Middle East

TeleSur | – – The group leaked the documents despite being under a major cyber attack for more than 24 hours by suspected allies of the Turkish government. WikiLeaks released its first batch of leaked emails from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Tuesday. Founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the whistleblowing group […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli opposition leader warns of ‘uprising of hatred’ in Israel

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog warned of what he called “growing hatred and racism” in Israel encouraged by right-wing politicians, adding that it could pave the way for further deadly violence, Hebrew-language news site NRG reported on Monday. “We are on the verge of an uprising […]

Iraq

Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks

Neil Thompson

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 […]