Turkey shot down Russian bomber over Syria

[sToRmR1dR]

Unexpected: Daesh and al-Qaeda Become Stronger by Fighting Each Other

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160107/1032787215/isis-nusra-al-qaeda.html

Hopes were high that Daesh and al-Qaeda would be crippled by fighting each other, but the power struggle between the two terrorist groups that are tearing the Middle East apart has only made them stronger, analyst Ari Heistein wrote for the National Interest.

"Though [Daesh] has managed to overshadow its ideological predecessor in the media, it is becoming increasingly apparent that [Daesh] and al-Qaeda are complementary goods rather than substitutes," the expert on the Middle East observed.

The idea that both groups could weaken each other is not based on hope alone. Three facts made such a scenario look possible. The infighting claimed the lives of many al-Nusra Front fighters. Many others chose to switch sides and join Daesh. In addition, several terrorist groups, like Boko Haram, pledged their allegiance to Daesh.

These trends should have dealt a blow to al-Qaeda and its affiliates, like al-Nusra Front, but they have not.

"In fact, many al-Qaeda affiliates have not only remained, but expanded. … The strength of any force should be determined by the quantity and its quality, and in recent years al-Qaeda has improved on both counts," the analyst explained.

Al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda offshoots have seen more militants join their ranks. Moreover, their recruits transform into seasoned fighters faster since Yemen, Iraq and Syria serve as a training ground for them.

"It should come as no surprise that these two groups, while theoretically battling each other for leadership in the arena of global jihad, are individually experiencing a great deal of success," the analyst observed.

It follows then that the Western perspective on what is happening on the ground in Iraq, Syria and the Middle East in general has been distorted and needs to be readjusted.

"In an ideal world, the West would simply sit back and watch al-Qaeda and [Daesh] destroy each other without having to lift a finger. However, those idyllic predictions have failed to materialize, and it is possible that what we thought would hurt al-Qaeda and [Daesh] has actually propelled them forward," he noted.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

First the Middle East, now Central Asia slipping away from Turkey

_http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/turkey-losing-its-standing-in-central-asia-after-middle-east.html

Turkey — which with its deterioration in relations with Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Israel lost its economic, political and diplomatic influence in the Middle East — is now on the verge of losing Central Asia because of Ankara's crisis with Russia stemming from events in Syria.

The sanctions Moscow imposed after the Nov. 24 downing of a Russian plane are spreading to Russian spheres of influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as Central Asian countries that had established close ties with Ankara after the collapse of the Soviet Union appear to be preparing to distance themselves from Turkey. At the December 2015 Moscow summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — which includes the Turkic states of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan in addition to Russia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Belarus and Armenia — calls were made for Turkey to apologize to Russia.

Armenia holds the term presidency of the CIS-Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet republics. The military chiefs of member states met before the gathering of heads of state to hear their term chairman, Gen. Yuri Khachaturov, Armenian chief of the General Staff, harshly criticize Turkey. Khachaturov noted, “Chiefs of staff of all member states of the organization supported the Russian actions and denounced Turkey’s attack against the Su-24 plane that was seen as an incendiary, shameless aggression. As Russia said immediately after the attack, we also saw it as a stab in the back.”

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, term chairman of CIS, also asked the summit to express its support for Russia and denounce Turkey. He said, “As member states, we declared our support for the Russian position and decided to urgently declare unity to combat terror. Turkey’s attitude and its shooting down of the Russian plane have been a setback to the struggle against terror.”

The real shock for Ankara was not Sargsyan's words, but those of the Kyrgyzstan head of state, President Almazbek Atambayev, who in the past had addressed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “my older brother.” After the August 2014 presidential elections, Atambayev had appeared with Erdogan, who was delivering his victory speech, and lavishly praised him. At the CIS summit, Atambayev expressed support for Moscow and President Vladimir Putin and suggested Erdogan and Turkey apologize to Russia.

The support for Russia among the Central Asian Turkic republics, which have received billions of dollars of credit and financing support from Turkey, and Atambayev's call for an apology shocked Turkey, disillusioning Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party government. In 2014, the Cooperation and Coordination Agency of Turkey had provided the republics more than $3.5 billion. When asked about Atambayev's comment, Erdogan spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said, “If nothing else, it was an unfortunate statement.”

Russia’s freeze on issuing transit permits to Turkish truckers in October has severely disrupted Turkish exports to the Central Asian republics. Concerned with the prospect of losing the Central Asian market, where Turkey has sizable construction contracts and investments, Ankara began using the Caspian Sea for its exports thanks to Azerbaijan opening its gates.

Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, ordered that Caspian port capacity be increased and transit documents waived for Turkish trucks. Even if Turkish truck traffic through the Caspian reaches 50,000 a year, it would still fall far short of sustaining exports to the Central Asian market.

With the sharp decline in oil and natural gas prices, Azerbaijan had to devalue its currency 47% against the dollar and euro. Given the economic bottlenecks it faces, no one can be sure that the country can indefinitely be a contributor in regard to Turkey’s commercial and energy needs.

