Turkey shot down Russian bomber over Syria

ISIL Military Convoy, Oil Tankers Destroyed in Syria's Sweida Province

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941007000371

"The long convoy of the ISIL oil tankers was targeted by the Syrian government forces in the Northeastern part of Shath village," the sources said.

"Most of the tankers were set ablaze in the attack, and many of the convoy's guards were killed," the sources added.

"In the meantime, the army forces tracked and targeted a convoy of the Takfiri terrorists' military vehicles loaded with ammunition and weapons in Rajm al-Dawla village," the sources said.

"In addition to the destruction of the military vehicles, the militant group sustained a heavy death toll too," they added.

Military experts believe that one of the best ways of putting the militant groups under pressure is cutting their supplying lines through sporadic attacks on their convoys.

"The militant groups do not have discipline of an army with a chart of military duties. A unit of them might be used as a combat group and in the same time as a supplying or engineering unit. So, they are vulnerable. They are not expert in their job. One-two regular attacks on their supplying convoys can face them big problems," experts say.

Last week, The Syrian army and popular forces intensified their military operations against ISIL terrorists in the province of Sweida.

The Syrian army, backed by the popular defense groups, destroyed ISIL positions in the village of al-Qaser in the Northern countryside of Sweida.

The Syrian forces also destroyed a heavy machine gun-equipped car during the military operations, killing all terrorists on board.

Meanwhile, a group of terrorists were killed and injured in clashes with the National Defense Forces in the vicinity of al-Haqaf village in the countryside of Sweida.
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Having tightened its grip on power this fall, the AKP, Turkey's ruling party, will become increasingly assertive in its foreign policy in 2016. Ankara's resurgence, according to Stratfor, will be reflected in a military operation in northern Syria, as well as a widening rift with Russia - a direct result of Erdogan's policies.

CIA' 2016 Forecast: Turkey Set to Make a 'Military Move' Into Syria
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151229/1032447003/turkey-syria-airstrikes-campaign.html?

The intelligence company maintains that Washington will likely "facilitate" Ankara's predicted "heavy air campaign" in Syrian provinces bordering Turkey.

"Turkey will emphasize its intent to rely principally on Sunni Turkmen and Arab rebel proxies to clear and hold the Islamic State-infested territory, but Ankara will also have a contingency plan ready in case it needs to deploy ground forces," the think tank noted.

This seems to indicate that the AKP is not planning to put Turkish boots on the ground right away, but at the same time this scenario should not be completely ruled out.

Ankara, according to Stratfor, "is already preparing for an operation west of the Euphrates River in northern Syria." However, the intelligence company did not speculate with regard to when this operation is expected to be launched.

Ankara's goal, according to the analysts, will be to "flush out" Daesh militants from the border regions. However, many doubt Turkey's commitment to tackling the terrorist group and the like. Experts have accused Ankara of using radicals in its regional power play, which involves among other things an attempt to oust Bashar al-Assad.

It is doubtful that Ankara's initiative will receive formal backing from the Syrian government, which will further strain relation between the two.

The predicted operation will also deepen tensions between Turkey and Russia, since the latter has been authorized to conduct a counterterrorism operation in Syria, including its northern regions.



Foreign Planes Dropping Military Aid for ISIL in Kirkuk
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941008000580

Iraqi security sources disclosed on Tuesday that the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group has received military aid and other supplies dropped by unknown planes near the city of Kirkuk, Northern Iraq.

"After the US army's special heliborne operations in Southwestern Kirkuk, unknown planes dropped military supplies and other aids for the ISIL in the Southern part of Kirkuk," an Iraqi security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told FNA on Tuesday.

The official did not disclose more details about the identity of the planes, but said that it might have been US or Turkish.

In early November, the Iraqi defense ministry announced in a statement that two Canadian and Swedish planes which were carrying arms to the Kurdistan region illegally were discharged and returned to their bases in Kuwait and Turkey.

According to the statement, "upon the order of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces and after several days of confiscation, the two planes were allowed to leave Baghdad international airport with all their cargos to their bases in Kuwait and Turkey".

In a relevant development earlier, the Iraqi government had announced that it had seized two planes of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition member states that were carrying weapons to the Kurdistan Region without prior coordination or information of Baghdad.

"The inspection committee in Baghdad International Airport has found a huge number of rifles equipped with silencers, as well as light and mid-sized weapons," Head of the Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Commission Hakem al-Zameli said.

He noted that two Swedish and Canadian airplanes were going to fly to Iraq's Kurdistan region, but they were seized after arms cargos were discovered.

The US and some other coalition members have been supplying arms to different actors in Iraq.

During the last year, Iraqi officials have on different occasions blasted the US and its allies for supplying the ISIL in Syria with arms and ammunition under the pretext of fighting the Takfiri terrorist group.

