11 June 2021 — Airstrikes
Category: Turkey
A “win-win” for US, Turkey in Hindu Kush
11 April 2021 — Indian Punchline
Turkey is a pillar of NATO mission to Afghanistan (File photo)
The zeal with which Washington is soliciting Turkey’s services to plot the pathway leading to the mainstreaming of Taliban in Afghanistan raises some troubling questions. Acting on Washington’s request, Turkey will be hosting high-level talks on the Afghanistan peace process (likely April 16) to bring together the Afghan government and the Taliban. Turkey has appointed a special envoy to assume the mediation role.
Russia Achieves Ceasefire In Nagorno-Karabakh
10 November 2020 — Moon of Alabama
The war over Nagorno-Karabakh has ended for now. The Armenian Autonomous Oblast within Azerbaijan will continue to exi[st] with Russian peacekeepers currently deploying to control its borders. Most of the Armenian occupied territories will be handed back to Azerbaijan. A Russian controlled land corridor will connect Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh: Erdogan Trying to Save Himself at the Expense of Others?
30 October 2020 — New Eastern Outlook
It is still difficult to find out what is actually going on in the NK conflict zone. News outlets are highly selective in their reporting, which is based more often than not on carefully controlled information drips from Azerbaijan and Armenia. The reports being shared back and forth on various sites are little more than versions of whose ox is getting gored the most. Continue reading
The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 2
3 October 2020 — Indian Punchline
The desperate Battle of Shipka Pass in Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 between Ottoman Empire & Eastern Orthodox coalition led by Russian Empire, fought in the Balkans and the Caucasus which the Turks lost to be pushed back all the way to the gates of Constantinople.
Part-1 of the three-part essay is here.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin on October 2 that the European Union seeks a “constructive dialogue and a positive agenda” with Turkey. She had just returned to the German capital after a 2-day summit meeting of the EU countries in Brussels. Germany played a key role at the summit in steering EU-Turkey relationship away from a confrontationist path to which it was drifting lately. (See my blog EU marks distance from Indo-Pacific strategy.) Continue reading
The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 1
1 October 2020 — Indian Punchline
By M.K. Bhadrakumar
Transcaucasian Trail: Ancient lands & new frontiers in great game
Three days into the renewed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the Transcaucasian region — also known as South Caucasus — it is becoming clear that the binary narrative dished out by western commentators of this being a Turkish-Russian clash of wills and strategies is either simply naive or purposively deceptive. The point is, Russia and Turkey — and Iran in a somewhat supportive role — are already proactively talking of negotiations involving the warring sides.
Turkey’s unprecedented ascent to drone superpower status
15 June 2020 — Drone Wars
- In this special Long Read, guest writer Samuel Brownsword lays out the rise of Turkey as a drone superpower, as well as its increasing use of armed drones, both within and without its borders.
President Erdogan poses with Bayraktar drone
Libya: The Battle of Sirte
12 June 2020 — South Front
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and Syrian militant groups with a direct support from Turkey are preparing for a new attempt to capture the port city of Sirte from the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Turkey hangs tough on Libya
11 June 2020 — Indian Punchline
By M.K. Bhadrakumar
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C), flanked by Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar (R) and the Libyan Parliament speaker Aguila Saleh (L) announced a road map to end the fighting in Libya, Cairo, June 6, 2020
The series of debilitating military setbacks that Libya’s renegade general Khalifa Haftar suffered in the recent weeks have spurred diplomatic activities over the conflict in the country. But the war is far from over.
Libyan War Escalates as Regional Powers Attempt to Gain Stronger Influence
1 June, 2020 — Global Research
Alarms are sounding in Europe as Turkey, Russia and Arab states could potentially agree on shared influence in Libya, and therefore the entirety of the eastern Mediterranean, according to some experts. This comes as European states have no influence over the war in Libya despite it occurring on its southern doorstep and Turkey, Russia and Arab states continue to gain influence.
Russia and Syria tired of being deceived
26 March 2020 — Inforos
The Russian ultimatum to detachments of all the Idlib de-escalation zone militants expires by the end of March
Yuri Veselov, military observer
Turkey is unable to fulfill all the agreements with Russia. Following the March 5 Moscow talks, Recep Erdogan vowed to establish joint patrol of the M4 highway between Aleppo and Latakia starting March 15 in exchange for Syrian government army’s terminated offensive in the Idlib province. But he never got round to get this agreement done. The Turkish leader has pledged to ensure that all the detachments and weapons along the highway are withdrawn by mid-March for a distance of six kilometers on both sides. The militants do not shy away from their unwillingness to leave the positions.
US-Israel Predictably Behind Turkish Aggression in Syria
11 March 2020 — Land Destroyer
(Tony Cartalucci – NEO) – Turkey’s ongoing fighting in northern Syria’s Idlib governorate was – from the beginning of recent escalations – clearly a continuation of Washington’s wider now 9 year-long proxy war against Damascus.
Whatever gains Turkey had made in terms of reducing its role in Washington’s proxy war and repairing ties with Syria’s allies Russia and Iran – were clearly less important to Ankara amid these recent weeks of renewed aggression than whatever Washington has either promised Anakara or threatened it with.