Moreover, an Aliyev-Sargsyan meeting in Switzerland Dec. 19 did not yield a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. Instead, both countries announced that their cease-fire had ended. This development greatly concerns Turkey, because it could negatively affect its use of the Azerbaijani route for its exports. Meanwhile, Russia and Armenia, which have been boosting political and economic links, in late December decided to also expand their military cooperation.

In mid-December, Putin announced that visa requirements for Georgian nationals would be eased and soon thereafter abolished. It has become clear that the Russian-Armenian air defense agreement, normalization of Russian-Georgian relations and resumption of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia will impede Turkey’s access to the Caucasus. There are also fears that Russia, which has been firing cruise missiles from its navy based in the Caspian, could block passage through that sea, severely restricting Turkey’s access to Central Asia via that route.

Russia also made use of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to move against Turkey’s relations with the Turkic republics. Turkey-EEU negotiations to establish a free trade zone were suspended, and instead, Putin announced, the EEU would enter into talks with Iran. Thus, Russia is helping advance Iranian economic interests in Central Asia by closing the doors on Turkey advocating a customs union and regional free trade. No doubt, this brought Turkey one step closer to losing Central Asia in the wake of its isolation in the Middle East.

 

[angelburst29]

A formation of four Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space in the northeastern Aegean Thursday, the Greek Defense Ministry said, adding that two of the aircraft were armed.

Turkish Fighter Jets Violate Greek Airspace Over Aegean Sea Again
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941018000712

Sat Jan 09, 2016 - The intruders strayed into Greek airspace three times and on each occasion Greek air defenders scrambled interceptors to identify the Turkish jets and chase them off, the Athens-based daily newspaper Kathimerini reported on Friday, Sputnik reported.

“Ankara’s provocative actions are meant to tell the world that Turkey does not recognize the existing air and sea borders in the Eastern Mediterranean,”Greece’s former deputy military chief of staff Frangoulis Frangos told the Moscow-based newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Turkey refuses to recognize a 10-mile airspace zone around Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, which led to at least 1,300 airspace violations in 2015, 31 of which took place over Greek territory.

Turkey has a long history of straying into Greek airspace, with incidents rising over the past several years to 2,224 in 2014.

Intruding flights over Greek territory more than doubled in 2015, compared to the previous year.

 

[angelburst29]

Turkey and its “weakening strongman, Erdogan” seem to be experiencing difficult times in the Middle East; the country is losing its grip on the region after failing to provide any “meaningful contribution to a possible solution” to the Syrian crisis, according to a Washington-based website on the Middle East, Al-Monitor.

End of Erdogan’s Power Grab? Turkey May Be the Middle East’s Biggest Loser
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160110/1032906843/turkey-failure-middle-east.html

The outlet cites several facts as examples of its aforementioned conclusion. The first is Ankara’s recent involvement in the Saudi-led 34-nation military alliance of Sunni nations, which is seen by many analysts as “a Sunni coalition through which Saudi Arabia aims to check and reduce Iran’s regional influence”.

“By agreeing to be among the likes of Comoros, Mali and Niger and led by Saudi Arabia, Turkey forfeited its claim to being the historical Sunni counterweight to Iran, going back to the 16th-century rivalry between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavids. That is not a role suited to a country with an imperial legacy whose glory is revisited frequently by the current power holders in Turkey,” it says.

The website therefore reasons that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule had already “made Turkey a part of a subregional axis competing with Saudi influence over the Sunni world.”

“Saudi Arabia and Qatar have cash and hydrocarbons; Turkey has military muscle. It looks as if the Gulf monarchies are allowing Turkey to benefit from their treasuries while making use of Turkey’s geopolitical weight. The Saudis seem emboldened by having Turkish muscle on board in their confrontational attitude toward Tehran.

The Saudi-Iranian crisis is complicating Ankara’s regional plans, particularly on Syria, the website says.

The next example of Ankara’s failure is its recent rapprochement with Israel, the website says, quoting Erdogan’s announcement on January 2, while on his way back from Saudi Arabia that “Turkey and Israel need each other.”

“A statement so worded may sound like Erdogan’s assessment of the changing geopolitics of the Middle East and reflect Turkey’s stepping back from contesting Israel’s posturing in the region,” it says.

“Turkey, after following the Saudi lead against Iran and trying to soften its relationship with Israel, the most anti-Iran power center in the region, is not only forfeiting its claims for regional power status but also taking part in the anti-Iran regional coalition in a way that has never been done before.”

For Ankara, the outlet explains, all these latest moves are no doubt the natural consequences of its ever-weakening position in Syria in the wake of the crisis with Russia after the downing of a Russian fighter jet on November 24.

“Moreover, a broader coalition connecting Turkey to Saudi Arabia and also with Israel is thought to have a favorable impact on Washington, its most powerful ally and one with which it has had uneasy relations over Syria.”

And yet one more example is “the breaching of Turkey’s most outspoken “red line” in Syria: the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) crossing the Euphrates.”

“With US support and coordination, the Syrian Kurdish armed forces, the People's Protection Units, are fighting the Islamic State (Daesh/ISIL/ISIS) — and if it moves to the west of the Euphrates, in the Azaz-Jarablus corridor as well. This area is mainly controlled by Syrian groups that Turkey supports and constitutes the main link between Turkey and besieged Aleppo that would end up in linking Rojava (the Syrian Kurdish areas) as a single geographic entity under PYD rule from the Iraqi border all the way to the west, covering hundreds of miles of Turkey's border with Syria.”

