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Turkey's opposition vowed on Monday to crimp the president's powers and broadly expand democratic rights if they seize power in May 14 presidential and parliamentary polls. The six parties that are united against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also pledged to agree on February 13 to a joint candidate for the crucial vote -- widely seen as Turkey's most consequential in generations.

First, the data on what's happening in Iran. Start with the count:Days: 121 Protests: 282 citiesFatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 627 identified by MEKDetentions: 30,000 Now here's the latest news:Iran’s nationwide uprising entered its fifth month following a day of major rallies and demonstrations against the mullahs’ regime in various cities of what's known as Sistan and Baluchistan province, especially the provincial capital of Zahedan. A large number of locals took to the streets on Friday in the Baluch cities of Zahedan, Rask, and Khash, chanting slogans specifically targeting regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the paramilitary Basij...

Sweden said on Sunday that Turkey is asking for too much in exchange for allowing it to join NATO, as Ankara effectively demands the impossible – that Stockholm override a decision by its own Supreme Court. But analysts say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to retract its condition, at least not before the all-important presidential elections scheduled in June. Sweden’s new conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that, as far as he is concerned, Stockholm has done enough for Ankara. “Turkey confirms that we have done what we said we would do. But they also say that they...

... It is against such a backdrop that the two meetings in Moscow on December 28 between the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Turkey and Syria in the presence of their Russian counterparts took place. Erdogan’s reconciliation process with Assad is quintessentially his sweet revenge for the American betrayal. Erdogan sought help from Russia, the archetypal enemy country in the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s sights, in order to communicate with Assad, who is a pariah in American eyes. The matrix is self-evident. On December 29, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: “At the meeting [in Moscow], we...

Widespread riots erupted in Paris after a woman and two men were shot dead yesterday at a Kurdish cultural center and a nearby cafe in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Footage of the riots shows people setting fires in the middle of the street and smashing...

French President Emmanuel Macron had proposed it during the election campaign this year and now 200 randomly chosen French citizens have come together to consider "priority issues" regarding the "end of life". Last Sunday as the World Cup fever gripped France news was published that beginning January 6th the "citizens convention" will look at 10 priority issues including "extreme forms of psychological suffering" which will constitute reasons to "end life". The convention's recommendations will go onto French lawmakers for consideration. Good news Friday for the government as railroad unions reached labor agreements... Today in Paris Yellow Vests on the streets......

A 24-year-old woman was placed into a coma after her Muslim ex-boyfriend allegedly attacked her. She had gone to the police earlier that day but was told to come back later. The woman, named Chloe, had initially gone to the local police station in the commune of Blois on December 12th at around 5 p.m. to make a complaint against her former boyfriend, a Muslim who had been pressuring her to convert to Islam. Police at the station did not record the complaint but told the young woman to return the next day to file her complaint. Just two hours...

Led by a respected former PM, and given a lot of resources by the Russian State, meet the Imperial Orthodox Palestine SocietyThe Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, a humanitarian NGO founded in Russia 140 years ago, now plays a key role in expanding Russian influence in the Middle East and beyond. As relations between Russia and the Western world plunge, Middle East and African countries engage in developing ties with Moscow. It is also quite remarkable that this rapprochement is based not so much on political foundations as on the common values and moral foundations. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS)...

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Friday’s mass shooting attack at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris, which killed three people and wounded four. "The Kurds of France have been the target of a heinous attack in the heart of Paris. Our thoughts are with the victims, the people who are struggling to live, their families and loved ones," Macron said in a tweet. The attack took place in the Rue d'Enghien in the 10th arrondissement of the French capital. Two of the wounded are in critical condition. An eyewitness told AFP that seven or eight shots were fired during the...

Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar: The “Army of Jerusalem” Will Not Liberate Palestinian Land Only; the 512 Million Square Kilometers of Planet Earth Will Come Under a System with No Zionism, No Treacherous Christianity #Hamas #Palestinians.

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...

