Free Republic

Despite what the politically correct cultists claim, all cultures are not equal and cultures that do not respect women do not deserve to be respected. But that is not what is happening. Europe seems to be adopting the approach of Islamic sharia law to rape and rape victims.PJ Media reported on April 21:A German judge has acquitted a Turkish man of rape, despite the fact that he forced a woman to have sex with him, and left her incapacitated. The judge argued that in “the mentality of the Turkish cultural circle,” what the woman “had experienced as rape” might be considered merely “wild sex.”...

Germany has not made the list given by the Turkish intelligence MİT to the Interior Ministry undersecretary Emily Haber public although two months have passed. The list includes over 100 names, among whom are Kurds and Turkish leftists living in Germany. Turkish Intelligence Service MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan gave a list to the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Chief Bruno Kahl in February and said they demand cooperation on the names included therein. The first list was members of the Gülen movement. Shortly after, the list was exposed and the pro-Gülen people in the list were warned by the German security units....

Wrath of Euphrates fighters have rescued 15 thousand civilians from ISIS gangs during the past three days. The Operation Wrath of Euphrates launched by YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for the liberation of Raqqa territory continues in the 4th day of the 4th phase. Thousands of civilians in settlements north of Raqqa rush to the areas cleared by SDF forces during the campaign. At least 15 thousand locals have been rescued from ISIS and transferred to safe areas over the past three days. Since the launch of the 4th phase of the campaign on May 10, SDF forces have rescued...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) among supporters. File photo US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said on Thursday that the United States will continue extensive dialogue with Turkey despite disagreements just after the decision became public that the US would arm the Syrian Kurds.The Turkish government has been very concerned about the ongoing cooperation between the US-led coalition and the Syrian Kurds, and the recent decision of the Trump administration to arm the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). “We had very open discussion with the Turks.  It’s a NATO ally, and NATO allies stick...

Foreign YPG volunteers seen in the vicinity of Jarablus. Photo: ARA News At least nine foreign volunteers, who had joined the ranks of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to combat ISIS in Rojava-Northern Syria, were arrested by the Asayish security force in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, media sources reported on Thursday.Foreign volunteers are increasingly becoming victim of the problems between the Kurdish parties.“Internationalists Callum Ross (Rizgar Çiya), Ozgan Ozdil (Dêrsim Agir), Anthonî Degatto (Rustem Fist), Justin Schnepp (Şervan Agir), Mirko Bruna (Mirko Cûdî) from Italy, Paola Andolina (Azadî Raperîn) from Italy, Damien Rodriguez (Şêrzad Azad) from the US, Fernando...

AMUDA, Syria — At long last, those of us struggling to maintain a fledgling democracy in Northern Syria have been buoyed by the announcement from the Trump administration that the American military will begin to directly arm the Kurdish men and women who make up the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Those forces have been America’s most valued and effective allies in the war against the Islamic State. This is something we’ve asked for repeatedly during the nearly three years our militias have been fighting the Islamic State and winning, victories achieved despite tough odds and a lack of...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (4:50 P.M.) – Following the loss of Tabqa and three villages in northern Raqqa, the Islamic State launched a localized counter-offensive against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) beginning on Wednesday evening.Targeting Kurdish-held territory in western Raqqa, convoys of ISIS vehicles attacked the villages of Ayed al-Kabeer, Ibad and Al-Mashirfa where SDF garrisons came under enormous pressure, forcing them to call upon US air support to repel the attack.With skirmishes persisting throughout the night and early hours of Thursday, ISIS had not been able to break through the Kurdish defensive line.Thus far, 26 ISIS militants have been...

Turkish President ErdoÄŸan and Southern Kurdistan intelligence official Masrour Barzani will be visiting the US on the same date. Turkish President Tayyip ErdoÄŸan is expected to visit the US on May 16, while KDP President Masoud BarzaniÂ’s son and Southern Kurdistan intelligence official Masrour Barzani has been reported to have a visit on the same date. Barzani is going to attend a program organized by a right-wing organization called the Heritage Foundation. Barzani will also be meeting with US officials to discuss the Mosul operation and the situation in Southern Kurdistan. ErdoÄŸanÂ’s US visit will be focused around seeking support...

Christians in Turkey have – throughout the centuries — been turned into a tiny, dwindling minority.  The remaining few Christian churches in Anatolia are also on the path to total annihilation. Hagia Sophia in Trabzon: Church-mosque-museum and now mosque againThe Hagia Sophia, Greek for “Holy Wisdom,” was one of the many historic Orthodox churches located in the city of Trabzon.  Watch this short video by the marine archaeologist Susan Langley to see the unique etchings on the walls of the former church: The third and youngest of the Hagia Sophia’s in Turkey, the church was first converted to a mosque during...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he hopes the United States will reverse its decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters who are perceived as terrorists by Ankara. Erdogan said the "fight against terrorism should not be lead with another terror organization" and that "we want to know that our allies will side with us and not with terror organizations." Erdogan's plea came the same day U.S.-backed Syrian Kurd forces said they've taken Syria's largest dam and a nearby town from ISIS. The U.S. announced Tuesday it would arm Syrian Kurdish fighters in a bid to recapture the ISIS...

