Everybody wants to hop on the BRICS Express

Eurasia is about to get a whole lot larger as countries line up to join the Chinese and Russian-led BRICS and SCO, to the detriment of the west

Let’s start with what is in fact a tale of Global South trade between two members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). At its heart is the already notorious Shahed-136 drone – or Geranium-2, in its Russian denomination: the AK-47 of postmodern aerial warfare.

Iran’s Cities And Towns Erupt In Major New Surge Of Anti-Regime Protests – OpEd

Thursday marked the 42nd day of Iran’s nationwide protests. On Thursday morning the people of Mahabad in northwest Iran took to the streets on the 42nd day of the nationwide uprising. Locals initially took part in the burial ceremony of Ismail Moloudi who was killed by the regime’s security forces during last night’s protests in this city. Reports from local activists indicate units of the regime’s security forces opened fire on people in the Gomrok neighborhood, where Moloudi lived.

HTS, Turkey, and the future of Syria’s north

During the second week of October, unprecedented full-fledged military confrontations broke out in northern Syria between factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) subsequently intervening in support of some factions over others. The escalation began when members of the al-Hamzah Division (HD) assassinated the political activist Muhammad Abu Ghanoum and his pregnant wife in al-Bab in eastern Aleppo on Oct. 7. In response, the Third Legion, which is dominated by the Levant Front (LF) and Jaysh al-Islam (JI), launched multiple attacks against HD and its ally, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade (SSSB), driving them out of their military bases in Turkish-influenced rural eastern Aleppo and Afrin, known as the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas, respectively.

Turkey: Hundreds of Refugees Deported to Syria

EU Should Recognize Turkey Is Unsafe for Asylum Seekers

(Istanbul) – Turkish authorities arbitrarily arrested, detained, and deported hundreds of Syrian refugee men and boys to Syria between February and July 2022, Human Rights Watch said today.

Deported Syrians told Human Rights Watch that Turkish officials arrested them in their homes, workplaces, and on the street, detained them in poor conditions, beat and abused most of them, forced them to sign voluntary return forms, drove them to border crossing points with northern Syria, and forced them across at gunpoint.

Turkey’s New UAV “Deli” Introduced

Turkey’s new kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Deli, which continues to take important steps in the field of defense industry, has also been added to the inventory. Taking its name from the Deliler League, which was at the forefront of the war in the Ottoman Empire, and coming from above like a missile, Deli shatters the enemy where he falls.

Iran’s elite technical university emerges as hub of protests

The aging brick campus of the Sharif University of Technology, Iran’s elite technical school, has long been a magnet for the nation’s brightest minds, with a record of elevating its students to the highest reaches of society.

Thousands of Sharif University alumni power Iran’s most sensitive industries, including nuclear energy and aerospace. One of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s closest advisors has taught there for decades.

Turkey: A NATO Ally?

What do members, future members, dialogue partners and future dialogue partners of this exotic blend of nations [the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO] have in common?

With their growing democratic deficits and authoritarian-to-dictatorship regimes, they are at cold war with the world’s democratic bloc of nations.

Despite harsh stances, Iraq’s Muqtada al-Sadr still useful ally for Iran

Iran sees Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as an ally worth keeping despite his harsh criticisms of Iran and its allies in Iraq.

Hundreds of Sadrist protesters joined a demonstration today in Baghdad’s Liberation Square, marking the third anniversary of the start of the so-called October protest movement. On Oct. 25, 2019, massive protestors were confronted with a violent response from the then-government, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.