America’s Lebanese fantasy hits a road-bump Lebanon Follow Tony Badran Published: 13 December ,2022: 12:39 PM GST Updated: 13 December ,2022: 01:25 PM GST For the past two years, the Biden administration has been hell-bent on getting Saudi Arabia to underwrite the US project of administering Lebanon. And for two years running, the Kingdom has refused, having no desire to bankroll an Iranian equity run by Hezbollah. The administration, however, is demanding US allies suspend disbelief and pretend that Lebanon is in fact a real, normal state. In the latest iteration of its Lebanese project, the Biden team is trying...

Updated: 12 December ,2022: 10:26 AM GST Iran on Monday carried out the second execution linked to nearly three months of protests, the judicial news agency Mizan reported. “Majidreza Rahnavard, who was sentenced to death on November 29 for killing two security guards with a knife and wounding four others,” was executed in public in Mashhad, the report said. Advertisement For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. ADVERTISING He was arrested on November 17 while trying to flee the country, according to Mizan. Iran has been rocked by weeks of protests sparked...

Iranians expressed horror, disbelief and anger at the ruling establishment and its judiciary, which hanged a 23-year-old protester over his participation in an anti-government demonstration.The execution of Mohsen Shekari at a prison outside Tehran on Thursday unleashed a barrage of furious reactions from ordinary Iranians in the midst of the anti-government unrest that has engulfed Iran for nearly three months. The early morning announcement on Thursday marked the first known death penalty carried out against a detainee arrested in the ongoing protests and sent shockwaves across Iran, fueling fears that the state was determined to go the extra mile in...

The US has been mostly silent, other than issuing a few meek statementsIt is difficult to understand what US President Joe Biden’s administration is doing in northern Syria, where its allies the Syrian Kurds have been bombed to high heaven by Turkish forces. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has insisted that he also intends to mount a land operation against America’s partners there. Although Turkey for some time had been bombing and assassinating members of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), this current offensive is different. It is designed to deal the Kurds a fatal blow. What is incomprehensible is that...

Part 2 of the discussion of current events in the middle east and how it fits with long-term goals of various countries, ethnic groups and religious factions. Too many topics covered to easily summarize. The video is 1 hour long and went by very quickly when I watched it last night.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Jerusalem must be a city for Israelis and Palestinians, and anything else will harm Israel’s identity and security. “The United States continues to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as the President also said in his visit, Jerusalem is central to the national visions of both Palestinians and Israelis and must be a city for all of its people. Anything that takes us away from two states is detrimental to Israel’s long-term security and its long-term identity,” Blinken said during an address at the the left-wing J Street’s national conference in Washington....

In 2014, the world learned about my hometown, Kobane, and my people, the Syrian Kurds, when we dealt the Islamic State its first major defeat in partnership with the United States and the Global Coalition. The alliances we forged there led to the end of the ISIS caliphate in 2019.Today, Kobane is again under threat — and all the gains of those partnerships are also in danger.This time, the threat comes not from Islamic State terror, but from a U.S. ally and a member of NATO. For more than a week, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has...

The Israel Air Force this week will hold one of its largest drills in years with the United States Air Force simulating offensive strikes against Iran’s nuclear program. This is the mission that no one really wants to have to carry out, an actual long-range strike on Iran’s nuclear program and facilities built for them by Russia over the last decade and an half. But at some point, either Israel and perhaps America are going to go after Iran, or Iran is actually going to build a nuclear weapon or weapons with which to fire against Israel. Either way, and...

Critics erupt after Whoopi Goldberg questions whether Hamas, Taliban are terrorists. Critics erupt after Whoopi Goldberg questions whether Hamas, Taliban are terrorists After a co-host on The View called the two groups out as terrorists, Goldberg said, “Depends on who you talk to.” Israel, Canada, the EU, Japan, Australia and the UK – besides the U.S. – have all designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Critics leaped onto social media to slam Goldberg’s equivocation. Andrew Ghalili, a foreign policy analyst for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) tweeted, “???? One host on The View says that Hamas...