Also in February, a senior Iraqi provincial official lashed out at the western countries and their regional allies for supporting Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, revealing that US and Israeli-made weapons have been discovered from the areas purged of ISIL terrorists.

"We have discovered weapons made in the US, European countries and Israel from the areas liberated from ISIL's control in Al-Baqdadi region," the Al-Ahad news website quoted Head of Al-Anbar Provincial Council Khalaf Tarmouz as saying.

He noted that the weapons made by the European countries and Israel were discovered from the terrorists in the Eastern parts of the city of Ramadi.

Gharawi added that "the US is trying to expand the time of the war against the ISIL to get guarantees from the Iraqi government to have its bases in Mosul and Anbar provinces."



Russia-Turkey Crisis: Erdogan Criticizes Moscow For Backing Syrian President Assad
http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-turkey-crisis-erdogan-criticizes-moscow-backing-syrian-president-assad-2242261

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Russia for backing Syrian President Bashar Assad amid heightened tensions between Ankara and Moscow. Erdogan Tuesday accused Assad’s government of "mercilessly" killing tens of thousands of people.

Erdogan’s comments came during a press conference before departing for Saudi Arabia for a visit that would focus on Syria and the fight against terrorist groups, including the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.

"You cannot go anywhere by supporting a regime that has mercilessly killed 400,000 innocent people with conventional and chemical weapons,” Erdogan said, according to the Associated Press, hinting at Russia. Erdogan also accused countries of "adding fuel to fire" by backing Syrian Kurdish fighters, which Turkey considers as terrorist groups because of their links to Turkey's outlawed Kurdish rebel group.
 
Captured Daesh Commander Reveals How ‘Turkey Actively Helped Militants’

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151229/1032467940/daesh-commander-talks-turkish-involvement.html

Kerim Amara is one of the militant commanders of Daesh (Islamic State) who was taken prisoner by Kurdish forces in Syria. A correspondent from Sputnik Turkiye was able to secure an exclusive interview with the militant.

A 31-year-old citizen of Tunisia, Kerim Amara, until recently was a commander in the ranks of Daesh. He joined the jihadists in 2013 and was captured by Kurdish forces in 2015.

“After the revolution in Tunisia, many young people were engaged with Islamist organizations which gave basic training of radical Islam and jihad. I also took such a course. On the advice of a friend I made contact with Daesh. I went to Libya from Tunisia and from there by plane I reached Turkey. After that I illegally crossed the Turkish border in Hatay and got into Syrian territory,” Amara said in an interview.

After fighting on the side of Daesh for a year in Ramadi, Amara was send to Aleppo where he fought against the Free Syrian Army for more than two months. Later on he was sent to Kobani where he was eventually captured by Kurdish forces.

Recalling his time as a commander of Daesh, Amara said that Turkey helped the militants to find new members for the group. “In all time that I was in the ranks of Daesh, I never heard that the Turkish military had hampered the process of accession of new members in the ranks of the group. On the contrary, we were always told that Turkey praises Daesh and actively helps it,” Amara told Sputnik Turkiye in an exclusive interview.

Kerim Amara shared important information regarding the release of 49 employees of the Turkish consulate in Mosul, who were held captive for 101 days by the Daesh militants.

In the summer of 2015, when there was a crisis with the Turkish consulate in Mosul, the Turkish media reported that 49 hostages were exchanged for 180 members of Daesh, who at that time were in Turkish prisons. At that time the Turkish leadership did not officially deny this information.

Kerim said that he was personally involved in the process of transfer and exchange of the 49 employees of the Turkish embassy, because at that time he was in Iraq. “We gave Turkey the Mosul consulate workers, and Turkey in turn gave us our people. The operation was organized by the secret services.”

According to Amara, Daesh sold oil to Turkey and Iraq and in return received food from Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

“During the clashes in Kobani our commander often visited Turkey. From there he brought food and other necessities. Some Daesh commanders were of Turkish origin,” Amara noted.
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URGRENT: Al-Baqdadi's Office Chief Killed in Mosul

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941008000644

Al-Baqdadi's office director was killed in a bombing raid in Hay al-Maleki region in Mosul city on Tuesday, Arab media outlets reported.

No further detail has been released about the identity of Al-Baqdadi's slain chief of staff.

Earlier today, the Iraqi forces captured the so-called financial minister of the ISIL in the city of Ramadi in Anbar province.

The senior ISIL leader was hidden among 414 Iraqi refugees in Anbar province, but was identified and apprehended by security forces.

The security forces did not reveal the identity of the captured terrorist leader.

Iraq's joint operations command announced on Monday that the Iraqi forces have managed to liberate the entire city of Ramadi from the control of ISIL terrorists.

