Free Republic

Iraqi officials – some on the record, some not – stated this week that they are finalizing an effort to remove nearly all American troops from the country following the collapse of the Islamic State “caliphate.” The plan would allegedly remove nearly all American military personnel from the country by 2025, leaving some in the autonomous northern region governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for another year. Defense Minister Thabit al-Abbasi reportedly announced the plan in an interview with the Saudi network Al Arabiya this week; the Washington Post quoted an anonymous “Iraqi military official” on Thursday describing the...

Eygi was not a "human rights activist", because the organization she was a member of is not a human rights organization. Eygi came here as part of the activities of the 'International Solidarity Movement' (hereinafter ISM). The ISM organization claims that it advocates "non-violent resistance", but the exact opposite is true. Over the past 20 years, the organization and its members have published messages of support for actions such as violent riots on the border fence in Gaza; Throwing stones and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians; and recognition of the Palestinians' right to "resist in any way they choose", including...

"The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law." Erdoğan said in his video address that Turkey has always been opposed to Russia's annexation of Crimea. He decried the persecution of Crimea's ethnic Tatars since 2014. Erdoğan added: "Our sincere wish is for the war to end with a fair and lasting peace based on Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence." In October 2020, the Turkish leader said during a joint press briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country would never recognize the annexation of Crimea. "We have and always will support Ukraine's sovereignty and...

"Our support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is constant,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this in a video address to the Crimean Platform Leaders' Summit, APA reports citing TRT HABER. "Returning of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law," said the Turkish leader.

Erdogan said in July that Turkey would extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbors. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Islamic countries should form an alliance against what he called "the growing threat of expansionism" from Israel. He made the comment after describing what Palestinian and Turkish officials said was the killing by Israeli troops of a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the West Bank. "The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state...

A 26-year-old American woman who was fatally shot while demonstrating against settlements in the West Bank on Friday was a recent University of Washington graduate, the university said. Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was attending a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion when she was shot by Israeli soldiers, witnesses told The Associated Press. UW Professor Aria Fani told KOMO News Eygi graduated from the university in June and said she had studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures. He described Eygi as kind-hearted and deeply curious. “She had smiling eyes that just recognized the humanity of whoever she spoke with,” Fani...

The Turkish ministry of foreign affairs has condemned the killing of Hamas political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh in an attack in Tehran and offered condolences to the Palestinian people. In a statement released on X, the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs, Hakan Fidan stated, “We condemn the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Chief of the Hamas Political Bureau, in a heinous attack in Tehran.” “We express our condolences to the Palestinian people, hundreds of thousands of whom, like Haniyeh, have been martyred to live peacefully in their homeland under the roof of their state,” he added. -snip- Unacceptable political murder: Russia...

European Parliament Member Criticizes EU Attendance at Inauguration Ceremony of Pezeshkian While officials of the Iranian regime attempted to present the inauguration ceremony of the 14th government’s president as a “symbol of power” in the world, the presence of some foreign guests, including Enrique Mora, has faced criticism. Adam Bielan MEP, foreign affairs coordinator for the ECR Group, was among those who protested against the attendance of the Deputy Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union at Pezeshkian’s inauguration. In a letter to Josep Borrell, he, wrote“This decision is not only misguided but stands in direct contradiction to the values...

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey might enter Israel as it had done in the past in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not spell out what sort of intervention he was suggesting.Erdogan, who has been a fierce critic of Israel's offensive in Gaza, started discussing that war during a speech praising his country's defence industry."We must be very strong so that Israel can't do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them," Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party...