Commanders of the SDF leading Operation Wrath of Euphrates in Syria's north. The Operation Wrath of Euphrates Command Room released a statement on Wednesday saying the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had relaunched the campaign to capture Raqqa from the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group after a 15 day suspension.The operation was suspended following airstrikes by Turkish fighter jets on SDF’s leading faction, Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions in northeast Syria in April.According to the statement, published on ANF news agency, the operation was reinitiated on Tuesday evening, coinciding with the US approval of heavy weapons and armoured vehicle provisions directly...

Late last month, a Turkish court released the last seven suspects who had been arrested on suspicion of being members of the Turkish branch of ISIS.  This means that all 96 suspects in the case who are now on trial as suspected terrorists were free to go about their business among the public.These seven allegedly include major figures in the ISIS structure.  Halis Bayancuk, the alleged Emir, or commander, of ISIS in Istanbul, for example, was one of the defendants.The major Turkish daily newspaper, Hurriyet, reported that two Syrian nationals – Muhammed Mustafa Halli and Assad Khelifa Khadr – also...

7 people of Russian, Chinese and Georgian origin who were jailed for “membership to ISIS” appeared in Kocaeli 2nd Heavy Penal Court yesterday. The ISIS members Amir Elihoğlu, Vahid Dziyaudinov, Umaar Yusufi, Ahmet Adnan, Aslanbek Bashaev, Omar Gasanov and Majrbek İmamurzaev and their lawyers attended the hearing. The AKP-MHP government detains some ISIS members in Turkey to pretend to be fighting ISIS and releases all the 'suspects' after a while. Several ISIS members in Turkey were taken into custody numerous times before, but they all were released later.

SDF commander Rojda Felat: The #Tabqa Dam has been fully captured by Syrian Democratic Forces. #Tabqa city is fully under #SDF control Twitter Link

Germany has approved a number of asylum requests lodged by high ranking Turkish military officers alleged by Turkey to have taken part in the failed coup attempt of 15 July 2017, reports the Turkish daily Evrensel.414 Turkish citizens holding diplomatic passports have applied for political asylum in Germany along with their families between July 2016 and May 2017. In addition to military officers, asylum seekers include judges, prosecutors and other high-level bureaucrats.A report published in the German daily Suddeutscher Zeitung states that most of the asylum requests by military officers have been approved after the result of the 16...

President Erdogan's posters adorn Diyarbakir's main roads alongside Turkish flags, 1 April 2017. By Ahmet Erdi Öztürk and Salih Dogan*Victory for the “yes” side in the country’s April 16 constitutional referendum granting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers has left commentators wondering whether his foreign policy still includes joining the European Union as a primary goal.EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will seek a meeting with Erdogan at the May 25 NATO summit in what could be the European Union’s last effort to find common ground with Turkey. But EU-Turkey tensions are high, and it would not be surprising...

Award winning photographer Mathias Depardon has been under detention in southeastern Turkey since Tuesday 9 May. A French photographer who had been living in Turkey for several years was detained in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday according to a report in French daily Le Monde.Mathias Depardon, an award winning independent photographer on assignment for National Geographic travelled to the historical town of Hasankeyf in Batman province on Monday and was detained along with his translator a day after his arrival.Turkish police confiscated Depardon’s equipment and after inspecting his social media accounts charged him with “propaganda for a terrorist organisation” based on four photographs he had shared...

Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia fighting within a larger U.S.-backed coalition as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast since 1984.There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, whose president, Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to meet Trump later this month.The Pentagon immediately sought to stress that it saw arming the Kurdish forces “as...

The US President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces as the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future. The US President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Pentagon said the move is significant because it supports the notion that the Syrian Democratic Force is the fighting force that will eventually go in to Raqqa under ISIS occupation since 2014. "The Syrian Democratic Forces, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the...

MUNZIR HUSSEINGIRKÊ LEGÊ- A notable from al-Rashed clan Hawas al-Muflih assured that Syrian Democratic Forces would not permit the Ottoman occupation’s repetition which lasted for 400 years to be repeated.Hawas al-Muflif, the notable of al-Rashed clan in Tel Koçer town explained that the Turkish ambitions in repeating the Ottoman age by its aggression would not be fulfilled, this came in an interview with Hawar news agency about the Turkish aggression on Rojava and the Syrian North.Muflih said” we as the Arabic component condemn the Turkish state’s attacks, these acts would not undermine our will and morale from liberating al-Tabqa and...