The Iraqi armed forces started massive attacks on the ISIL last week to take back Ramadi.

On Monday, the Iraqi forces also captured senior ISIL leader Abu Omar Al-Shishani and two of his top aides in the Northern parts of Iraq.

Al-Shishani and two of his senior aides and commanders were captured in the city of Kirkuk.

Some Arabic-language media reported that Al-Shishani was arrested in a joint military operation with the US special force, but Pentagon rejected that its forces had any role in al-Shishani's capture.

The report on al-Shishian's capture comes as the Arab media outlets had reported his death several times before.

No Iraqi official has confirmed al-Shishani's capture yet.

Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili known by his nom de guerre Abu Omar al-Shishani or Omar al-Shishani, is a Georgian terrorist who was an ISIL commander in Syria. He was a former sergeant in the Georgian army.

A veteran of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Batirashvili became a jihadist after being discharged from the Georgian military and served in various command positions with Islamist militant groups fighting in the Syrian war. Batirashvili was previously the leader of the rebel group Katibat al-Muhajireen (Emigrants Brigade), also known as the Muhajireen Brigade, and its successor, Jeish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters).

In May 2013, Batirashvili was appointed Northern commander for ISIL, with authority over ISIL’s military operations and ISIL’s forces in northern Syria, specifically Aleppo, al-Raqqah, Lattakia, and northern Idlib Provinces. As of late 2013, he was the ISIL emir (leader) for Northern Syria and was located in and around Aleppo Province. He was also in charge of fighters from Chechnya and elsewhere in the Caucasus
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URGENT: Another Major Blow to ISIL; Syrian Army Takes Two Towns in Homs

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941008000584

"After hours of a fierce battle on the ground and heavy bombing of the ISIL strongholds by the Syrian warplanes, the Syrian government forces inflicted another defeat on the terrorist group and retook full control over Maheen," the army said.

"Maheen has been liberated from the ISIL. Maheen and the neighboring town of Hawareen have been liberated from ISIL terrorists completely," the army added.

"It is expected that the Syrian government forces will continue their offensive to the town of Quaryatayn over 10km to the East," the army said.

Army announced earlier today that its troops alongside the country's popular forces continued to push back the ISIL from nearby battlefields of Maheen town and regained the strategic Maheen Mountains after hours of heavy clashes.

"The Syrian army and the National Defense Forces (NDF) retook full control over Jabal Maheen (Maheen Mountains) after an intense battle this morning with the ISIL," the army announced.

"Jabal Maheen overlooks the strategic town of Maheen and it is one of the most important sites along the Maheen-Sadad Road that was under the ISIL control last week," the army added.

"With Jabal Maheen under their control, the Syrian army is now at the Northern gates of the town; this leaves ISIL in a bad position because the pro-government forces have the high ground," the army pointed our.
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New Scandal? The Erdogans Spotted Laundering Money in EU

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151229/1032461807/erdogans-spotted-laundering-money-eu.html

The evidence continues to mount against Turkish President Erdogan and his family regarding their involvement in illicit collaboration with Daesh (Islamic State); surprisingly, neither Washington, nor Brussels has raised its voice against Recep Erdogan who remains at the helm of Turkey, Martin Berger notes.

The family of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has transformed into a "carnivorous octopus" which has entangled the Turkish economy and politics, extending its tentacles far beyond the state, Czech-based freelance journalist and analyst Martin Berger emphasizes.

In his recent peace for New Eastern Outlook, Berger summarizes the examples of Erdogan's involvement in illicit collaboration with Daesh.

He points out that Sumeyye Erdogan, the daughter of the Turkish leader, has been running a covert military hospital for Daesh terrorists.

"With the consent of Erdogan, Turkish intelligence experts have been training Islamists at secret bases in the Konya Province inside the Turkish border," Berger continues.

And of course, there is enough evidence to prove that Bilal Erdogan, a son of the Turkish President, is up to his eyeballs in illegal oil smuggling from Daesh-held territories in Syria and Iraq.

In an apparent attempt to conceal his dirty misdeeds Recep Erdogan ordered a series of arrests targeting independent journalists, Berger underscores.

Can Dundar, the editor and correspondent of the Turkish center-left Cumhuriyet newspaper was detained along with his counterpart Erdem Gul for shedding light on Turkey's arms smuggling to terrorists in Syria.

"However, Western officials and international organizations couldn't care less about all these facts. Moreover, Tayyip Erdogan has has received much positive attention from EU officials, despite the role he's been playing in the rapidly expanding migration crisis," the Czech-based journalist stresses.

Interestingly enough, it turned out that the Erdogans are also involved in illegal actions in Europe.