The Turkish military has shared its concerns with the US military leader Gen. Joseph Dunford — the new chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff — over Syrian Kurdish groups’ attempts to create a “Kurdish corridor” in northern Syria and change the demographic structure of the region to the advantage of the Kurds during his visit to Ankara on January 6.

And while the solution to the existing concerns yet remains to be seen, the website predicts that |difficult times lie ahead for all those involved in the Syrian conflict and especially for Turkey and its internationally weakening strongman, Erdogan.”


Turkey makes arrests over killing of Syrian journalist
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/print/2016/01/10/Turkey-makes-arrests-over-killing-of-Syrian-journalist.html

Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have arrested three people in connection with the killing of a Syrian journalist in southern Turkey.

Naji al-Jarf, the editor-in-chief of pro-opposition Hinta Magazine died after being shot in the street in the city of Gaziantep in December. He was the third Syrian journalist to be killed in an attack in Turkey in recent months.

Anadolu Agency said police have arrested one suspect and two people believed to have aided him. A court ordered them jailed late Saturday pending trial. There was no information on the suspects.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said al-Jarf had been receiving threats after making a documentary about ISIS violence.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the killing of the other two Syrians in October.



Isis 'ran sophisticated immigration operation' on Turkey-Syria border
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/10/isis-immigration-operation-turkey-syria-border-passenger-manifests-tel-abyad-islamic-state

Islamic State ran a sophisticated immigration operation through a Syrian border town with Turkey until its defeat in the area by Kurds this summer, documents obtained by the Guardian suggest.

Passenger manifests dated between December 2014 and March 2015, which were seized by Kurdish commanders in Tel Abyad, carry the stamps of Isis’s “department of immigration” and “department of transport”. They show that busses passed through the town having submitted the names, dates of births, ID numbers and even birthplace of scores of travellers.

Most of the registered passengers were travelling from within Isis-held territory. One manifest shows a group of five male and female Tunisians aged 23-36 entering the area. They are registered as coming from Kairouan, a city south of the Tunisian capital, Tunis, known to be a hotbed of radicalism. Kairouan is where gunman Seifeddine Rezgui, who massacred 30 British tourists on a Sousse beach in June, was studying.

Tunisia is the biggest source of foreign fighters entering Syria. In October, the Tunisian government estimated that 6,000 fighters had left Tunisia headed for the conflict.

[...] David Phillips, an academic at Columbia University and author of two recent research papers into links between Turkey and Isis, alleges that the country “knows the movements of all persons and can control the flow across the border if it chooses”.

He said there was “a steady stream of vehicles, individuals, weapons, financing, oil going back and forth”, adding: “It’s not like people are putting on their hiking boots and crossing over rough terrain. There’s an extensive surface transport network which is highly regulated and controlled ... on both sides of the border.”

Academic researcher Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on examining Isis documents, said he had no doubt about the authenticity of the manifests. “The documents... coincide with other documents illustrating daily bus routes within Islamic State territory. Though private companies provide the actual transportation, the Islamic State bureaucracy is responsible for authorising and overseeing the routes,” he said.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkish journalists protests detention of prominent editors

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/01/10/445281/Turkey-Ankara-journalists-rally/

Journalists in Turkey have staged a protest rally in the capital, Ankara, to denounce the arrest and detention of two prominent editors.

Protesters marking the Working Journalists’ Day on Sunday held banners and chanted slogans during the demonstration in support of jailed journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul.

Dundar and Gul, the editor-in-chief and Ankara bureau chief of the opposition Cumhuriyet daily, have been held for more than a month on charges of spying after publishing a report about Turkey’s alleged arms supplies bound for militants in Syria.

The protesters called for freedom of press, with their banners reading, “Journalism is not a crime” and “Free media cannot be silenced.”

“I would say, this is a mourning day for us but I don’t want to be that pessimistic. We are going through tough times but nothing lasts forever. I hope we will have newspapers and TV channels that report proper news, as soon as possible,” said Ayse Yilmaz, an editor of Cumhuriyet, who participated in the rally.
There has been growing concern about deteriorating press freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, in particular, over the numbers of journalists facing legal proceedings on accusations of insulting or criticizing top officials.

“Unfortunately..., more than 30 journalists are in jail after complaints only because they wrote the truth. Therefore, I am very saddened today as we mark the Working Journalists’ Day,” said Ismet Demirdogen, another journalist at the rally.

Al-Qaeda's Syrian branch seize citizen journalists

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12091812/Al-Qaedas-Syrian-branch-seize-citizen-journalists.html

'Arrest' of Raed Fares and Hadi Abdallah highlight fractures between Jabhat al-Nusra and 'moderate' rebels

Two of the best-known Syrian “citizen journalists” have been arrested by Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda branch that is playing an increasing role in the non-Isil opposition to the Assad regime.

Raed Fares and Hadi Abdallah ran a radio station, known as “Radio Fresh” from the town of Kafranabel, in rebel-held north-west Syria.