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), which controls 90,000 mosques globally and employs 140,000 people, mandated that women must cover their entire body except for the face, hands, and feet, asserting that veiling is an Islamic command, not a personal choice. The mask has come off, and the facade of the Left-Islamic alliance has been removed. The insistence that Islamic dress for women is a matter of modesty and personal choice has been debunked by a top Islamic authority. But will the Western, Islam-enabling left-wing media report this truth or continue to assist Islam in its quest for dominance in the...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently warned Israel against cutting off Palestinian banks and spoke about the need to increase aid to Gaza, that is, Hamas, even further. Yellen’s words gained little attention, as the Biden regime’s betrayal of Israel is now old news. It is now widely known that the regime, deeply afraid that it could lose Michigan in November, has brought a seventy-year-old alliance perilously close to rupture to gain the Arab vote. Yet the betrayal of Israel didn’t begin when the polls started looking bad for Old Joe. The seeds of it were planted long before Hamas massacred...

ISTANBUL, July 12 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it is not possible for NATO to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration. "Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit. Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said. Erdogan said as well that he has instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to restore relations with Syria.

Three-quarters of Europe’s Jewish community hide their identities as they fear being harassed or attacked by anti-Semites. Jews in EU member states are in the grip of a “rising tide of anti-Semitism”, an EU rights agency that conducted the survey said, as it blamed increased tensions over the war in Gaza. Across Europe, 76 per cent said in the survey they hid their Jewish identity “at least occasionally” while 34 per cent said they took care to avoid Jewish events or places as they did not feel “safe” there. Sirpa Rautio, the director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights...

The head of the Shiite Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to expand his war against Israel in a speech on Wednesday, boasting that he allegedly has 100,000 terrorists at his disposal and suggesting war with Cyprus may also be imminent. Hezbollah, one of many Iranian proxy terrorist organizations, has long maintained ties with the Sunni jihadist group Hamas. The group has expanded its attacks on Israel since October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented invasion of Israel that resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths, the abduction of about 250 people, and widespread torture, rape, and other atrocities....

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The leader of Armenia on Wednesday declared his intention to pull out of a Russia-dominated security alliance of several ex-Soviet nations as tensions rise between the two allies. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government will decide later when to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a grouping that includes Russia and the former Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia earlier froze its participation in the alliance, canceled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed CSTO summits. Pashinyan said Wednesday for the...

A Russian-dominated security grouping held a summit in Belarus on Thursday with the absence of one of its members, Armenia, which has been irked by what it sees as a lack of support over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking at the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed what he called the group’s role in securing peace and stability in the region. But in a sign of the widening rift between Russia and Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan snubbed the summit in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, citing his government’s dissatisfaction with the organization....

Gunmen attacked the United States embassy building in Lebanon on Wednesday morning, according to statements from the U.S. government and the Lebanese army. “At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the U.S. Embassy. Thanks to the quick reaction of the LAF [Lebanon Armed Forces], ISF [Israel Security Forces], and our Embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe. Investigations are underway and we are in close contact with host country law enforcement,” the embassy said in a statement on X. At 8:34 a.m. local time, small arms fire...

In a conversation with the First Vice President, the special assistant to the Russian President stated that, by Putin's order, two advanced aircrafts with special helicopters and 50 professional mountain rescue personnel will be dispatched to Tabriz, Iranian media reported on Sunday overnight.

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held an emergency meeting with the heads of intelligence and the ministry of justice after his fellow party member, Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli, had warned of a possible coup d'état being prepared by law enforcement agencies, the Turkiye newspaper on Wednesday. The dismissal of several police officers in Ankara's security directorate accused of links to criminal organization Ayhan Bora Kaplan has caused widespread concern. Their homes had been searched to seize digital materials. Bahceli has said the situation could be a conspiracy against the government, and the suspension of...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the United States and European countries were not doing enough to pressure Israel to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, after Hamas' move to accept a truce proposal, Reuters reported. Speaking to Muslim scholars in Istanbul, Erdogan said Hamas had accepted a ceasefire proposal by Qatar and Egypt in a "step in the path toward a lasting ceasefire", but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not want the war to end. "The response of the Netanyahu government was to attack the innocent people in Rafah," he charged. "It has become clear who...