Free Republic

President Biden’s plan to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey faced another potential roadblock on Thursday when 27 U.S. senators, most of them Democrats, informed him in a letter that if Ankara does not stop blocking Sweden and Finland’s entry into NATO, Congress will not support the sale. “Congress cannot consider future support for Türkiye, including the sale of F-16 fighter jets, until Türkiye completes ratification of the accession protocols [for the two countries’ admission into NATO],” wrote the senators. Sweden and Finland last year applied to join the transatlantic alliance, jettisoning long-held neutrality in response to the Russian invasion....

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.

Israel is exploring the possibility of supplying Ukraine with its state-of-the-art Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. "The issue of arms supplies was considered and rejected by the previous Israeli government. I will study this issue and answer this matter in the most adequate manner," Netanyahu said in an interview with the French LCI channel. He, however, said that Israel has to review its options and to take into consideration its interests in the region. Israel's "contribution will probably be in other areas," the Israeli premier added.

Multiple blasts were reported in Iran Saturday night, as drones of an unknown origin carried out attacks on critical Iranian defense production facilities. At the time of this writing, there are no confirmed details on the number of attacks and the targets other than the major ammunition plant at Isfahan. Isfahan is Iran’s third largest city and located about 270 miles south of Tehran.UPDATE: Explosion at Military Plant in Isfahan #Iran, local media saying it’s by drone targeting munitions manufacturing centers. Video: pic.twitter.com/t7sLXENoZK— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) January 29, 2023The below map shows the unofficial tally of strikes.Tehran’s Mehrabad airport is...

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...

The Mujahedin al Khalq, or MKO, is, after the Iranian regime itself, the most hated group inside Iran. It allied with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to enable the Islamic Revolution but, after a falling out, launched a terrorist campaign inside Iran. The MKO also cast its lot with Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Its leader, Maryam Rajavi, rules with an iron fist over the organization and insists upon the same head covering that Iranians risk their lives to shed. Far from supporting women’s rights, the group tells women whom they can marry and forcibly divorces them. In short, it is a cult

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...

Sousan, a young Yazidi girl of 16, had one of the happiest days of her life when she was married to Fouzi, a Yazidi man, in the town of Sinjar, northern Kurdistan, Iraq. What she didn’t know was that five months after the wedding, in August 2014, ISIS would attack and take her town. This was after ISIS had already attacked and taken a large part of Iraq as well as Syria. The ISIS fighers swooped in with machine guns, tanks, and mortars, destroying all in front of them and targeting the Yazidi especially for brutal treatment. The Yazidis practice...

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...