They were well-known for their appearances in regional and western media, and because of the Kafranabel activists’ weekly posters, written in English, calling for freedom from the Assad regime which often contained witty satirical comments on current international news events.

A statement from Radio Fresh said Jabhat al-Nusra fighters had entered the activists' offices in the town on Sunday morning and taken Mr Fares and Mr Abdallah away.

“Jabhat al-Nusra ‘occupied’ the offices and burned the revolutionary flags,” the statement said.”They confiscated everything there, including the radio and broadcast equipment and electricity generators.

“When asked why they were doing this, they kept repeating, ‘we don’t want the media’ over and over again.”

The two leaders were taken away and had not been released by Sunday afternoon. Another said he had been made to walk over the revolutionary flag - striped in green, white and black - as an insult. Jabhat reject the revolutionary flag as nationalist and uses its own version of the black jihadist flag.

Jabhat al-Nusra has had a mixed relationship with other elements of the opposition to the Assad regime. It collaborates closely with them on the battlefield, and is in an alliance with one of the most powerful Islamist groups, Ahrar al-Sham, which is supported by western allies Qatar and Turkey.

It has occasionally fought pro-democracy militias fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, but at other times has co-operated with them and allowed pro-FSA, liberal activists and journalists to carry on working.

Sources close to the Kafranabel activists say that Mr Abdallah had fallen out with Jabhat after he was one of a number of local journalists to interview its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

However, the attack on independent journalists who might challenge Jabhat is also an indication of a possible major fracture in the rebel movement, triggered by the international powers’ determination to force their favoured sides in the war into peace talks.

Most FSA groups and even hardline Islamist groups like Ahrar al-Sham and the main Saudi Arabia-backed militia, Jaish al-Islam, have agreed to attend. But Jabhat al-Nusra have not been invited, and both the West and Russia have made clear that in the event of a peace settlement the rebel groups will be expected to co-operate in expelling both Jabhat and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from the country.

Meanwhile, Jaish al-Islam has also been uneasy about the talks, particularly since its leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air raid conducted by either regime or Russian war-planes.

A statement from Jaish al-Islam on Saturday referred to the current siege of the rebel-held town of Madaya, west of Damascus, and the images of starving people there that have emerged in recent days.

It said that it was “unacceptable” to talk about a political settlement while people were being starved, and that supplying the rebels with anti-aircraft missiles was "best way to force the regime to accept the solution and stick by it".

 

[angelburst29]

Connection between Turkish officers and ISIS confirmed in report for Norvegian Foreign Office (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
http://rusvesna.su/english/1452540609

11.01.2016 - «Russian Spring» continues its investigation on connections between the Turkish officials and ISIS* terror group. Last year Turkey Prosecution Office has investigated the case of six Turkish citizens gone missing, their relatives assumed they may have joined ISIS.

In course of investigation Prosecution Office gained profound evidence (including telephone conversations records) of the connection between at least 19 Turkish officers with ISIS representatives in Syria and Iraq.

As soon as it has transpired that the Turkish miliary is involved, investigation files have immediately been transferred to National Military Prosecution Office and classified and the Turkish media have quickly «forgotten» such «minor incident». However certain information has nevertheless leaked out into media.

Turkish edition «Today's Zaman» published part of the report which says that Elbeyli region in Kilis province is often used for transfer of those who joined ISIS to Syrian territory. Organizational and technical support of such transfers is performed by the Turkish military.

Veto which was imposed on this topic by the Turkish authorities is quite explainable as it gets harder and harder to conceal their connections with ISIS. Even Ankara’s NATO partners have pointed it out more than once recently.

The Norvegian media, in particular Klassekampen edition has published excerpts from the report prepared on demand of Norwegian Foreign Office by «Ristad Energy» company (the largest international think tank specializing in gathering and analyzing information in oil and gas field).

«Ristad Energy» report says that the Turkish authorities purchase oil on Syrian and Iraqi territories controlled by ISIS at well below market prices (the report indicates prices starting from 25 USD per barrel) and then smuggle it into Turkey. The report authors have directly pointed out the «corrupted border officials» role in interaction with ISIS fighters.

Amid such a row of facts pointing to Turkish officials and ISIS cooperation backed by material evidence it looks especially amusing how Turkish media are trying to catch on mere assertions made by one of FSA** generals about some mythical connections between the Russian military officials and ISIS fighters.

It is to be reminded that «Russian Spring» has already reported that those accusations against Russian military officers from the side of Chief of FSA General Staff Khaleed Ahmed Birri are not backed by any evidence — e.g. telephone conversations audiorecords, however this was not an obstacle for the Turkish and the Ukrainian media for spreading them as reliable information.

It is obvious that anti-Russian propaganda goes on working with the «tried and true» scenario: to distort facts, to conceal actual state of things and to blame Russia for all deadly sins. And the fact that Russian-ISIS connections fake appeared just simultaneously with proven (!) facts of Turkish border officials and ISIS terrorists cooperation allows us to assume that one of the priorities was to deflect world’s attention from the revealed tawdry tale about Turkish officers.



