Several days after Turkish and Iranian media were given orders by the governing authorities to critique France for “Islamophobia,” condemnations have now poured in from Pakistan and the terrorist group Hezbollah.
A special naval commandos unit made of of dozens of Libyan fighters has been setup with the held of the UAE to carry out operations against Turkey’s naval interests in the Mediterranean, sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Two years have passed since Syria’s south and southwestern regions were seized by government forces. Dubbed the “South Syria Deal,” a U.S.-Russian understanding with Jordan’s and Israel’s blessings, government forces and “state Symbols” took control of the countrysides of Daraa and Qunaytirah. Daraa-based opposition forces had to surrender and make do with a limited presence in the form of local councils while “non-Syrian elements” (a euphemism for pro-Iran militias) were removed from the Jordan and Golan borders.
More foreign fighters are thought to have joined the Islamic State (ISIS) from the former Soviet Union than from any other region of the world. The most prominent and active contingent came from the North Caucasus in southern Russia. Many of the underlying causes of radicalization and recruitment remain unresolved, and violence and instability may grow in the region in the post-ISIS era. The international community and U.S. government should engage constructively with Russian and local authorities in addressing the legacy of over two decades of fighting in the region, ineffective deradicalization programs, and the impunity and corruption seen as inherent in both government and law enforcement.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated security forces late Monday for conducting a military operation in Hatay province.
Police in Paris, France temporarily cordoned off an area around the iconic Arc de Triomphe monument after a bomb alert on Tuesday. Metro lines in the area were also evacuated while police carried out security checks.
The alert was raised over a suspicious bag found on the nearby Champ de Mars, which local media reported as containing different kinds of ammunition.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented further casualties in the Russian airstrikes on a camp belonging to the Ankara-backed al-Sham Corps in Jabal al-Dawila area in Harem, north-west of Idlib.
France gives Turkey two months to change East Med policies, recalls ambassador over Erdogan’s remarks about Macron.
Turkey announced late Saturday that it is extending by one week a gas exploration mission in the eastern Mediterranean that has caused tensions with Greece.
There are growing indications that Erdogan may be pushing to undermine the ceasefire in Libya.
At the current stage of the French-Turkish political conflict, political and religious considerations are being purposely mixed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but the background of his clash with France confirms it has nothing to do with religion, which is being used to hide an intense conflict governed by geostrategic calculations.
