Free Republic

Stuck in a recession and with no sign of a reprieve in the oil price, Russia could quickly descend into chaos if the money runs out, William Browder, a well-known critic of the Kremlin and chief executive of Hermitage Capital, told CNBC. "I don't think you can underestimate how bad the situation in Russia is right now, you've got oil below any measure where the budget can survive and you've got sanctions from the West. Russia is in what I'd call a real serious economic crisis," he said on Thursday. Speaking to CNBC in Davos where global business and political...

Turkey alarmed by 'Russian build-up' on Syria border AFP By Dilay Gundogan and Burak Akinci in Ankara 42 minutes ago Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday expressed alarm over reports of a build-up of Russian troops in northern Syria near the Turkish border, saying such movements would not be tolerated. "We have said this from the beginning: we won't tolerate such formations (in northern Syria) along the area stretching from the Iraqi border up to the Mediterranean," Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul. Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had said that...

Russia appears to be making preparations to establish a new airbase in Syria, this time along the border with NATO-member Turkey, a senior U.S. official tells Fox News. The move is bound to anger the Turkish government months after the downing of a Russian jet by the Turks. A handful of Russian military personnel, including engineers, has been seen in the vicinity of a largely abandoned airfield in Qamishli, a city in northeast Syria along the border with Turkey. The area is largely controlled by Syrian Kurds, with pockets of regime-controlled territory including the airport.Russia and Syria’s Kurds have a...

Syrian peace talks in jeopardy as Turkey’s Davutoglu vetoes Kurds Hannah Lucinda Smith, Tom Coghlan The Times January 21, 2016 12:00AM Talks aimed at ending the Syrian war appeared doomed yesterday, as Turkey vetoed any Kurdish presence in the rebel negotiating team and Russian-backed regime forces pressed on with their ­offensive on several fronts. A diplomatic push to bring peace to Syria begins in Geneva on Monday, thanks to a rare ­display of unity from the UN Secur­ity Council, which produced a “road map” to peace in November. However, UN spokesmen warned of potential “slippage” in the start of talks...

Turkey objects to Syrian Kurds attending Geneva peace talks Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has expressed opposition to the participation of Syrian Kurdish group the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in peace talks for Syria. On Wednesday British media referenced Davutoğlu, who paid a visit to the UK on Jan. 18 and 19, as saying that the PYD represented a “direct threat to Turkey” and cannot attend the peace talks in Syria, originally planned to be held on Jan. 25. Arbil-based BasNews reported on Monday that officials from the Syrian government and the PYD met in Kamışlı province in northern Iraq. According...

Shortly before Syria peace talks begin, Turkey infiltrates Syria By MAAYAN GROISMAN \ 01/20/2016 17:26 Eyewitnesses to the incursion reported that the Turkish forces have not encountered any resistance from ISIS fighters, which raises the question of possible collaboration between ISIS and Turkey. In what appears to be a well-planned strategic move committed in light of the upcoming Syria peace talks, a large number of Turkish forces crossed the border and entered the Syrian town of Jarablus on Tuesday, according to Turkish media reports. Eyewitnesses to the incursion reported that the Turkish forces have not encountered any resistance from ISIS...

Hawar News Agency (ANHA) has reported that Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory through Jarablus border crossing Tuesday evening. Hawar News Agency (ANHA) has reported that Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory through Jarablus border crossing Tuesday evening. According to the ANHA report which is grounded on local sources, the Turkish force of military vehicles and heavy equipment accompanied a mine detection and removal device. After crossing the border, Turkish soldiers moved westwards within the Syrian territory. Sources reported that ISIS gangs in the area were all unresponsive to the activity of Turkish soldiers, and just watched them as they...

The White House has appointed pro-Muslim Brotherhood Robert Malley as a new special assistant to President Barack Obama. As if this is not bad enough, Malley is in charge to cover the whole kitten caboodle: The Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region. This appointment happens to be at the same time that Erdogan of Turkey and Qatar had a millstone breakthrough in reviving the Muslim Brotherhood by gaining special provisions for the Islamist organization in Saudi Arabia and the Arab gulf. Malley, who now works as Senior Director of National Security Council of the White House (NSC) on...

Saudi Arabia is not ruling out developing a nuclear bomb if its regional rival Iran obtains one, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday. Asked if Saudi Arabia had discussed seeking a nuclear bomb in the event Iran managed to obtain one, al-Jubeir replied the country would do "whatever we need to do in order to protect our people". "I don't think it would be logical to expect us to discuss any such issue in public and I don't think it would be reasonable to expect me to answer this question one way or another,"...