Iran to take measures against export of Turkish products disguised as Iranian to Russia
http://tass.ru/en/economy/848825

Iran will undertake all the possible measures to prevent export of banned Turkish products disguised as Iranian one to the Russian market, Russian veterinary and phytosanitary regulator Rosselkhoznadzor said on Monday.

In particular, Iran’s National Quarantine and Plant Protection Service will send information of interest for Rosselkhoznadzor using actualized email addresses. Furthermore, the Iranian side will verify authenticity of all phytosanitary documents send by Rosselkhoznadzor for authorization, the Russian regulator said.

Rosselkhoznadzor approached the Iranian side for the purpose of preventing import of quarantine products by Russia with attached forged phytosanitary certificates, the regulator said. Authorities of both countries held phone consultations on January 11 and discussed measures for increasing the safety level during supplies of quarantine products from Iran to Russia.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

BREAKING:

Huge Explosion Hits Central Istanbul, Casualties Reported

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160112/1032984535/turkey-istanbul-explosion.html

A huge explosion hit central square of the Turkish capital of Istanbul, Dogan news agency reports.

Turkish media reports say several people injured in the explosion.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

 

[angelburst29]

BREAKING:

Huge Explosion Hits Central Istanbul, Casualties Reported

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160112/1032984535/turkey-istanbul-explosion.html

A huge explosion hit central square of the Turkish capital of Istanbul, Dogan news agency reports.

Turkish media reports say several people injured in the explosion.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Eight Germans killed in Istanbul attack: Merkel
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/eight-germans-killed-in/2420946.html

At least eight Germans were killed in Tuesday's suicide bombing attack that struck the heart of Istanbul's tourist district, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding that Berlin would put up a determined fight against terror.

BERLIN: At least eight Germans were killed in Tuesday's (Jan 12) suicide bombing attack that struck the heart of Istanbul's tourist district, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding that Berlin would put up a determined fight against terror.

Telling families of the victims that "we stand by your side," Merkel also offered her sympathies to the Turkish people.

"We feel a sense of solidarity with Turkey," she said, adding that those who carry out such attacks, be it in Paris, or Copenhagen or Istanbul, have the same target - "our free life and free society".

"The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, they are enemies of humanity, be it in Syria, Turkey or France or Germany," she said, stressing that Berlin would fight such terror "with determination".

Germany's Foreign Minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier earlier said that nine other Germans had been injured in the Istanbul attack, some of them seriously.

A Turkish official had earlier said that at least nine Germans were among 10 people killed in the suicide bombing that ripped through the historic Sultanahmet district. Shortly after the attack, Berlin warned its nationals to avoid crowds and tourist sites in Istanbul.

 

[Mr.Cyan]

The bombing in Istanbul comes right after Putin meets Merkel in Germany....sigh!

Looks like more actions from a recalcitrant & dying Empire trying to "send messages" or warnings to Germany and manipulate public perception...same old modus operandi time and time again ... and sadly more innocent lives lost

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Blast Heard Near Indian, Pakistani Consulates in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20160113/1033037424/blast-indian-pakistani-consulates-afghanistan.html

A powerful explosion was heard Wednesday near the Indian and the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the Afghan city of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar province.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A blast near the Indian and the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the Afghan city of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar province on Wednesday killed at least 5 police officers and left 11 people injured, according to a security source as cited by Afghanistan's broadcaster TOLOnews.

Shortly after the blast, gunmen started exchanging fire with Afghan security forces. Clashes still continue in the area, the source told TOLOnews.

All Indians at the consulate were reported to be safe, according to Indian media.

Earlier in the day, TOLOnews reported that at least four people have been killed and two injured in the blast. Three schoolchildren were also injured in the explosion, TOLOnews reported.


According to the NDTV news outlet, officials have said that the attack in the area where there are many foreign consulates was carried out by a suicide bomber.

All Indians at the consulate were reported to be safe, NDTV reports.

According to other media reports, at least four people have been killed and two injured in the blast. The Iranian diplomatic mission in the city could also reportedly be affected.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Turkish-US ties face fresh turbulence over Iraq, Syria

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/turkey-usa-relations-iraq-syrian-kurds-potential-flashpoints.html

Turkey and the United States may be strategic partners, but this has not prevented a rise in tensions between them stemming from differences over developments in Iraq and Syria. Turkish-US relations face potentially fresh turbulence as US-led coalition forces make headway against the Islamic State (IS), amplifying their differences. Both countries are nevertheless trying to keep a lid on their strained relations.

Turkey continues to play host to high-level representatives from the United States, in the process trying to take advantage of their visits to draw Washington closer to its line on Iraq and Syria. A Jan. 6 visit by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was followed by a delegation of US senators led by Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Vice President Joe Biden is due in Turkey on Jan. 23 for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that are expected to concentrate on Iraq and Syria. There is little indication, however, that the Americans' visits are helping iron out existing differences on Iraq and Syria.

Washington has been using these contacts to appease Turkey by praising its contribution to the fight against IS and its efforts to provide shelter to Syrian refugees, as well as noting its gratitude for Ankara allowing the US-led coalition to use the strategically situated Incirlik Air Base, near the southern city of Adana, to launch air attacks against IS.