Murat Hakan Uzan, Erdogan's longstanding nemesis, has recently demanded Italian law enforcement authorities to launch an investigation into Bilal Erdogan's activities.

"According to Italian media, this family [Uzan] accused Bilal Erdogan of violating European and, in particular, Italian financial laws, since he has allegedly brought with him a considerable amount of cash in an attempt to launder it in Italy," the journalist narrates, adding that Italian authorities have been at pains to downplay the scandal

Predictably, the Turkish representatives in Italy are making every effort to settle the conflict and prevent the information leak to the media.

The question remains open, whether the Italian prosecutor will open a case against Bilal Erdogan. Given Bilal Erdogan's illicit oil trade, it is possible that the Turkish President's son is also involved in money laundering in the EU.

"Will Recep Erdogan, under the auspices of Washington (since his son was enrolled to study at the American Institute), again be able to avoid any legal prosecution, including an investigation into the links of his family with international terrorism?" Berger asks.
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Turkish, Greek Jets Engage In Dogfight Over Mediterranean
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-29/turkish-greek-jets-get-dogfight-over-mediterranean

After months of back and forth banter between Ankara and Moscow regarding supposed Russian incursions into Turkish airspace, Erdogan finally “went there” on November 24 when Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian Su-24 near the border with Syria. One of the two pilots was killed.

Although Turkey claimed the (17 second) violation of its airspace was unacceptable and just cause for military engagement, it was just three years prior that Erdogan had decried the downing of a Turkish F-4 phantom in Syria’s airspace."A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack," he declared.

But that wasn’t the only hypocrisy apparent in Turkey’s brazen move. According to the University of Thessaly (whose statistics are based on the Greek military’s tally), there were 2,244 violations of Greece’s airspace by Turkish jets in 2014 alone, representing an increase of some 250% from 2013. Here’s a look at the graphic:

Well don’t look now, but Turkish and Greek fighters just got into a dogfight over the Aegean.

Here’s eKathimerini:

Greek and Turkish jets engaged in a brief dogfight over the Aegean Sea on Tuesday after Turkish aircraft violated Greek national air space several times.

A formation of six Turkish jets, flanked by two CN-235 aircraft that were not in formation, violated Greek air space nine times, according to Greek defense officials.

Two of the eight Turkish jets were armed.

Since Erdogan is a fair man, and because we're sure Turkey's attack on the Russian warplane was completely legitimate, we suppose the Turkish President would have understood if Greece had shot down one of Turkey's fighters.
 
sToRmR1dR said:
New Scandal? The Erdogans Spotted Laundering Money in EU

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151229/1032461807/erdogans-spotted-laundering-money-eu.html

The evidence continues to mount against Turkish President Erdogan and his family regarding their involvement in illicit collaboration with Daesh (Islamic State); surprisingly, neither Washington, nor Brussels has raised its voice against Recep Erdogan who remains at the helm of Turkey, Martin Berger notes.

The family of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has transformed into a "carnivorous octopus" which has entangled the Turkish economy and politics, extending its tentacles far beyond the state, Czech-based freelance journalist and analyst Martin Berger emphasizes.

"According to Italian media, this family [Uzan] accused Bilal Erdogan of violating European and, in particular, Italian financial laws, since he has allegedly brought with him a considerable amount of cash in an attempt to launder it in Italy," the journalist narrates, adding that Italian authorities have been at pains to downplay the scandal
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The leader of the main opposition party has provided a court with evidence of shady donations made to a foundation run by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's son, Bilal, by the Saudi royal family in order to secure favors from the government.

CHP leader shows proof of $99 million Saudi donation to TÜRGEV
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_chp-leader-shows-proof-of-99-million-saudi-donation-to-turgev_408285.html

Speaking to a full house of Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies in Parliament, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said he had previously revealed that the late King Abdullah, the former head of the Saudi royal family, had deposited $99 million to the Foundation for Youth and Education in Turkey (TÜRGEV), to gain favors from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Kılıçdaroğlu was subsequently sued by TÜRGEV, which demanded TL 100,000 for making defamatory statements by alleging that it had engaged in bribery. However on Tuesday Kılıçdaroğlu showed a receipt he had obtained from the bank in which the donation was deposited.

The hefty donation, unprecedented in size in Turkey, was sent to the foundation's bank account on April 26, 2012, only two weeks before the permit for a building in Sevda Tepe, an expensive plot of land in İstanbul overlooking the Bosporus, was granted. In the four years before 2013, total donations to the foundation amounted to TL 29 million, plus an additional $100 million, according to official records kept by the Directorate General for Foundations (VGM).

“We sent that document to the court,” he said, referring to Vakıflar Bankası, which holds the bank account of TÜRGEV and sent the bank statement to the court.

