Caitlin Johnstone
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Turkey’s President Erdoğan has officially withdrawn Ankara’s objection to the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO membership, with the three countries signing a trilateral memorandum at a NATO summit in Madrid.
Joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and Prime Minister of Sweden, Magdalena Andersson (R), June 13, 2022Germans say the moment of truth for most children comes at the end of Grade 4 when primary education ends in Grundschule. By that reckoning, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) at 73 is in “second childishness and mere oblivion / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” — to borrow from Jaques’ famous soliloquy in Shakespeare’s As you Like It.
16 January 2021 — Indian Punchline
M.K. Bhadrakumar
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (C) and Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan (L), Moscow, Jan. 11, 2021
The trilateral meeting of the leaderships of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Kremlin on January 11, exactly two months after the ceasefire in the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, can be seen as a robust push by Moscow to consolidate its diplomatic achievement so far. The ceasefire has gained traction and this is the opportune moment for Russia to flesh out other aspects that were agreed upon between the three countries on November 10 in Moscow.
3 November 2020 — Indian Punchline
M.K. Bhadrakumar
Armenian shelling on Ganja, Azerbaijan, near Iran’s border
Iran has unveiled a regional initiative to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Tehran in the weekend after a regional tour to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey to discuss the peace plan. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has since explained Tehran’s thinking. Continue reading
5 March 2020 — The Grayzone
29 January 2020 — Indian Punchline
A street in Maarat al-Numan town in Idlib captured by Syrian forces after heavy fighting with al-Qaeda affiliates
The capture of the town of Maarat al-Numan in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib bordering Turkey on Wednesday by the government forces must be counted as the first ‘new facts on the ground’ since the murder of Qassem Soleimani twenty-five days ago. The salience is that the military operation against the al-Qaeda affiliates went ahead and actually met with stunning success.
30 August 2019 — Moon of Alabama
Since 2011 the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used Syrian ‘rebels’ and Islamist Jihadis as proxy forces against the Syrian government. These forces are now mostly confined to Idlib governorate next to the Turkish border. The Syrian army recently made progress against the Jihadis. Turkey did not come to their help. That their resistance is futile began to dawn on them. Syria will recover the whole governorate and those who resist will be eliminated. The ‘rebels’ fear that their punishment is coming and they now want to flee to Turkey. Unfortunately Turkey does not want them.
19 August 2019 — Moon of Alabama
This is an update to last weeks post Syria – Frontline Breach Opens Door To A Deep Battle For Idlib.
Today the Syrian army gained fire control over the M5 highway north of Khan Shaykhun.
Continue reading
16 January 2019 — Asia Times
The frigate Admiral Essen from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet returns to the permanent naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea. It was part of Russia’s Mediterranean taskforce from August 2018, spending about 300 days at sea. Photo: AFP/ Alexey Malgavko / Sputnik
28 December 2018 — Strategic Culture Foundation
It is not only many members of the US establishment who have labeled President Trump’s order to withdraw America’s forces (2,200 troops) from Syria as a betrayal, but also the allies of the United States. They claim that Trump is throwing the Syrian Kurds under the bus and leaving Israel in a state of “strategic isolation.” Also coming in for criticism is the statement by the US administration (the first of its kind) announcing that it has no plans to remove Bashar al-Assad from power.
25 December 2018 — NEO
The US suddenly and unexpectedly announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria after years of illegally occupying the country. The US presence aimed at ousting the Syrian government, boosting militant groups the US and its partners have armed and backed since the 2011 conflict started, and denying Damascus access to its own resources, particularly oil concentrated east of the Euphrates River.
21 December 2018 — South Front
While the White House has still provided no comprehensive details on the real form of the so-called US troops withdrawal from Syria, the move has already had impact on the development of the conflict.
17 November 2018 — Strategic Culture Foundation
Team Trump missed the summit on Syria. In that, Patrick Lawrence sees another sign of Washington’s failure to accept its loss of diplomatic primacy.
25 October 2018 — The New Dark Age
Members of Asian political parties’ conference condemn Khashoggi’s murder
http://tass.com/world/1027918
The Price Of Bin Salman’s Head
http://thesaker.is/the-price-of-bin-salmans-head/
19 September 2018 — Strategic Culture Foundation
On the 17th of September, an important meeting was held in Sochi between Erdogan and Putin to discuss Syria, in particular Idlib. A few hours after the agreement between the two leaders was reached, there was a French-Israeli strike on Syria’s coastal area of Latakia, causing the loss of a Russian Air Force Il-20 aircraft and bringing the world to the brink of a thermonuclear war.
30 September 2017 — Global Research
A profound shift in geopolitical alliances is occurring which tends to undermine US hegemony in the broader Middle East Central Asian region as well as in South Asia.
Several of America’s staunchest allies have “changed sides”. Both NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are in crisis.
Turkey and NATO
NATO is characterized by profound divisions, largely resulting from Ankara’s confrontation with Washington.
10 March 2017 — Strategic Culture Foundation
Winners and losers are emerging in what may be the final phase of the Syrian civil war as anti-Isis forces prepare for an attack aimed at capturing Raqqa, the de facto Isis capital in Syria. Kurdish-led Syrian fighters say they have seized part of the road south of Raqqa, cutting Isis off from other its territory further east.
10 March 2017 — Moon of Alabama
During the last week significant moves in Syria have taken place east of Aleppo. But the situation there will likely soon calm down. The next intense phase of the war may well be a Syrian army attack on al-Qaeda’s position in Idlib governate in the north-west of the country.
20 August 2016 — TRNN
Aegean University Professor Stratos Georgoulas: Refugees in Greece are often forced to choose between imprisonment in camps or deportation to Turkey Continue reading
18 August 2016 — WSWS
Russian bombers used an air base in the northwest of Iran for a second day Wednesday to attack targets inside Syria described by Moscow as arms depots and command centers used to support jihadist militias fighting Syrian government forces for control of the city of Aleppo.
The air strikes, carried out by Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and SU-34 tactical bombers, mark the first time that Russia has used a base inside a third country to prosecute the bombing campaign that it began last September against Al Qaeda-linked militias and in support of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.
The New Dark Age 