Turkey’s soft power strategies and Islamophobia

Although the Turkish state’s interest in Turkish migrants and children born in foreign countries is a new thing, a noticeable approach has emerged since the late 2000s and the early 2010s. This new phase, which was qualified by the systematization of rapid institutionalization and soft power strategies, foresees the creation of new state institutions; open interest in mobilizing youth; the expiation of international influence in the educational, cultural and religious fields of various state and civil society actors; and finally (not the last one), a wider approach of diaspora framed with religious unity.

Sudan Crisis Lingers On, Remains Below the Radar of International Attention

Bottom Line Up Front

The conflict in Sudan has seen indiscriminate bombings, extrajudicial executions, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war and yet despite this, has remained on the back pages, overtaken by attention on Gaza and the war in Ukraine.

Before leaving office, the Biden administration and the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against both sides in the conflict—the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armes Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

US Moves To Redesignate Iran-Backed Houthis As Foreign Terrorist Organization

The United States has begun the process to again declare the Iran-backed Huthi rebel group of Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), restoring the designation President Donald Trump set out during his first term.

“Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which arms and trains terrorist organizations worldwide, the Huthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform,” a White House statement said on January 22.

Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces Battle Turkish Proxies Amid Calls for Their Dissolution

Latest Developments

Battles Near Tishreen Dam Continue: Heavy fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) around the Tishreen Dam in northeastern Syria was ongoing on January 21, the SDF said. According to the SDF, the Turkish-backed factions have launched intense shelling and drone strikes in the area. Since January 15, clashes between Kurdish forces and the Turkish-backed SNA in Aleppo Governorate have escalated, resulting in 18 fatalities amid ongoing artillery and drone exchanges.

Al Imam Hussein Brigade

Highlights:
Also Known As: al-Imam Hussein Brigade; Imam Hussein Brigade militia;

Country Of Origin: Syria

Leaders: Amjad al- Bahadli, the first commander

Key Members: Feras al-Mahdawi, Abu Ali al Assad

Operational Area: Syria, Iraq

Involved In: The “al-Imam Hussein Brigade” is a militia made up of sub-units (militias) primarily made up of Syrian operatives (Sunnis, Druze, and Shiites) and Iraqi operatives (of Shi’ite background).

Saraya awliya al dam

Established In: August 2020

Also Known As: SAD, Companies of the Guardians of Blood;

Country Of Origin: Iraq

Operational Area: Iraq

Involved In: Armed attacks, Massacres, Assassinations, Bombings

General Info:

Saraya Awliya al-Dam, also referred to by the abbreviation SAD, is a Shi’ite pro-Iran militia based in Iraq. The organization is known for its counter-U.S. operations in Northern Iraq.

“We don’t want to stay here, abandoned in the desert”

A collection of testimonies of the protest of Sudanese refugees in the Agadez camp, in Niger

As the protests by refugees continue in the controversial “ humanitarian center ” of Agadez , the government of Niger received Elizabeth Tan, director of the Division for International Protection at the UNHCR office in Geneva, in early December. This was an important visit given the profile of Tan, who has worked for UNHCR since 1995 and has operated in several African contexts, including Burundi, Egypt and Sudan.

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)

OVERVIEW

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is a terrorist group based in Mali and active across much of West Africa, including parts of Burkina Faso and Niger. It formed in March 2017, when four Mali-based extremist groups—Ansar al-Din, al-Murabitun, the Macina Liberation Front (MLF), and the Sahara Emirate subgroup of al-Qa‘ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—announced that they had merged, formalizing cooperation among them. The leader of JNIM, Iyad ag Ghali, pledged the group’s allegiance to the amir of AQIM, to the amir of al-Qa‘ida, and to the leader of the Taliban.

L’intolérance des « progressistes » ne connaît plus de limites

Eux, ils peuvent tout se permettre…

Ça ne passe toujours pas. L’élection de Donald Trump continue de filer des boutons aux plus allergiques de nos représentants politico-médiatiques de gauche, lesquels n’ont visiblement pas compris deux choses essentielles. La première : Donald Trump a été élu par le peuple a-mé-ri-cain, lequel a plébiscité un projet clairement défini comprenant des actes forts dans des domaines comme l’industrie, la recherche scientifique, l’immigration, le wokisme, l’écologie, etc. À l’inverse de nos politiciens bavards qui, une fois arrivés au pouvoir après avoir promis le meilleur, ne font rien ou font pire que leurs prédécesseurs en faisant l’inverse de ce qu’ils avaient promis, le président américain, quoi que l’on pense de lui, a décidé de respecter ses engagements et de passer immédiatement à l’acte. La seconde : les Américains se soucient comme d’une guigne des rodomontades, des insultes, des invectives et des injonctions des journalistes et des artistes français dont ils ignorent jusqu’à l’existence.