“TÜRGEV's name is now götürgev,” Kılıçdaroğlu said making a play on words that brings to mind looting and thievery.

TÜRGEV was one of the organizations at the center of the graft investigations revealed in December 2013, and incriminated several members of then-prime minister Erdoğan cabinet as well has some of his family members. Prosecutors claimed that Erdoğan's son Bilal had abused his father's influence to help TÜRGEV acquire or purchase valuable land in several provinces far below market value.
 
Court Acquits Turkish Suspects Involved in Sarin Gas Supply to Syria

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151230/1032514942/turkey-court-suspects-sarin-gas.html

A Turkish court in Adana acquitted five Turkish suspects accused of procuring chemicals used in production of sarin gas, Zaman reported.

In May 2013, media reported that Turkish special service officers arrested members of Syrian opposition group who were in possession of two kilograms of sarin.

Moscow conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and expressed hope that Turkey would provide information regarding the detention of the militants. However, two months later, all detainees were released pending trial.

Later on when the court established that the materials they were trying to obtain could in fact be used to produce sarin, a warrant for the arrest was issued.

The case sparked political controversy when the deputy of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Eren Erdem said in an interview with RT that Turkey knew about Islamic State-bound shipments of deadly sarin gas passing through its territory.

Eren Erdem was accused of treason by Ankara's top prosecutor and criminal investigation was opened against him.

But after addressing the parliament and saying that the Turkish president had started a smear campaign against him, Erdem went even further by accusing the Turkish authorities of complicity, stating that the government pressured the prosecutor of the case into toning down the accusations and ending the trial rapidly.

The prosecutor of the case involving the five Turkish suspects recently denied Erdem's accusations in a statement, saying the Turkish suspects were released because they were not found to be in possession of the materials used for sarin production, while rejecting the idea that the justice minister pressured him into bringing the case to a close immediately.

Two CHP deputies said that the Turkish government was out to get Eren Erdem and had launched a lynching campaign against the deputy.

Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Ali Şeker stated that Turkish authorities must answer questions in connection with the incident.
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Rebel Discord: Syrian Militant Groups Now Fight Each Other

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160101/1032568804/daesh-rebels-infighting.html

The recent victories of the Syrian army and its allies across Syria, especially in Aleppo province, have seemingly widened a rift between the militant groups in the country, which have engaged in serious clashes with each other.

Heavy battles have erupted between two rebel groups – Jaysh al-Islam (meaning Army of Islam) and Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham in Damascus province, as militants continue to lose ground in Syria, according to reports from the Iranian News Agency FARS.

This is not the first report of infighting between the rebel groups in the country.

Earlier in December, heavy fighting reportedly erupted between the Daesh (also known as ISIL/ISIS) and other terrorist groups in the Northern part of Aleppo province, leaving casualties on both sides.

On December 7, a group of terrorists was killed in an exchange of fire between Daesh and other militant groups in the village of Kafra in Aleppo province.

In subseguent infighting, the Mo'arez (Dissident) and Thowar rebeo groups have reportedly stormed Daesh positions in the Northern parts of Aleppo province and captured two villages, the agency quotes its militant sources as saying.

The sources also said that Mo'arez terrorists pushed back the Daesh militants and took control of al-Kharbah and al-Qazal villages near the border with Turkey after hours of clashes.

The rival terrorist groups announced earlier that they had killed tens of the Daesh militants in a car-bomb attack in the Daesh-held Thowran village.

On Monday, the Daesh was reportedly engaged in heavy clashes with rival militants in Dalha village in the Northern countryside of Aleppo.

Reports said that Daesh launched heavy mortar attacks on the strongholds of other militant groups in the area.

Local sources said that Daesh mortar shelling was conducted in Marea, a town some 25 kilometers North of Aleppo city.

There have been no reports of the targets or any possible casualties.

Sources said last week that the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front has declared war on Daesh militants after a dispute over the latter’s prisoner exchange with the Lebanese Army.
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Senior Militant Commander Killed by Syrian Army in Hama Province

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941011000244

"Ibrahim Mohammad Adnan, the field commander of Thewar al-Sham battalions, was killed in the army attacks," the sources said.

"In the meantime, Abdulqader Ahmad Abduljalil was also killed in the army's offensives in Hama province," the sources added.

Reports said on Thursday that a group of militants were killed in Syrian airstrikes on Takfiris' concentration centers in several regions across Hama province.

Field sources said that the Syrian warplanes bombed militants' positions and movements in Kafr Zita, Morek, Tloul al-Homr and al-Lataminah in Hama.

The Syrian airstrikes also hit ISIL positions and vehicles in Jena al-Elbawi and Jeb al-Rayan in Hama on Wednesday.

