind the down as well. But perhaps most important it was that the us on down in the way and thats in the eyes that have been now in the eightys and. Elsewhere the river remained untamed. Upstream countries were still at the mercy of the nile and. Experiencing at times the the famine. Or devastating floods. But playing with nature was to prove costly for the river and for all those living off it. Asias largest catholic country is witnessing a dramatic rise in teenage pregnancy. When used