The Obama administration confirmed late Sunday it had delayed the imposition of new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran to ensure the Islamic Republic released five imprisoned Americans under a secret agreement reached on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations, according to senior administration officials. The officials confirmed that "secret" talks between U.S. and Iranian officials had been taking place for the past 14 months. In exchange for the release of the five Americans--including a Washington Post reporter and Christian pastor--the Obama administration pardoned or dropped charges on 21 Iranians convicted of violating U.S. sanctions, including seven who had been detained...

He registered as a refugee, made his way to Istanbul, and blew up eleven people for the Islamic State. Solution: bring in hundreds of thousands more refugees. What could possibly go wrong? “Face of a killer: Turkish police release first mugshot of the Istanbul ISIS bomber who registered as a refugee one week before he blew himself up, killing 11,” by Simon Tomlinson, Sara Malm and Imogen Calderwood, Mailonline, January 13, 2016:

<p>Turkish police were Monday hunting a man who sprayed a teahouse in the northwest of the country with bullets after he took umbrage for being charged "double" for a glass of traditional tea.</p> <p>A fight erupted between the man and the owner of the teahouse in Kocaeli province near Istanbul when he was asked to pay two Turkish liras (about 65 US cents) for a glass of tea -- usually sold for half that price at teahouses across the country.</p>

Muhammad Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish Islamist, writer and preacher with a secret plan for bringing Shariah law to America. Arguably Turkey's most influential spiritual leader of the past 50 years, Gulen left that country in the late 1990s and now directs his cult-like Islamic movement from a guarded compound in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Part of his empire consists of a thriving network of more than 140 charter schools in 26 states that sell themselves to parents as a secular and more academically rigorous alternative to public schools. As the second largest chain of charter schools in the...

Since the major escalation in Arab terrorist attacks in Israel began at the start of October last year, Israelis have consistently complained about the use of social media to incite terrorism and glorify "martyrdom," and the lack of enforcement by social media companies. [...] Perhaps the worst offender in this regard is Facebook, which now faces legal action over its slow, minimal reaction to the reams of anti-Semitic incitement uploaded daily. Now, the Israeli rights NGO which is leading the legal campaign against Facebook incitement is taking the fight directly to the digital giant's CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg. Shurat...

As the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad wages an offensive with Russia's backing on rebels across the country, behind the front lines it has been consolidating its hold in Syria's west. This is the part of the country sometimes called "useful Syria," home to most of its population and economic centers. The consolidation of regime control here may be a harbinger of a future, divided country — or it may create a base from which the regime can launch attacks on the rest of Syria. The regime has systematically encircled, blockaded and bombed the remaining pockets of rebel control in...

"The rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran has quickly ballooned into the worst conflict in decades between the two countries" says one news source adding "The back-and-forth escalation quickly turned the simmering tension into an overt struggle for power in the Middle East." And while in the west is already seeing a cold-war brewing between the two, in Iran, the populace envision a literal scenario where the complete destruction of Saudi Arabia is at hand. The animated film, produced in Iran shows what is going viral in Iran: a sinister plan to completely wipe out Arabia: The Revenge of Fatimah...

Cyprus no longer sees Israel as an aggressive country imposing its will by force on the Palestinians, but rather as a small nation fighting for survival in the face of much greater odds, Averof Neophytou, head of the country's center-right ruling party said on Monday. [...] For years, he said, Cyprus had the "wrong perception of Israel," partly because it was for so long an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement, before joining the EU in 2004. "For decades Israel was blamed for creating the instability in the region, but can anyone credibly blame Israel for the instability in Syria,...

Turkish ground forces have launched a major offensive against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed 10 German tourists in Istanbul this week, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday. Nearly 200 militants were killed by Turkish tank and artillery fire, which struck at least 500 of the group’s positions over the last 48 hours, said Mr. Davutoglu, addressing Turkish ambassadors in the capital, Ankara.

Russian airstrikes help Syrian army gain major victory in strategic coastal region Most significant military win for Syrian troops since Russia began airstrikes in September The Associated Press Posted: Jan 13, 2016 1:17 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 13, 2016 1:17 PM ET Backed by relentless Russian airstrikes, Syrian troops and allied militiamen on Wednesday pushed deeper into a major rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Latakia, a day after seizing a key rebel-held town in the strategic region overlooking the coast, the government and opposition activists said. The insurgents in the opposition-held area near the Turkish border were...

A new twist has appeared in the legal attempts to attack the IDF for defending the maritime blockade of Gaza in the infamous 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, as radical activists sued Israel for "breaching US territory" in the raid. Three Americans and a Belgian who took part in the breach of the naval blockade launched a civil suit to a US federal court on Monday in Washington, reports The New Arab on Wednesday. The blockade is a legal measure according to international law meant to prevent the influx of weapons to Gazan terrorists. Aside from suing the Israeli government for...