The Syrian army also fired artillery shells at militants' positions in the villages of al-Sharia, al-Qahera and al-Mansoura.
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Not meaning to get off topic but parts of Turkey are getting hammered with loads of snow? Some how, I can't picture snow in Turkey?

It’s snowing very, very hard in Turkey
http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/02/its-snowing-very-very-hard-in-turkey-5597076/

It might be a mild winter in the UK, but it’s snowing hard in Turkey.

In Hakkari, residents are trying (and often failing) to clear snow off the road and off their cars.

Airline passengers are facing lengthy delays and cancellations and there have been a number of road closures.

Snow storms and extreme weather continue across the city, where temperatures have plunged as low as -16C.

In Instanbul, at least one person has died in an accident related to snow on the roads, and several others have been injured.
 
On the snow/earth changes thing, I learned about a potentially catastrophic earthquake heading towards Istanbul about 20 years ago (the hostory of the earthquakes in that region where moving along the fault line, and Istanbul is next in line).

So given all that is going on, that's something that may happen soon.

From 2014
http://www.livescience.com/47827-turkey-seismic-gap.html

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7 or greater may be building up along a now-quiet fault on the coast of Istanbul, a new study finds.

Different segments of the North Anatolian Fault, one of the most energetic and longest earthquake faults in the world, have fallen silent. This silence may mean the "seismic gap" may be inactive and two tectonic plates are peacefully sliding past each other. Or, the segment could be building tension that accrues over decades and may eventually release it in a large, seismic event.

There is evidence for both cases, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Turkey found in a new study.

The North Anatolian Fault is 745 miles (1,199 kilometers) long, about the same length as the San Andreas Fault in California, and stretches from northern Turkey to the Aegean Sea. A analysis of 20 years' worth of GPS data along the fault shows that a seismic gap under the Sea of Marmara at Princes Island, just 5 miles (8 km) west of Istanbul, is likely to cause the next big earthquake. [Photo Journal: The Gorgeous San Andreas Fault]

The western segment of the seismic gap, however, seems to be moving without producing large earthquakes, they found.

"Istanbul is a large city, and many of the buildings are very old and not built to the highest modern standards compared to, say, Southern California," Michael Floyd, a research scientist in MIT's department of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences, said in a statement. "From an earthquake scientist's perspective, this is a hotspot for potential seismic hazards."

It's impossible to predict when such an earthquake might happen, but the researchers urged people to set up earthquake safety plans.

"Ultimately, for people's safety, we encourage them to be prepared," Floyd said. "To be prepared, they need to know what to prepare for — that's where our work can contribute."

In 1509, the North Anatolian Fault triggered a quake long considered one of the worst to hit the Mediterranean in the past 500 years,according to a 2003 study in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Turkey's latest quake shook Izmit in 1999, killing 30,000 people and causing $6.5 billion in damages. [7 Ways the Earth Changes in the Blink of an Eye]

To determine when the next big one might hit, the researchers collected data from about 100 GPS stations along the fault, to track its movement over time.

"By continuously tracking, we can tell which parts of the Earth's crust are moving relative to other parts, and we can see that this fault has relative motion across it at about the rate at which your fingernail grows," Floyd said.

The fault is expected to move about an inch (25 millimeters) a year, which may sometimes cause earthquakes. But the segment at Princes Island isn't budging. Instead of moving a third- to a half-inch (10 to 15 mm) per year as it should, the segment is stuck and building up tension.

The Princes Island segment should have slipped about 8 to 11 feet (2.4 to 3.4 meters) since its last earthquake 250 years ago, but it hasn't, researchers said. Instead, tension is building up. If that tension were released in a giant, single earthquake, the Earth could move as much as 11 feet in a few seconds, the study found.

Such a blow could destroy Istanbul, a city of about 14 million people.

"Since the international airport is located in an area where ground motion would be high, it would be difficult to get in emergency troops," Marco Bohnhoff, a professor at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany, said in the statement. "And unfortunately 90 percent of buildings in Istanbul do not fulfill building codes and might not resist the expected earthquake."

With help from the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, workers have retrofitted or reconstructed more than 1,000 public buildings in Istanbul, including schools, hospitals and clinics. In addition, about 662,000 peoplehave received training in disaster preparedness, and 3,630 civil engineers in Turkey have been trained in seismic retrofitting code, according to a statement.

The fault may release a series of smaller earthquakes, but people should still be prepared for a large one, the researchers said.

