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13 June 2013The Turkish authorities, controlled by the Erdogan government, inflicted heavy fines on four television channels (Halk TV, Ulusal TV, Cem TV and EM TV) for live streaming police repression at Taksim Square.
According to the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the images showing riot police dispersing protestors "harm the physical, moral and mental development of children and (...)
12 June 2013Turkish PM Recep Erdogan clamped down on protesters because Turkey is a member of NATO and a US ally. If the police acted the same way in Belarus, British Foreign Secretary William Hague would have reported it to the UN—UK-based journalist, blogger and writer Neil Clark told RT.
“The double standards are glaring. If you’re in NATO you can actually get away with murder and Erdogan has been emboldened by that,” believes British journalist Neil Clark.
RT: We’ve been seeing some violent images (...)
11 June 2013The Turkish authorities have arrested 73 lawyers demonstrating against the handling of the protest in front of a courtroom in Istanbul.
This number is in addition to the 32 lawyers jailed for alleged links with "extremist" organizations (far leftist or Kurdish), and who are awaiting trial.
Beirut (Lebanon) | 10 June 2013For Thierry Meyssan, the Turkish people are not protesting against Recip Tayyeb Erdogan’s autocratic style, but against his policies; in other words, against the Muslim Brotherhood, of which he is the mentor. What started on Taksim Square is not a color revolution over a new building project, but an uprising that has spread across the entire country; in short, it is a revolution that calls the "Arab Spring" into question.
4 June 2013Recep Tayyip Erdogan is playing with fire as he belittles the popular protest spreading among a cross-section of secular Turkey and totally opposed to his highly personalized/autocratic mix of hardcore neoliberalism and conservative religion. The prime minister now deriding demonstrators as "looters" is the same man who said Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak "must listen to his people" and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go.
Part II
Boston and the CIA ‘Snafu’: The grey eminence behind Turkey’s Erdogan and the AKPby
F. William Engdahl
Frankfurt (Germany) | 25 May 2013In the first part, geopolitical analyst William Engdahl discussed the role of CIA’s Graham Fuller in creating the policy of using angry Jihadist Muslims as trained terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere against the Soviet Union. Herein—largely drawing on the revelations made by FBI whistle-blower Sibel Edwards—Engdahl throws the spotlight on the entire CIA-sponsored Islamic Jihadist operations run through Fetullah Gülen across Turkey into Central Asia and Russia and China.
16 January 2013A heated controversy is unfolding in Turkey and in the Arab press about the exact functions of the Turkish chief of police, Veysel Dalmaz.
A member of the ruling party, this senior official served as Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, then as chief of police in various regions. On September 21, 2012 he was appointed "Wali of the Syrians." Interestingly, at the time of the Ottoman empire the expression was used to designate the governor of Syria appointed by the Sultan. (...)
21 November 2012German-born international consultant Cristof Lehmann followed in detail the recent Chinese Communist Party Congress. In an interview with the Tehran Times, he highlights the convergence of positions on the Syrian crisis between Moscow and Beijing. He expects China to unequivocally support the deployment in early 2013 of a United Nations peacekeeping force mainly composed of CSTO troops.
21 November 2012NATO radar system in Turkey
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should suspend the activities of NATO’s radar base in eastern Turkey if he is really sincere in his harsh language toward Israel, the main opposition leader has said, arguing that the facility protects Israel.
“If Erdoğan wants to do something in favor of Gaza, he can do it very simply. If he was actually against Israel, then he would suspend the activities of the Kürecik radar base,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal (...)
"Before our very eyes"
NATO packs it in; Turkey on the verge of a nervous breakdown by
Thierry Meyssan
Damascus (Syria) | 16 October 2012On October 8, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CTSO) began maneuvers dubbed "Inviolable Fraternity" ("НЕРУШИМОЕ БРАТСТВО"). The scenario focuses on the deployment of a peace force in an imaginary country where international jihadists and terrorist organizations operate against a backdrop of ethnic and confessional divisions. The accredited diplomatic corps, which was invited to attend the exercises, listened attentively to the opening address of the deputy secretary general of the organization. (...)
