Turkey

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 […]

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 […]

European Union

What the carnage at Istanbul’s Airport tells us about Europe

contributors

By Karabekir Akkoyunlu | ( OpenDemocracy) Once the external anchor of Turkey’s democracy, the EU‘s normative influence has sunk as low as its reputation among its many erstwhile supporters, who now feel betrayed and abandoned. Shortly after the attack on Istanbul’s Atatürk airport on Tuesday night, a Greek colleague posted on his Facebook wall a […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Turkey’s six foreign policy sins and the Istanbul Bombing

contributors

By Sibel Oktay | (Informed Comment) | – – You don’t have to be an avid follower of international news to have heard about the terror attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport – Turkey’s biggest and Europe’s third largest hub for air travel. Most likely carried out by ISIS, the attack killed 42 people and wounded […]

Featured

Putin’s Winning Hand in Syria, as Turkey Apologizes and Obama Deals

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Vladimir Putin was the skunk at the party in the West after his annexation (or repossession, depending on how you look at it) of Crimea. Europe declared that borders cannot be changed by fiat or troops. The US pressed for heavy sanctions. The Russian intervention in […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Istanbul Suicide Bombers Were Russian, Uzbek, Kyrgyz: Official

contributors

TeleSur | – – The attack at Ataturk Airport is suspected to be the work of [Daesh or] the Islamic State [IS] group. Three suspected IS suicide bombers who killed 44 people in a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul’s main airport this week were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, a Turkish government official said […]

Featured

Are ISIL’s attacks the desperation of a Cornered Rat? The Kerry-McCaul Debate

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday evening at the Aspen Ideas Festival that “It has been more than one year since Daesh has actually launched a full scale military offensive, and that’s because our coalition is moving relentlessly on every front . . . Now, […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Turkish airport massacre will further imperil a nation on the verge of crisis

contributors

Alpaslan Ozerdem | (The Conversation) | – – Another heinous terrorist attack has horrified Turkey and shocked the rest of the world. The target this time was Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport and it is believed to have been the work of Islamic State gunmen who are thought to have entered the country before the beginning […]