"It only takes one to affect many lives," Floyd said. "In a location like Istanbul that is known to be subject to large earthquakes, it comes back to the message: Always be prepared."
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Shia PMU Captured Large Amount of Weapons and Ammo From ISIS Hidden Places (disturbing images)

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dab_1451967696
 
Islamic State territory shrinks in Iraq and Syria

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Islamic-State-territory-shrinks-in-Iraq-and-Syri-439450

BAGHDAD- Islamic's State's territory shrank by 40 percent from its maximum expansion in Iraq, and by 20 percent in Syria in 2015, as international forces pushed its militants out of several cities, a spokesman of the US-led coalition said on Tuesday.

IS in 2014 swept through a third of Iraq, seizing Mosul, the largest city in the north, and reaching the vicinity of Baghdad.

Counter-offensives by Iraqi and Kurdish armed forces supported by the US-led coalition, and by Iran-backed Shi'ite militias forced them out of several cities since, including Tikrit, north of Baghdad, and Ramadi, to the west.

In Syria, IS is fighting the army of President Bashar al-Assad and other rebel groups opposed to his rule. It is facing air strikes by the US-led coalition and by Russia which has sent warplanes to support the Syrian government.
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ISIL Captures Sidra Oil Port in Libya

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941015001175

The ISIL attacked the port city from its base in the Bin Jawad which is just 30 kilometers from Sidra.

The militants managed to kill the security guards who were defending the port city.

The ISIL, which has been operating in Libya for about a year, failed to take Sidra in an attack last October.

In March, Takfiri militants took control of at least two oil fields in central Libya.

"Extremists took control of the al-Bahi and al-Mabrouk fields and are now heading to seize the al-Dahra field following the retreat of the force guarding these sites, due to lack of ammunition," Colonel Ali al-Hassi, the industry's security service spokesman, said.

Libya's descent into chaos since its 2011 uprising has seen the formation of rival parliaments and governments, and allowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group to gain a foothold in the oil-rich North African state.
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Pushed Back ISIS Could Resort to Guerrilla Warfare

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/pushed-back-isis-could-resort-guerrila-warfare/ri12061

The group is far from beaten. Should even more pressure be applied against it could take a page from the Taleban playbook and go underground - a style of fighting which would suit its fanatical and battle hardened fighters

The war in Iraq may become more like the war in Afghanistan over the coming years. Isis forces in fixed and identifiable positions cannot withstand ground assaults backed with intense air attacks by the US Air Force or, in the case of the Syrian army, by the Russians.

The last extreme-fundamentalist Sunni state in the wider Middle East found this out in 2001 when US air strikes in support of the numerically smaller Northern Alliance overthrew the Taliban in Afghanistan. Like the Afghan Taliban, Isis may progressively revert to guerrilla war, in which it can best use its highly committed and well-trained fighters without suffering heavy losses.

Isis is coming under growing military pressure from its many enemies on many fronts. The Iraqi army, supported by US air strikes, has recaptured Ramadi, the city that Isis fighters took last May in their biggest victory of 2015. At the opposite border of the self-declared caliphate, the Syrian Kurds are threatening Isis’s hold north of Aleppo and on those parts of northern Syria where it is still in control.

Could it be that the tide has turned finally and irreversibly against Isis? Everywhere it is fighting against ground forces backed by air power, which means that it suffers heavy casualties while opposing troops are unscathed. This was demonstrated during the four-and-a-half-month siege of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani in which Isis lost an estimated 2,200 men, killed mostly by bombs and missiles. The city was 70 per cent destroyed and the same may be true of Ramadi, which has been hit by some 600 air strikes since July.

In the first half of 2015, Isis had several advantages that it has now lost or is in the process of losing. At that time, it had easy access to Turkey at the Tal Abyad border-crossing point, which the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) captured in June. It can still move people and supplies across a narrow strip of the frontier west of the Euphrates but the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are in fact the YPG slightly diluted by Sunni Arabs and Christians, seized the October Dam on the Euphrates on 23 December, thus threatening Isis’s whole position north of Aleppo.

Russian air support for the Syrian army means that it is now far more difficult for Isis to win easy victories such as its capture of Palmyra in May. Russian air strikes do not mean that Bashar al-Assad is going to win but they do mean he is unlikely to lose. Isis’s successes in 2014 stemmed in large part from the weakness of its enemies, who disintegrated when attacked by much smaller Isis forces. It had been conceivable, if not likely, that Assad’s rule would crumble under pressure and IS would be the beneficiary. This is no longer the case.

Russian intervention damaged Isis and the other jihadi groups in another way: it energised US military action in Iraq and Syria. Washington made it clear that it did not intend to co-operate with Russia to destroy Isis. But superpower rivalry in the Cold War did not always have negative effects and the US has increased the weight of its air strikes against Isis in support, primarily, of the Iraqi army and the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds. In addition, air strikes – combined with the fall in the price of oil – have largely destroyed the Isis oil economy, once one of its main sources of revenue.