12 October 2012Despite the miscarriage of NATO’s secret military operation against Syria, withdrawal by the West stumbles on two issues. Can Washington and its allies refrain from grabbing the Syrian gas reserves? And can they leave Syria in the position of being the only state in the region which escapes the control of the Muslim Brotherhood?
9 October 2012For several months, impressive demonstrations against the war with Syria have taken place in Turkey, but only in the Arabic or Kurdish regions. On Thursday, 4 October 2012, for the first time, a massive demonstration streamed through Istanbul shouting "This war is not ours!"
The choice of the Erdogan government to join NATO’s operations against Libya, and to support the covert war against Syria has brutally Turkey’s stunted its economic growth.
Quite apart from the economic difficulties (...)
Beirut (Lebanon) | 8 October 2012By Ghaleb Kandil
Erdogan fails to implicate NATO
The developments on the Turkish-Syrian border were the main object of interest of the concerned international and regional circles. And while Erdogan’s government firstly threatened with war, it recanted these threats later on and alleviated its tone, while continuously confirming it did not want war with Syria.
Firstly, the Turkish escalation – that was extremely confused in determining the source of the shell which was said to have exploded (...)
New York (United States) | 28 September 2012Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
At the outset, I wish to congratulate my dear friend His Excellency Vuk Jeremic for his election as the President of the 67th General Assembly.
I believe with his able leadership he will contribute greatly to work of the General Assembly.
Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates,
I want to be frank and speak the language of the peoples we all represent.
Every year, we all gather here at the United Nations, (...)
Ottawa (Canada) | 15 August 2012Through its much-touted ‘zero problems with neighbors’ doctrine, the Turkish government had set out with a realistic chance of being everyone’s friend. It has now made itself everyone’s enemy, including its own, by embracing policies that have put it on a collision course with disaster. By being duped into burning its bridges with Syria - Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya explains - Ankara has laid the foundations for the destabilization of the Turkish republic at the hands of the very same powers with which she is currently colluding.
31 July 2012Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come out all guns blazing after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad quietly concluded a deal that handed the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party control of key areas in the northeast. This raises prospects for Ankara’s worst nightmare: A semi-autonomous region coalescing with Kurds in Iraq, which turns the Turkish maxim of "zero problems with our neighbors" on its head.
Turkey has yet to understand the new deal struck between U.S. and Russia
Why Turkey won’t go to war with Syriaby
Pepe Escobar
Sâo Paulo (Brazil) | 8 July 2012The tension and likelihood of a world war because of the conflict in Syria is currently on the cards because certain countries are behaving like arsonists, especially Turkey, in continuing to offer a logistical base for mercenaries from "liberated" Libya. Saudi Arabia’s ruling House of Saud will keep providing the money to buy them weapons. As for Washington, London and Paris, they will continue to calibrate their tactics in the protracted anticipation of a NATO attack against Damascus.
3 July 2012The Pentagon told the Wall Street Journal that the Turkish plane shot down by Syria, on 22 June 2012, was brought down by an anti-aircraft battery and not a surface-to-air missile.
The U.S. Department of Defense has thereby contradicted the Turkish version of the incident while corroborating the account provided by the Syrian government.
The Pentagon explained to the newspaper that the limited range of an anti-aircraft battery suggests that the aircraft had indeed been shot down in Syrian (...)
26 June 2012Although NATO is not considering military action over the shooting down of a Turkish fighter jet in Syria, what happened is unacceptable and deserves condemnation, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a NATO emergency meeting on Syria. His statement indicates NATO’s reluctance to use military force against Damascus.
On June 22, Syrian troops shot down a Turkish jet fighter. Syria insists that the plane violated its airspace and was destroyed over its territorial waters (...)
Beirut (Lebanon) | 26 June 2012News Analysis
Syria’s rocket message to the delusional
The Syrian command placed the government of Ottoman illusion before the hour of truth, after the Syrian air force deterred the Turkish combat jet which violated Syria’s airspace. Hence, the downing of the Turkish aircraft constituted a strong message to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has always been known for his threats to justify direct intervention in Syria. Firstly, the confusion was clear at the level of the Turkish (...)
