Free Republic

Russian men who are fleeing the country to avoid being drafted into Moscow’s war against Ukraine should seek asylum in the US, the White House said Tuesday. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her regular briefing that the response inside Russia to the so-called “partial mobilization” ordered last week by the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, shows “this war that was started by the Kremlin is unpopular.” “Regardless of their nationality, [people] may apply for asylum in the United States and have their claims adjudicated on a case by case basis,” Jean-Pierre added. “We welcome any folks who are seeking...

A huge mob today stormed Dagestan's main airport looking for Israeli citizens following reports that a plane was arriving from the country. Hundreds of protestors stormed the Makhachkala airport in the Russian republic to protest the landing of a Red Wings airliner coming from Tel Aviv, Russian news agencies and social media reported. The protesters, some carrying Palestinian flags, broke through doors in the terminal, with some running onto the runway while others broke barriers, aiming to check the cars leaving the airport, according to videos posted online. The Red Wings flight was reportedly forced to divert from the airport...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was very content during a trip to Turkey on Friday. He said it was productive and smiled alongside his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. He said it was a “wonderful” trip where he spoke with his “brother Cavusoglu.” The trip signals the growing alliance that Turkey and Iran have in the region. Zarif said: “As before, constructive engagement on bilateral and regional issues. Ultimate aim: Apply Iran and Turkey’s experience of 400 years of peace to our region. Together, anything is possible.” Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took Russia’s side in a growing spat with...

Turkey supports efforts for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as long as they account for Azerbaijan's legitimate demands, a spokesman for the Turkish presidency said. "We call on the Minsk Group to come up with a timetable and a new proposal that is actionable, that has specific guidelines to end the current round of hostilities but most importantly also a way to end the occupation of Azeri lands by Armenia, which has been the root cause of this problem," government spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told Al Jazeera. "The Minsk Group, which was established almost 30 years ago, has...

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw discovered evidence of destruction and capture of the ancient city of Metsamor, one of the most famous archaeological sites in the vicinity of Yerevan. "In the entire area of research we found layers of burning and ash. The city was probably captured by the army of Argishti I, the ruler of Urartu," told PAP Krzysztof Jakubiak, head of the project. Argishti I was the king of Urartu, the biblical Kingdom of Ararat in the Armenian Highlands. During his reign, the boundaries of the state expanded to the Caucasus, the area of...

The Urartians established a kingdom around Lake Van in eastern Anatolia but failed to deal with severe winter conditions, especially snow, in an effective way, said Professor Veli Sevin on Wednesday, according to archaeological findings... Urartu was an ancient kingdom in eastern Anatolia centered in the mountainous region around Lake Van that existed from about 1,000 B.C. until 585 B.C. It stretched from northern Mesopotamia through the southern Caucasus, including parts of present-day Armenia up to Lake Sevan. The name Urartu is actually Assyrian, a dialect of Akkadian, and was given to the kingdom by its chief rivals to the...

In Nagorno-Karabakh, on the one hand, Shiite Azerbaijan, whose people are a large minority in Iran, is fighting, and on the other, Christian Armenia, a trading partner that helps Tehran circumvent sanctions. In the shadow of the fear of unrest by the Azeri minority, the regime is treading a thin rope Dr. Raz Zimet | Posted 10:12 The fighting between Azerbaijan and the Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the Caucasus entered its 11th day this morning (Wednesday), and a ceasefire is still not in sight. More than 200 people have already been killed and hundreds more injured in...

A State Department employee pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday after being charged in an FBI investigation, the Department of Justice announced. Candace Claiborne, who worked in the Caucasus Affairs office of the State Department, is being charged for two felony offenses. Claiborne is being charged with “obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents,” a Department of Justice release said. Claiborne, who has a Top Secret security clearance, failed to disclose her foreign contacts abroad...

The Air Force Times' Sean Naylor scored an interview with Major General Mike Flynn, director of intelligence for General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan. There isn't a lot new here to longtime readers of The Long War Journal and Threat Matrix. Flynn gives an overview of the Taliban groups, notes that al Qaeda operatives serve as combat enablers for the Taliban, estimates Taliban forces in Afghanistan at between 19,000 to 27,000 fighters, and said Pakistan remains a major haven for the Taliban and al Qaeda. Of particular interest are Flynn's comments on Iran and the role...

An international research team, coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) and the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin, is the first to carry out systematic genetic investigations in the Caucasus region... based on analyses of genome-wide data from 45 individuals in the steppe and mountainous areas of the North Caucasus. The skeletal remains, which are between 6,500 and 3,500 years old, show that the groups living throughout the Caucasus region were genetically similar, despite the harsh mountain terrain, but that there was a sharp genetic boundary to the adjacent...

