Middle East

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 […]

Iran

Iranian Fighters in Syria Hailed as Martyrs, Shrine-Defenders by Hard Liners

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) | – – In late May, Iranian state and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officials turned out in force at a state funeral in Ardebil Province. Revolutionary Guard Hashem Dehghani-nia's was among the latest coffins to have returned from the battlegrounds of Syria, where a rising Iranian death toll testifies […]

Turkey

Gaza: Turkey to Build Seawater Desalination Plant

contributors

By IMEMC | – – The Turkish Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs announced, Tuesday, that Turkey is to establish a seawater desalination plant to solve water crisis, estimating the coast of the project to $300,000,000 USD. The minister noted, according to Al Ray, that the project is big-ticket, noting that some countries announced that […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Turkey making a 180° Turn, warming to al-Assad & abandoning Saudi & Rebels?

contributors

TeleSur | – – The two countries had been allies before the 2011 uprising in Syria. Turkey is seeking to normalize relations with its neighbor Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a televised address on Wednesday. The news comes just weeks after Turkey restored diplmatic relations with Israel and one of Syria’s top […]