In December en route to Incirlik, however, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter told reporters that Turkey had to contribute more to the fight against IS. “Turkey has an enormous role to play … in the air and [on] the ground as appropriate,” Carter said. He added,“The single most important contribution that their geography makes necessary is the control of their own border,” emphasizing the Western grievance that Ankara is not doing enough to secure its border with Syria to prevent the uncontrolled flow of refugees and crossings by IS militants.

Of course, Turkey has its own set of grievances regarding US policies in Iraq and Syria. For one, it is angry over Washington backing Baghdad’s call for all unauthorized Turkish troops in Iraq to be withdrawn. In December, Iraq complained to the UN Security Council about the deployment of additional Turkish troops and tanks at the Bashiqa camp, near Mosul, saying Turkey had not informed the government in Baghdad about the move. A limited number of Turkish soldiers had already been at the camp for months training fighters to combat IS.

The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, which Ankara claims is acting under pressure from Iran, is reportedly concerned the Turkish move is part of an agenda to gain a foothold in predominantly Sunni Mosul after this strategic city is liberated from IS. Under US pressure, Turkey agreed to withdraw the additional troops, but sources in the region say this has not happened. Rather, Turkey simply moved some of its forces in Bashiqa to areas controlled by its Iraqi Kurdish allies.

A White House readout of a phone conversation between President Barack Obama and Abadi on Jan. 6 revealed Washington’s unequivocal position on the matter: “President Obama reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Iraq’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and called on Turkey to do the same by withdrawing any military forces that have not been authorized by the Iraqi government.” Obama had issued a similar call in December.

Ankara is also angry with Washington for its support of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the umbrella organization of Syrian Kurds, and its military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG). Turkey has designated the PYD and YPG as terrorist groups because of their links to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which Turkey has outlawed. Washington considers the PYD and YPG legitimate organizations.

The US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consisting overwhelmingly of YPG fighters, has garnered US praise for defeating IS in a number of strategic locations in Syria, backed by US air support. The SDF recently took the strategic Tishrin Dam from IS and crossed to the west of the Euphrates River, defying a red line Ankara had set regarding the Kurdish presence in that part of Syria. Turkey fears that the Syrian Kurds will carve out an autonomous corridor along the Turkish-Syrian border and that such an occurrence would encourage Kurdish separatism in Turkey.

Ankara communicated its concerns about the YPG to Dunford during his visit, but given that the Kurds have already moved west of the Euphrates, it is unclear what Ankara can now do about enforcing its red line. Kilic Bugra Kanat, from the Ankara-based Foundation for Political Economic and Social Research, believes the YPG will remain the most significant challenge for Turkish-US relations in 2016.

“In several different instances, the government said that it has important red lines regarding the actions of the YPG and serious concerns regarding operational cooperation between YPG and PKK forces. US military assistance to this group may result in serious problems of trust in bilateral relations,” wrote Kanat in his column for the pro-government Daily Sabah. Washington, however, appears unlikely to abandon the Kurds. Dunford praised YPG fighters during his visit, even though his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, had cautioned him about the group.

“There have been some good things happening,” Dunford was quoted as saying in a Department of Defense release. “The Tishrin Dam [in northern Syria] has been secured, [and] a pretty significant swatch of ground has been uncovered by the Sunni Arab coalition working with the [People's Defense Units].” Washington refers to the SDF as a “Sunni Arab coalition” to avoid angering Turkey further.

An underlying problem in Turkish-US relations is that the two sides are unhappy about the other’s regional allies in Syria. While Turkey opposes the PYD and YPG, some anti-Assad groups supported by Turkey, such as al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra, have been designated terrorist groups by the United States. Ankara significantly weakened its hand against the Syrian Kurds by downing a Russian fighter plane Nov. 24 as it carried out operations against anti-Assad Turkmen forces in northern Syria. The incident resulted in increased Russian support for the YPG in northern Syria and west of the Euphrates.

Given Turkey's lack of leverage against the Syrian Kurds, it remains to be seen to what extent Washington takes Ankara’s positions into account in the prelude to the UN-led Syrian peace talks slated for Jan. 25 and in their aftermath. Faruk Logoglu, former Turkish ambassador to Washington (2001-2006), underscored Ankara’s weak position in this regard. “Turkey has no power to influence Washington, because we do not have a government that is able to define the country’s national interests properly,” Logoglu, currently a deputy with the main opposition Republican People's Party, told Al-Monitor.

Logoglu believes that potential tensions between the two countries will nevertheless be contained because of the necessity of cooperating against IS. He said the imperative increased for Turkey after the Jan. 12 suicide attack by the group in Istanbul’s touristy Sultanahmet Square that left 10 dead and 15 injured. Logoglu added, however, that developments in Bashiqa will remain the most immediate potential flashpoint in Turkish-US relations.

 

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Suspected ISIS attacks in Jakarta LIVE UPDATES

https://www.rt.com/news/328844-indonesia-suicide-attacks-isis/

The Indonesian capital of Jakarta has been rocked by multiple explosions and gunfire that have killed several people and injured dozens more in suspected suicide attacks reportedly carried out by Islamic State militants.