But it is too easy to imagine that these defeats and setbacks mean that Isis is in terminal decline. It is true that there is an implicit, if defiant, acknowledgement that things are not going well in a speech by Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made public on 26 December. He said: “Don’t worry, O Muslims, your state is fine and expanding every day and with every harshness that comes upon it, it spits out the hypocrites and agents and becomes more firm and strong.” Presumably, the expansion he is speaking of, assuming that the reference is not purely rhetorical, refers to Libya, Sinai, Yemen, Nigeria and the other countries where IS has taken root.

Unfortunately, there are limitations to the military progress of the four main anti-Isis ground forces: the Iraqi army, the YPG, the Iraqi Kurds and the Syrian army. All have advanced or won local victories because they were supported by intense air strikes. Isis knows that it will always lose if it fights it out in battles and sieges in which its fighters can be easily targeted. This is the lesson of the battle at Ramadi and on other fronts in Syria and Iraq over the past year.

But Isis has learned from its defeats. It did not commit large numbers of fighters to make a doomed last stand at Ramadi, Sinjar, Tal Abyad or Kweiris airbase, east of Aleppo. Important though the Tal Abyad crossing with Turkey was for the caliphate, there may have been only 25 fighters in it when it fell to the YPG. The US said that, in the final stages of the fighting, Isis had reduced its forces in the city to between 250 and 350 men, and most of these slipped away before the end. Isis is reverting to guerrilla war, in which it can best employ the tactics of surprise attacks and ambushes by small, rapidly assembled forces.

There is a reason why such tactics are likely to be particularly effective in the current war. Isis is fighting numerically small armies that have an even more limited number of combat troops who can be deployed. At Ramadi, the Iraqi army used its Golden Division and its best units but US air power was crucial to success. The Iraqi army has some 50,000 men in five divisions and these are of variable quality. The YPG claims to have a similar number of troops, though the real figure is probably lower. The Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga appears to have acted as a mopping-up force at Sinjar where, again, Isis withdrew rather than making a costly last stand.

There is a further development in the fighting that will work in Isis’s favour: anti-Isis forces may be able to take territory but they cannot necessarily hold it. As Isis’s enemies advance, they will be operating more and more in Sunni Arab-populated areas where support for Isis and hostility to non-Sunni or non-Arab forces will be greatest. This will be true for the Kurds and, whatever their claims to be non-sectarian, for the Iraqi and Syrian armies. Communal hatreds are at such a pitch in Iraq and Syria that occupation by a non-Sunni Arab armed force may provoke a reaction in favour of Isis.

The parallel with Afghanistan can be carried too far, because Isis has always given political and religious emphasis to holding territory in which it can rule and people can live by its variant of Islam. It has a real state and an administrative structure to defend. Its theological beliefs may be rigid but its military strategy is fluid and changes rapidly to meet external challenges. Despite its recent defeats, the caliphate is still a long way from being overcome.
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Inside an Islamic State Terror Weapons Lab in Syria

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=470_1452058835
 
sToRmR1dR said:
Shia PMU Captured Large Amount of Weapons and Ammo From ISIS Hidden Places (disturbing images)

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dab_1451967696
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The array of weapon photo's is disturbing. Most damming evidence is the photo of the long black box, containing stacks of "uncirculated American one hundred dollar bills!"
 
Gülen, former police chiefs go on trial over corruption case
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gulen-former-police-chiefs-go-on-trial-over-corruption-case.aspx?pageID=238&nID=93500&NewsCatID=509

Some 69 people, including the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and former police chiefs, formally went on trial on Jan. 6, accused of attempting to topple the Turkish government through the corruption investigations that went public in Dec. 2013.

Eight of the 69 defendants are being tried under arrest in the case against a purported “terrorist organization,” which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his inner circle call the “Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).” The defendents face a total of seven to 330 years in jail in the case.

The first court hearing was held in Istanbu’s Çağlayan Courthouse on Jan. 6. Former police chiefs Yakub Saygılı, Kazım Aksoy, İbrahim Şener, Arif İbiş, Mehmet Habip Kunt, Mehmet Fatih Yiğit, Hüseyin Korkmaz and Mahir Çakallı appeared in court as arrested defendants for ordering the launch of the Dec. 25, 2013 corruption probe.

In the probe Bilal Erdoğan, the son of the president, was implicated as one of the plaintiffs, along with several Turkish businessmen with links to then-Prime Minister Erdoğan.

The government managed to quash the investigation through a series of dismissals and reassignments of prosecutors and state officials.

Gülen continues to reside in Pennsylvania and is being tried in absentia. The Turkish government has filed a request for his extradition from the U.S.

Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse Gülen of forming and heading a terrorist organization whose members they say are working as insiders in police, judiciary and other state organizations.
 
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