by Kakaouskia Some worrying events happened in the Aegean the past couple of days. Turkey has issued a unilateral NOTAM reserving large swathe of the Aegean, including large part of the Hellenic FIR for military exercises with live fire from 01/03/2015 to 31/12/2015. This effectively cut the Aegean in half, but most importantly it included part of Limnos, a Greek island in north Aegean. So in effect, Turkey has
The new Ottomans and the new Byzantines are poised for an intercept as the US stumbles in the current Great Game, reports Eric WalbergThe neocon plan to transform the Middle East and Central Asia into a pliant client of the US empire and its only-democracy-in-the-Middle-East is now facing a very different playing field. Not only are the wars against the Palestinians, Afghans and Iraqis floundering, but they have set in
Turkey summons U.S. diplomat to protest interference in UN investigation A coup in Turkey before an attack on Iran? Suspicion growing about possible link between PKK and Israel Turkish Military Council debates promotions of coup suspects I don’t know enough about Turkey to have an opinion. Just passing these items FYI. The Saker
Ha’aretz reports: On the fringes of the Washington meetings of Turkish official delegations, there is usually a special place for outreach with the American Jewish community. But several Jewish groups intend to skip the meeting Wednesday evening with members of the Turkish ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party). The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), B’nai Brith International and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have decided to decline the invitation to
RIA Novosti reports: Russia is ready to participate in a tender to offer Turkey S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, the state-controlled arms exporter said on Wednesday. “The Turkish military has a great need for S-300 and S-400 long-range missile defense systems,” Rosoboronexport CEO Anatoly Isaikin said. “Russia has expressed its readiness to participate in a tender for the delivery of such systems.” He said leading SAM manufacturers from Western
From Palestine Think Tank: Translated and transcribed from Turkish by Güzin Bilgi for www.palestinethinktank.com and Gulagnik Translators (www.gulaknick.wordpress.com) English editing by Mary Rizzo. It may be reprinted with full credits to the translators and source.——– Today I do not only want to speak to my dear people but to all of humanity. I want to call to the conscience and hearts and minds of the whole of humanity, I would
The spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Selim Yenel, has just given an interview to al-Jazeera. In the course of the interview, he has detailed the official Turkish demands on Israel. Turkey demands the following: a) an international investigation into the eventsb) the punishment of those responsible for the operationc) an official apology from Israel This is interesting, as all three demands are unacceptable to Israel.
In Russia, Turkey and the Great Game: Changing teams the new line-up of the players in the Great Game was set out. Here, Eric Walberg considers the implications for the Middle East. A vital playing field in today’s Great Game is Palestine/Israel, where again there is a tentative meeting of political minds between Russia and Turkey. In defiance of the US and much of Europe, both endorsed the Goldstone report
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s visit to Turkish last month shows that Turkey and Russia are rapidly developing close economic and political ties, notes Eric Walberg For all intents and purposes, Turkey has given up on the European Union, recognising it as a bastion of Islamophobia and captive to US diktat. As Switzerland bans minarets and France moves to outlaw the niqab, the popular Islamist government in Istanbul moves in the
It has been three years now since I interviewed Mizgin, a pro-PKK Kurdish blogger who very kindly introduced me to the topic of the struggle of the Kurds for self-determination and my interview with her was mostly about the ‘inner’ aspects of the Kurdish struggle. Today, I am publishing another interview with a Kurd – Zerkes – but this time the interview deals mostly with the “regional picture”. The regions
You all heard the story: the Israelis got pissed-off at Turkey for showing a TV show which they don’t like, they decided to humiliate the Turkish envoy to Israel with some totally immature antics (sitting him on a lower chair, only putting a little Israeli flag on the table and by, quote, “not smiling” – at least on camera). This time, the customary arrogance of the “Jewish state” ended up
by Gilad Atzmon The Israeli government doesn’t think twice before it orders a genocidal attack against civilians. Israeli military leaders do not think twice before they drop bombs on one of the most densely populated places on the planet. They also do not hesitate whether to use artillery shells against a UN refugee shelter. The Israeli people do not think twice before they approve en masse their army’s inhuman tactics.
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT IN PDF FORMAT HERECOMPLETE VIDEO OF THE DEPOSITION HERE (AND/OR HERE) Commentary by Brad Friendman from the Brad Blog: Just over two weeks ago, FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was finally allowed to speak about much of what the Bush Administration spent years trying to keep her from discussing publicly on the record. Twice gagged by the Bush Dept. of Justice’s invocation of the so-called “State Secrets Privilege,” Edmonds
Sibel Edmonds on Marc Grossman by Gary Leupp for Dissident Voice I am not one to easily embrace conspiracy theories, and in particular have found the idea that 9-11 was somehow an inside job too incredible for serious consideration. On the other hand, there are some very fishy aspects to some officials’ behavior pertaining to the attacks. Justin Raimondo has made a very good case for the fact that Mossad
(The following was sent to me by a reader to whom I am most grateful. VS)——- The assassination of the leftist investigative journalist and columnist Ugur Mumcu in 1993 was seen by Turkey’s secular establishment, media and armed forces as an opportunity to galvanize anti-Islamic feelings in general and anti-Iranian feelings in particular. The assassination was blamed on Iran, who allegedly used the (Turkish) Hizbullah as a pawn. In reality,
(The following was sent to me by a reader to whom I am most grateful. VS) source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=94893 “Turkey, US to discuss anti-PKK work, defense ties” by Umit Enginsoy, Turkish Daily News, 29 January 2008 [emphasis added] A top Turkish general will meet with his U.S. counterparts in Washington this week to review the military cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and to discuss bilateral defense matters. Gen.
There is the facade: organization like NATO, or the British Commonwealth, or the Arab League. And then there are the real alliances, the ones that matter when things get tough, when important decisions need to be made. Some of them are centered around a common project, such as the ECHELON countries, while others have almost no visible existence. As usual, these are less conspiracies than collusions. These alliances are informal,
The following was sent to me by a correspondent to whom I am very grateful for this interesting item. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the translation. VS ANKA News Agency, 21 January 2008 Former Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak will visit Turkey in February at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gönül. Diplomatic sources said that the purpose of Barak’s visit to Turkey is