Frankfurt (Germany) | 23 April 2012The prospect of an unparalleled Eurasian economic boom has been further solidified following recent talks between Turkish and Chinese leaders. The first steps are being constructed with a number of little-publicized rail links envisioned to connect China and parts of Western Europe. It is increasingly clear to all nations concerned, especially China and Russia, that their natural tendency to develop these markets faces only one major hurdle: NATO and the US Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance obsession. According to Engdahl, rail infrastructure is a major geopolitical tool for obviating that obstacle.
Beirut (Lebanon) | 17 April 2012Editorial
The Ottoman illusion and the last cards of the attack on Syria
During this past week, talk emerged regarding Turkey’s possible engagement in a military attack on Syria. By looking into the balances and equations, this could be considered a possible option, although it is unlikely based on logical calculations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked his political fate to Turkey’s future role in the Syrian crisis, while fearing the end of the crisis with Syria’s (...)
THE NEW MEDITERRANEAN OIL AND GAS BONANZA - PART 2
Rising energy tensions in the Aegean Seaby
F. William Engdahl
Frankfurt (Germany) | 6 March 2012After the Eastern Mediterranean, this author focuses on the gas and oil windfall in the Aegean sea, which promises to fiercely shake up the geopolitical landscape. In the case of Greece, while new-found reserves could potentially blot out her entire debt, and possibly have even averted it, the foreign patrons of this de-sovereignized state have very different plans. Hillary Clinton, for one, was quick to turn up in Athens to dictate her terms on behalf of U.S. (and Bill’s) energy interests in the region, not least that of antagonizing Russia.
29 February 2012France’s Constitutional Council has thrown out the Armenian genocide denial bill as unconstitutional. The bill was rejected on the grounds that it violates the freedom of expression, the Council said in a statement.
On January 23, the French lawmakers approved the bill which says that the public denial of any genocide, including Holocaust and the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, as a crime carrying a one-year prison term or a 45,000-euro fine.
Turkey welcomed the council’s decision (...)
2 December 2011Turkish main opposition party leader on Thursday criticized the government’s policy on Syria for being problematic.
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said in Istanbul in the wake of a series of sanctions Turkey pledged to impose on the Syrian administration: "This is not correct. This does not befit Turkey."
The opposition leader challenged: "We should look at who supports Turkey’s Syrian policy. Why are we intervening in another country’s domestic issues while we have (...)
19 October 2011A report has revealed that all the fighter jets purchased by Turkey from the US have been rendered impotent against Israel.
In a recent article published in the Turkish newspapers, Milligazete, Turkey’s former ambassador to the US and Japan Sukru M. Elekdag pointed to a system called IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) that is loaded on planes sold by the US.
The system can identify friend and enemy targets including planes and warships from long distances. It is also capable of firing (...)
11 October 2011As he warned that Israel “is a nuclear threat” in the Middle East, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that despite the UN failure to adopt anti-Syria resolution, Turkey would impose its own sanctions.
During a trip to South Africa, Erdogan said Israel was a threat to regional stability because of its nuclear arsenal. He also said that the Zionist entity "practices state terrorism."
Israel refuses to confirm whether it has a nuclear weapon, but it is widely (...)
Beirut (Lebanon) | 10 October 2011Bashar el-Assad host the delegation of the Council of the Russian Federation (Damascus, 18 September 2011). © SANA Editorial
Erdogan’s adventure and the calculation of the cost
Following the failure which affected the Western alliance at the Security Council due to the Chinese-Russian veto, the American administration publicly assigned the mission of pressuring Syria to Erdogan’s government. Numerous questions are surrounding the Turkish authorities’ hostile steps against Syria during the (...)
New York (United States), Miami (United States) | 22 September 2011Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey, addresses the general debate of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. © UN Photo/Marco Castro
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
I warmly and respectfully greet you all and hope that the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly will yield fruitful results.
I would like to congratulate H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his assumption of the Presidency and also wish to extend my sincere (...)
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