Indonesian President Classifies Jakarta Explosions as Terrorist Act

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20160114/1033102685/indonesia-president-jakarta-explosions-terrorist-act.html

The Indonesian President called the series of exlosions in Jakarta which have taken the lives of at least six people a terrorist act.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has classified the explosions that were carried out in the country’s capital of Jakarta on Thursday as a terrorist act.

“Our nation and our people should not be afraid, acts of terrorism will not defeat us, and I hope that society remains calm. We all have regrets over those killed during the incident, but also condemn this as it has violated our security and peace and spread fear among the people,” Widodo said.

In a statement on national TV, the president called on Indonesians to stay calm, stressing that the situation is under control.

Widodo also urged the nation not to speculate over who is responsible for the mass attacks across the capital.

Earlier in the day, at least six people were killed in a series of explosions in the Indonesian capital after several assailants entered the downtown area on motorcycles, carrying rifles and explosives.

According to media reports, three policemen and three civilians were among the victims of the attacks. At least six explosions were carried out, some by suicide bombers.

Several gunmen are hiding out in a crowded cinema, media reported, while a shootout with police is continuing.

Indonesian intelligence head says no indications of IS involvement in Jakarta blasts

http://tass.ru/en/world/849506

A series of explosions hit Jakarta earlier on Thursday killing at least six people

BANGKOK, January 14. /TASS/. There were no indications that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization is behind the attacks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, head of national intelligence agency Sutiyoso told journalists on Thursday.

"This is definitely terrorism but there are no indications yet that it's ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — former name of IS] related," Sutiyoso said.

Four militants who carried out an attack have been wiped out, local police reported.

A series of explosions hit Jakarta earlier on Thursday killing at least six people. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the attacks were an "act of terror."

 

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Erdogan responsible for crisis in Turkey: Chomsky

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/01/14/445790/Erdoan-Turkey-Chomsky/

Prominent US scholar Noam Chomsky has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having double standards on terrorism after Erdoğan accused him of ignorance and sympathizing with terrorists.

Hours after a bombing attack in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul that killed 11 people on Tuesday, Erdogan directed a series of fierce criticisms at Chomsky and the “so-called intellectuals” who had signed a letter the month before, urging Ankara to end its siege of Kurdish towns and cities in the southeastern parts of the country.

Erdogan, who was delivering a televised speech to a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, invited Chomsky to visit the site of the attack.

In an email to the Guardian, Chomsky rejected the invitation. “If I decide to go to Turkey, it will not be on his invitation, but as frequently before at the invitation of the many courageous dissidents, including Kurds who have been under severe attack for many years.”

Chomsky, who is a renowned linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and political activist, accused the Turkish president of hypocrisy and supporting extremism.

“Turkey blamed ISIL [for the attack on Istanbul], which Erdogan has been aiding in many ways, while also supporting the al-Nusra Front, which is hardly different. He then launched a tirade against those who condemn his crimes against Kurds – who happen to be the main ground force opposing ISIL in both Syria and Iraq. Is there any need for further comment,” the scholar argued.

In an open letter last month, Chomsky and hundreds of other scholars condemned Erdogan’s clamp down on the Kurdish opposition, holding him responsible for the current “crisis” in the country.

“The responsibility for the present self-inflicted crisis in the country must lie squarely with Erdogan,” the letter read.

“With the sieges imposed on their communities in the southeast, Turkey has effectively declared war on its own people. This current crisis is manufactured and totally unnecessary. It demonstrates once again that Erdogan is a deeply divisive force,” it added.

Since late July 2015, Turkey’s southeastern regions have witnessed a spike in violence amid heavy confrontations between army forces and the PKK, an outlawed group that have been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

Ankara’s military has also been involved in an offensive against the Kurdish group in neighboring Iraq.

HUNDREDS of Islamic State militants have been killed by Turkish land forces in revenge for the Istanbul terror bombing

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0a6_1452793911

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Thursday that Turkey struck Daesh targets along the border with Syria and Iraq, and killed 200 terrorists, in retaliation for the deadly suicide attack in Istanbul, which killed 10 people.

Speaking to Turkey's ambassadors at Çankaya Palace, Davutoğlu underscored that Turkey will continue to fight terrorism in a determined manner and urged everyone to display a determined stance against terrorism.

Davutoğlu said that the military was given orders to carry out operations against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria, shortly after they confirmed that the attack was carried out by the terrorist organization. He noted that around 500 artillery rounds were fired at Daesh positions in the last 48 hours, killing 200 terrorists in total, including so-called regional chiefs.

"From now on, any threat directed against Turkey's guests will be retaliated in kind" Davutoğlu said, and added that Turkey will continue to fight the terrorist organization until they completely leave Turkey's borders.

He condemned terrorism once again, while he underscored that it is important to differentiate between ordinary Syrian refugees and Daesh.

A day earlier, Davutoğlu had said that the suicide bomber entered Turkey from Syria as a refugee fleeing Daesh persecution, and his movements were not monitored as he was not on watch list.

An explosion occurred in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square early Tuesday killing 10 and injuring 15. Officials have announced that the attack was carried out by a Syrian suicide bomber and that he was not on the police watch list.

