Author: M Barbu

The West Must Stop Blocking Negotiations Between Ukraine and Russia

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This war has been horrendous, though it does not compare with the terrible destruction wrought by the U.S. bombardment of Iraq (“shock and awe”) in 2003. In the Gomel region of Belarus that borders Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats met on February 28 to begin negotiations toward a ceasefire. These talks fell apart. Then, in early March, the two sides met again in Belarus to hold a second and third round of talks. On March 10, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia met in Antalya, Türkiye, and finally, at the end of March, senior officials from Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul, Türkiye, thanks to the initiative of Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On March 29, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, “We are pleased to see that the rapprochement between the parties has increased at every stage. Consensus and common understanding were reached on some issues.” By April, an agreement regarding a tentative interim deal was reached between Russia and Ukraine, according to an article in Foreign Affairs.

The Revolt In Iran Is An Ethnic Minorities-Led Uprising

Introduction

The ongoing protests against the Iranian regime can be defined not only as a women-led uprising, but also an ethnic minorities-led one. In fact, for the ethnic minorities that comprise almost half of Iran’s population (e.g., Ahwazi Arabs, Kurds, and Balochis), this is a “revolution” for liberty and basic ethnic and human rights of which they have been deprived not only by the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also by the former Persian regimes (e.g., under the Pahlavi dynasty) for almost a century. For this reason, this is as sensitive topic for the Iranian regime as it is for the Persian diaspora itself.

Hundreds of Iranian protesters go on trial

Iranian authorities are bringing charges of an offense that could carry the death penalty on protesters who took part in anti-regime demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei announced that courts will trial detainees in Tehran and some provinces.

Religious Radicalisation in the Albanian Diaspora

Abstract

Since the emergence of the Islamic State (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS) in early 2014, different countries have followed different paths in dealing with the problem of their citizens who have joined ISIS and have then tried to return to their home countries.

Open Wounds: The Families Left Behind by Albanians Killed in Syria

For the families of Albanian men who died fighting for Islamic State, the pain and uncertainty drag on.
Salushe Seferi’s ordeal began in 2013, when her daughter, Ruzhdie Balliu, left Albania for Syria. It ended, of sorts, eight years later in July 2021, when Ruzhdie was repatriated to a shelter in Durres, on the coast. Seferi, however, still suffers the scars of a war that was not hers. And she’s not alone.

Radicalized on the Net? Albanian Plumber Charged With ‘Jihadist Propaganda’

Did social networks change a young plumber from normal Muslim believer to radical Islamist – or are Albania’s authorities over-reacting to a non-existent threat?

At sunset on August 2, Bledar Zeneli and his father were attending the Aksham Namaz, one of five daily prayers of Muslim believers, when police came knocking at the door of their home in a newly developed area on the outskirts of Durres, Albania second largest town and main seaport.

Tigré: Washington suspend l’expulsion des migrants éthiopiens

Les Ethiopiens n’avaient jusqu’ici jamais bénéficié de ce statut, contrairement aux Soudanais.

Les Etats-Unis ont annoncé vendredi octroyer à tous les Ethiopiens présents sur leur sol un statut qui protège de l’expulsion et autorise à travailler, en raison “du conflit armé” et de “la crise humanitaire” dans leur pays.

L’influence russe en Afrique fait débat au Parlement allemand

La Russie mène une campagne de désinformation très ciblée en Afrique afin de discréditer les partenaires occidentaux, estiment des parlementaires.

Les parlementaires de la CDU-CSU mettent en garde : l’influence de la Russie en Afrique a augmenté de manière significative au cours des dernières années. Un engagement qui se fait souvent de manière dissimulée par le biais de représentants comme le groupe de mercenaires Wagner.

Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions.

Areas controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) — which is affiliated with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) — in the eastern and northern countrysides of Aleppo witnessed violent confrontations in recent days between factions belonging to the SNA.