Most western experts (and western journalists) have negatively evaluated President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Over the past month, the president has been accused of chaotic policies (an accusation which is already customary) and acting to the detriment of the interests of the United States and to the benefit of Russia (an even more familiar accusation) and even ...
In November 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron called for the formation of a “European army”, sparking a debate among experts and the anger of U.S. President Donald Trump. One year later, in November 2019, President Macron declared that “What we are experiencing is the brain death of NATO”. [1] His statement, as well as the actions of some NATO members ...
Protests in Hong Kong On Sunday, several districts in Hong Kong held anti-government protests. This time, groups of demonstrators gathered in shopping malls. At least 17 people between the ages of 19 and 55 were hospitalized with injuries of varying degrees of severity. The Hong Kong police detained more than 300 people between November 1 and 3 for illegal and ...
Al Baghdadi’s death US President Donald Trump announced the death of the head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in Syria. Al-Baghdadi was identified ahead of a Saturday mission by the US armed forces. Trump thanked Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iraq for their help in eliminating the terrorist leader. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was identified by one of his main ...
Süleyman Özmen, Head of International Affairs Department (Rumeli University in Istanbul) and member of the Turkish Armed Forces, stressed in an interview with uwidata.com that events in the region are precursors to a major war. He notes that”the main goal is to ignite a large-scale ethnic and religious clash.” According to Özmen, one operation will not be enough to destroy terrorism ...
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Chairman of the People’s Republican Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi – CHP), began his speech at parliamentary faction session by mentioning the recent CHP international conference on Syria which was held in Istanbul. Kılıçdaroğlu stressed that the Middle East is engulfed in conflict, with military operations being conducted in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. WE HAVE DONE WHAT THE AUTHORITIES ...
Safe zone in Syria On Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of attempting to use the creation of a security zone in northeastern Syria, not for Ankara’s sake, but in order to protect the Washington-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDS) operating in the area. Turkey sees the SDS and the Kurdish units of the People’s Self-Defense Force as ...
The establishment of safe zones in war-torn countries is supposed to entail a reduction in violence. However, in the present situation in Syria, US involvement in the establishment of a safe zone will lead to the direct military entrenchment of Washington, Turkey, Russia, and Syria, and will only cause the situation to deteriorate further. WHY A SAFE ZONE? Turkey has ...
The U.S. and Iran are locked in a tough confrontation for forty years. They do not have direct diplomatic relations and are engaged in a major ideological war, playing an important role on the geopolitical map of the world at the same time. Nonetheless, although Tehran and Washington have turned into two hostile camps over years of the stand-off, they ...
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential elections has had dire implications for the American “Greater Middle East” project which has guided US foreign policy in the Middle East since it was first put forward in 2003. Trump’s reorientation toward internal US problems (migration, economy, protectionism), the emergence of new geopolitical rivals (China and Iran) and the turning point being ...