Middle East

London (Informed Comment) – As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers inside its territory, it can seem like the days of Islamic State (IS) are finally numbered after a two year reign of terror in the region. However it […]

military

The Turkish Coup — Real or Imagined?

contributors

Erdağ Göknar | (Duke Today) | – – Durham, NC – As if it were having a Cold War flashback, Turkey experienced a surprise coup attempt by a faction of the Turkish army Friday night. Though it evoked the Turkish coups of 1960, 1971 and 1980 quite realistically, and perhaps gave Turks of the political […]

Featured

Long Knives in Ankara: Victorious Erdogan begins Purge of Judiciary, Army

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – – President Tayyip Erdogan is taking advantage of the failed coup against him to purge the judiciary and security forces of anyone who is lukewarm toward or actively critical of him. These steps are, of course, the opposite of the ones Erdogan should be taking– he should be […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians rally for Erdogan, condemn Coup Attempt

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – GAZA (Ma’an) — The Hamas movement organized several demonstrations in the besieged Gaza Strip Saturday morning, rejecting Friday night’s attempted military coup in Turkey and expressing “joy” at its failure, while the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority also came out in support of the Turkish government’s “triumph of democracy.” Demonstrations started […]

Iraq

Iraq: As ISIL loses land, it is Terrorizing to provoke Sectarian Fighting

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – It is slowly becoming clear that the extremist Islamic State group is returning to its roots, setting off bombs to kill innocents in crowded places, to cause chaos. Then it plans to take advantage of the unrest. The extremist group known as the Islamic State […]

Authoritarianism

Turkish People Power foils attempted Coup

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The poorly planned junior officers’ coup in Turkey on Friday appears to have failed as I write late Friday night, though rebel military elements still hold positions in some parts of the country, including Ankara, the capital. Their allegiances and motives are still unclear. Remarkably, among […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Kerry Proposing Joint US-Russian Airstrikes against Extremists in Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – According to a leaked U.S. plan, Washington and Moscow would merge their respective air campaigns against non-state armed groups in Syria. The United States will propose increasing military cooperation and sharing intelligence with Russia to identify and target Islamic State group and al-Qaida headquarters, training camps and supply routes in Syria, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Report: Israeli forces torch olive trees on private Palestinian land

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces have reportedly torched 10 dunams (2.5 acres) of land planted with olive trees south of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority. The Hebron office of the authority released a report on Monday that said its inspectors […]

Featured

A Story of Two Syrian Sieges: Manbij and East Aleppo

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The relatively even-handed Arabic newspaper Oman reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces (a mixed Kurdish and Arab group) advanced further into the city of Manbij on Wednesday. Manbij is a major outpost for Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in northern Syria, and the likelihood is that the Syrian […]