Free Republic

Syrians Desperate to Escape What U.N. Calls ‘Extermination’ by Government By ANNE BARNARDFEB. 8, 2016 KILIS, Turkey — Tens of thousands of Syrians who were running for their lives piled up near the border crossing with Turkey here on Monday. They were fleeing a crushing wave of Russian airstrikes and government ground forces advancing toward the frontier in a developing rout of insurgent forces north of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. The intense and, critics say, indiscriminate Russian air attacks have shattered the latest round of peace talks, forced the regional and global players to reassess their strategies and calculations and...

If there's anything we've learned over the past twelve months it's that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is prepared to employ all manner of nefarious tactics in order to preserve his grip on power in Ankara.Following unfavorable election results last June, Erdogan plunged the country into civil war be restarting a long simmering battle with the PKK and proceeded to crack down on journalists and anyone else critical of the ruling AKP. Ultimately, new elections were called and AKP put up a stronger showing, effectively paving the way for Erdogan to rewrite Turkey's constitution and install an executive presidency.But...

Tue Feb 9, 2016 12:27am IST Turkey's Erdogan threatened to flood Europe with migrants - Greek website BRUSSELS Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened in November to flood Europe with migrants if European Union leaders did not offer him a better deal to help manage the Middle East refugee crisis, a Greek news website said on Monday. Publishing what it said were minutes of a tense meeting last November, the euro2day.gr financial news website revealed deep mutual irritation and distrust in talks between Erdogan and the EU's two top officials, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk. The EU officials were trying to...

This has been the most dramatic week in US/Iranian relations since 1979. Last weekend ten US Navy personnel were caught in Iranian waters, as the Pentagon kept changing its story on how they got there. It could have been a disaster for President Obama's big gamble on diplomacy over conflict with Iran. But after several rounds of telephone diplomacy between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, the Iranian leadership - which we are told by the neocons is too irrational to even talk to - did a most rational thing: weighing the costs and...

The Syrian army advanced toward the Turkish border on Monday in a major offensive backed by Russia and Iran that rebels say now threatens the future of their nearly five-year-old insurrection against President Bashar al-Assad. "Our whole existence is now threatened, not just losing more ground," said Abdul Rahim al-Najdawi from Liwa al-Tawheed, an insurgent group. "They are advancing and we are pulling back because in the face of such heavy aerial bombing we must minimize our losses." The Syrian military and its allies were almost five km (3 miles) from the rebel-held town of Tal Rafaat, which has brought...

The reason Russia is possibly building a new airbase on the Turkish border inside Syria became clearer today as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted Turkey could enter the war on the side of the anti-Assad forces who Russia has been primarily targeting. The Syrian government made major gains against the Sunni opposition in recent weeks as the Syrian city of Aleppo looked to fall from the opposition’s control. Turkey has repeatedly urged the American-led coalition against ISIS to do more to help the anti-Assad forces. “We don’t want to fall into the same mistake in Syria as in Iraq,”...

Since Russia began its air campaign, most of its strikes have been on cities and towns held by the rebels in western Syria. These are not areas where ISIS has much of a presence; al Nusra, Ahrar al Sham and elements of the Free Syrian Army are the main groups. In the process, senior rebel commanders have been killed in Homs, Idlib and Aleppo provinces. "Their ultimate objective is to force the world to make an unconscionable choice between Assad and ISIS," says Hokayem. For now, ISIS is waiting out the battle for Aleppo and watching its rivals get pummeled....

Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by India and other buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros, too, looking to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar following last month's sanctions relief. A source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told Reuters that Iran will charge in euros for its recently signed oil contracts with firms including French oil and gas major Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil. "In our invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil...

Armin Rosen Febuary 5, 2016Russia's submarine fleet is more active than it's been in decades in a strategically vital body of water — and US military planners can't seem to figure out why. US Navy Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, also head of NATO's maritime command, told IHS Jane's that the US has seen "more activity from Russian submarines than we've seen since the days of the Cold War" in the North Atlantic. While Johnstone didn't specify which parts of the North Atlantic have seen this uptick, nearly the entirety of the area between North America, the Western European coastline, and...

In a blow to hopes that Ukraine will be able to overcome a decades-long struggle with corruption and mismanagement, the country’s Western-trained economy minister resigned Wednesday, saying he had been unable to beat back corruption. Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius said that he had come under pressure from senior allies of the country’s president to make patronage appointments in state-owned companies and to appoint unqualified deputies who would have overseen the most lucrative industries in Ukraine. The resignation fed growing concerns from Ukraine’s allies that the country remains stuck in unscrupulous dealmaking almost two years after pro-Western protesters overthrew President Viktor...