Previously, Daesh terrorists attacked Bashiqa camp located in Iraq's Mosul province - where Turkish troops are deployed- twice, killing two from local forces and injuring six, including four Turkish soldiers. Turkey had killed over 18 Daesh terrorists in retaliation for the attacks.

Davutoğlu also criticized identity-based politics and the recent initiative where a group of academics came together to condemn the anti-terror operations conducted against the PKK in southeastern Turkey as 'massacre.'

The declaration signed by over 1,000 academics urged the government to stop its anti-terror operations and lift the curfew.

"All of our citizens are equal" Davutoğlu said, and underscored that nobody should discuss 'ethnicity-based alternative politics.' He underscored that such policies are divisive and called on the academics to express their views within a lawful framework, rather than standing on the side of terrorists.

The prime minister underlined that Turkey will eliminate the PKK terrorists, who force people in the southeast to migrate and threaten the peace of the public.

On Wednesday, PKK terrorists attacked a police station in Diyarbakır province, killing five civilians including three children, and a police officer.

 

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At Least 50 Kenyan Soldiers Killed in Al-Shabaab Attack on Base in Somalia

http://sputniknews.com/africa/20160115/1033169620/al-shabaab-somalia-soldiers.html

Al-Shabaab militants attacked a military base with a peacekeeping contingent in southern Somalia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – At least 50 Kenyan soldiers were killed when militants attacked a military base in Somalia, Xinhua news agency reported Friday.

Earlier it was reported that Shabab militants attacked a military base with a peacekeeping contingent in southern Somalia.

According to Reuters, the gate to the military base was rammed by a truck driven by a suicide bomber terrorist. After crashing the gate, militants entered the base and began fighting.

Al-Shabaab seeks to overthrow the Somali government and impose a strict version of Islam in the country. It has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Somalia and at the border towns of Kenya. Somalia has been mired in a conflict since 1991 when a civil war broke out.

 

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BREAKING:

Turkey detains 12 academics for criticizing military campaign against Kurds

https://www.rt.com/news/329026-turkey-academics-investigation-declaration/

Turkey has arrested 12 academics for signing a declaration denouncing Ankara’s military operations against Kurdish militants. The move comes after more than 1,200 scholars were being investigated for criticizing the Turkish State.
The academics were also accused of allegedly participating in “terrorist propaganda” after they signed a declaration condemning military operations against Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country.

News of the investigation was reported by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

Around 1,200 academics from 89 universities, including prominent foreign scholars such as Noam Chomsky, David Harvey and Immanuel Wallerstein, signed the declaration, which was titled: “We won’t be a part of this crime.”

It called on the authorities in Ankara to end the “massacre and slaughter” in southeast Turkey and lift the siege of Kurdish towns and cities. The declaration also accused Erdogan of waging a war against his own people.

“The responsibility for the present self-inflicted crisis in the country must lie squarely with Erdogan, who perceives the Kurds… as obstacles to his plan to establish supreme rule for the Turkish presidency,” the declaration said.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke against the signatories.

“It is really very saddening that some of our academics have signed such a declaration while we are fighting terrorism. Every day we are fighting against international terror such as Daesh [Islamic State, previously ISIS/ISIL] and against the separatist terrorist organization that kills civilians in dormitories, including a five-month-old baby. We are working to secure the life and security of our citizens,” Davutoglu said Thursday.

The official comments came as Sedat Peker, a notorious convicted criminal kingpin who actively promotes the idea of pan-Turkism, has issued death threats against intellectuals who signed the declaration.

“We will spill your blood in streams and we will shower in your blood,” Peker said in a blog titled “The So-Called Intellectuals, The Bells Will Toll for You First” on his personal website.

The academics’ criticism of the military operation against the Kurds also angered Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan, who called the declaration “treachery” and urged the judiciary to get involved.

Erdogan described the group of academics as “poor excuses for intellectuals,” in a speech to Turkish ambassadors Tuesday. He insisted that human rights violations in southeast Turkey were being carried out by “terrorists,” referring to the Kurdish rebels, and not by the state.

“A group that call themselves academics has emerged and spewed hatred against their state and nation by publicly taking sides with the terror organization [PKK],” Erdogan said in another speech Thursday.

In turn, Chomsky, a prominent US linguist and philosopher, accused the Turkish president of hypocrisy and applying double standards to terrorism as well as openly aiding terrorist organizations.

“Turkey blamed ISIS [for the attack on Istanbul], which Erdogan has been aiding in many ways, while also supporting the al-Nusra Front, which is hardly different. He then launched a tirade against those who condemn his crimes against Kurds – who happen to be the main ground force opposing ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. Is there any need for further comment?” Chomsky said.

The clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been outlawed by Ankara, have been ongoing since July, with Turkey’s authorities claiming that those killed during the security operation in the southeast were PKK members.

Erdogan has vowed to continue the operation until the area is cleansed of Kurdish militants. However, according to Turkish human rights groups, more than 160 civilians have also been killed during the government crackdown.

Meanwhile, Kurds have long been campaigning for the right to self-determination and greater autonomy in Turkey, where they are the largest ethnic minority. In late December, a congress of Kurdish nongovernmental organizations called for Turkey’s southeastern regions to be granted autonomy via constitutional reforms.