U.S. Links Charity to Chechen RebelsBy Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer The head of a U.S.-based Islamic charity who is suspected of having ties to Osama bin Laden is in jail facing a grand jury investigation after the FBI showed he had lied about his support for Chechen rebels. Federal officials accused Enaam Arnaout, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, and his Benevolence International Foundation of perjury last month for claiming they did not provide support to "people or organizations known to engage in violence, terrorist activities or military operations of any nature." Arnaout, 39, was arrested April 30. He had been under...

Moscow (AFP) - Russian foreign ministry on Friday accused NATO of seeking to destabilise the Caucasus region with upcoming joint exercises in Georgia, where US soldiers will train together with Georgian forces this month. "We view this consistent 'development' of Georgian territory by NATO soldiers as a provocative move, aiming to deliberately destabilise the military-political situation in the Caucasus region," it said in a statement. Moscow and Tbilisi fought a brief war in 2008 due to a dispute regarding South Ossetia, a separatist region of Georgia which is funded and backed by Russia. After the war, Russia recognised South Ossetia...

WASHINGTON – While the United States insists that Russian airstrikes in Syria are targeting “moderate” opposition forces and not ISIS fighters, a Middle East expert claims the targets are jihadists from Russia itself, many of whom have joined various Sunni jihadi groups, including ISIS, according to a new report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. Middle East expert Mairbek Vatchagaev told G2 Bulletin the concern for the Russian government is North Caucasus fighters in Syria returning home to continue waging jihad. “It is unclear why Russia sat back for so long and allowed the militants in Syria to consolidate,” said Vatchagaev,...

The Islamic State’s so-called “province” in the Caucasus region has claimed responsibility for its first official attack since its was established earlier this year. In a statement released online (seen above), and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the group says “the soldiers of the Caliphate were able to mount an attack on barracks of the Russian army in southern Dagestan, in Magharamakint village.” The raid allegedly “led to the killing and wounding of a number of them.” Afterwards, “the soldiers of the Caliphate returned to their positions safely and with spoils, and unto Allah is all praise and gratitude,”...

  Certain things tend to set off triggers in you. For me it was Don Lemon- when he joined the flag-damning freaking idiot liberal lemmings in their bloodlust considering the removal of the Jefferson memorial: CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday hinted that there will come a day when the United States will have to "rethink" tributes such as the Jefferson Memorial. After a contentious segment with Ben Jones, in which the former Congressman defended the Confederate flag, Legal View host Ashley Banfield brought up the author of the Declaration of Independence. She reminded, "There is a monument of him in...

Operatives linked to Iran tried to kill foreign diplomats, including Israelis and Americans, in at least seven countries over 13 months, the Washington Post reported. New evidence uncovered by investigators in four countries linked the assassination attempts to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives based inside Iran, the Post reported Monday, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials. The officials reportedly said that the assassination attempts stopped in early spring, when Iran began to take a softer tone with the West. Shortly after, Iranian officials formally accepted a proposal to resume negotiations with six world powers on proposals to limit...

The Western Caucasus, extending over 275,000 ha of the extreme western end of the Caucasus mountains and located 50 km north-east of the Black Sea, is one of the few large mountain areas of Europe that has not experienced significant human impact. Yet dotted within the pristine landscape are thousands of ancient megalithic structures built many millennia ago. Archaeologists do not know who built them, where the stones came from, or what their true purpose was, leading to much speculation in the scientific community.The Russians call the megalithic structures dolmens, which means ‘portal tomb’, but despite the name, there is...

This one-minute video shows skulls dating from the 4th century AD, excavated near Omsk, Siberia by Russian archeologists. They show a prominent deformation which they said was created by skull clamping or binding of newborns crania. Archeologists deem these too strange to be publicly displayed in the city museum. From the front the skulls look like that of a normal human, but when turned to the side it's clear that this is not the case. The skulls are grossly elongated. Scholars at the Omsk Museum of History and Culture have no conclusive answer as to the origins of these skulls,...

With the Ukrainian crisis in mind, the top European Union official in charge of EU enlargement arrived in Tbilisi on March 4 to underline that Brussels is considering a host of measures to support Georgia’s eagerness for closer ties with the EU and to help resist potential pressure from Russia. Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle spoke generally of economic aid and support for Georgia’s struggle to preserve its territorial integrity, but keeping an eye out for renewed Russian pressure on Georgia does not just apply to these areas. It also appears to mean convincing skeptical Georgians...

MOSCOW, July 3 (Reuters) - Russian Islamist rebel leaders urged their fighters on Wednesday to use "maximum force" to prevent President Vladimir Putin staging the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. In an online video recorded in a forest, Doku Umarov said an order not to attack Russian targets outside the North Caucasus had been cancelled and likened holding the Games in the Black Sea city to performing "Satanic dances" on the graves of Muslims killed fighting Russian forces there in the 19th century. Umarov sat wearing camouflage fatigues and a cap in front of a black jihadist flag, flanked...