#Russian #spetsnaz troops on top of a brand new BTR-82A armored personnel carrier in #Syria#RuAF pic.twitter.com/c1FqEjAWLO— khaled g.alkhateb (@KhaledgAlkhateb) January 29, 2016 #Russia special forces soldier in #Syria IDd as belonging to 45 #Spetsnaz Brigade recon unit https://t.co/ZNYJst2Wsc pic.twitter.com/3VlGDL7L2N— big el little ease (@elemcee69) January 30, 2016 Covert operations. Politeness wins. #russia #usa #airsoft #russianlivesmatter #evike #Spetsnaz pic.twitter.com/EesVHbYhTk— East Bloc-Восток Б (@East_Bloc) January 31, 2016Spetsnaz GRU forces with Arab prisoner

When Obama carried out his Solyndra con game, he broke the same law that Martha Stewart went to prison for breaking In 2009 the Obama administration gave $535 million to Solyndra, claiming that it would create 4,000 new jobs. However, instead of creating those 4,000 new jobs, the company went bankrupt. It was later revealed that the company’s shareholders and executives had made substantial donations to Obama’s campaign, that the company had spent a large sum of money on lobbying, and that Solyndra executives had had many meetings with White House officials. It was also revealed that the Obama administration had...

The Russian airforce conducted a mock nuclear strike against Sweden during war games less than three years ago, Nato has said. The 2013 exercise, which saw a contingent of Russian aircraft approach Swedish airspace after crossing the Gulf of Finland, was one of several examples of dummy nuclear attacks against Nato and its allies in recent years, according to a new Nato report.

Russia seemingly has ignored Secretary of State John Kerry’s appeals to stop bombing civilians and allow critical humanitarian aid to starving Syrians – and is instead escalating its military involvement, deploying four of its most capable fighter jets to Syria, two defense officials confirmed to Fox News. The decision to send the Su-35S jets poses yet another hurdle for Kerry’s efforts to proceed with peace talks. The Su-35S is Russia’s most advanced warplane, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, one official familiar with the jet said. Already, continued Russian airstrikes against Syrian opposition fighters, some backed by the CIA, were...

Turkey's nationalist 'Gray Wolves' enter Syrian fray Author Fehim TaÅŸtekin Summary: Turkish ultranationalists have joined the fight in Syria as what some observers view as their government's secret weapon, one that could backfire as the group mingles with Islamists along with the Turkmens they're defending. Posted February 3, 2016 Turkish involvement in the Syrian war has been heavily dominated by Islamist fighters, but the conflict has also drawn in an unlikely quarter -- Turkish nationalists. The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and its youth branch, the Idealist Hearths, have recently come into the spotlight with high-profile losses on the Syrian...

Not many Muslims support Republicans, but those who do support Trump Updated by Zack Beauchamp on February 3, 2016, 8:50 a.m. ET @zackbeauchamp zack@vox.com Donald Trump wants to ban any more Muslims from entering the United States. Yet among Muslim Americans, he's the most popular Republican candidate for president — although that may say more about the rest of the GOP field than about Trump, given that he's polling "first" among Republicans with only 7.5 percent Muslim American support. That's according to a new survey of Muslim Americans from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), conducted among 2,000 Muslims in...

On February 1, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched their long awaited offensive in the northern Aleppo countryside... (The Syrian Arab Army) SAA would also be able to cut the last supply routes running from the Turkish Border south towards Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and the country’s former commercial hub. The battle’s scale and importance led observers to name the struggle for Aleppo, The mother of all Battles. Both war parties know the side which captures Aleppo wins more than just a city. This side will win Syria’s north and therefore – most probably – the war.

Putin's revenge: Turkish tourist industry collapsing More than 1,300 hotels along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts are up for sale as Russian sanctions bite. A total of 1,318 Turkish hotels along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have been put up for sale, due to Russian sanctions on Turkey and security concerns, reported Turkish and Russian media Tuesday. Today's Zaman said that 410 hotels are listed for sale at the Mediterranean resort area of Anatalya, at a total sale price of TL 30 billion (about $10 billion). The remaining 908 hotels are on sale at the provinces of Muğla, İzmir, Aydın,...

Russian warplanes in Syria are targeting civilian oil refineries and trucks while deliberately ignoring ISIS facilities to allow the extremist group to continue its oil trade with the Assad regime, local activists claim. Citizen journalists from the Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently group claimed Russia's airstrikes are aimed at destroying local oil facilities which are mostly owned by the local population 'and have no direct links with ISIS'. Oil trucks that move between the ISIS-held cities of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, owned by civilians, are also targeted by Russian jets.

Don’t underestimate the impact of Middle East politics... The game being played in the global oil market today bears more than a passing resemblance to poker. Nobody wants to quit while they’re losing... Russia, meanwhile, is pumping the most crude ever, hitting a post-Soviet Union peak. But it may have difficulty maintaining today’s pace given a lack of investment in its aging Siberian fields... In other words, Russia is holding weak cards and the Saudis know it... The newest players at the table are U.S. shale producers. They helped the U.S. to increase output by 80% between 2008 and 2014...