Saudi Arabia’s attack on Qatar unravels

A ploy that appears to have been intended to isolate Iran has instead brought Turkey, Iran and Kuwait together in defence of Qatar.

Source: Saudi Arabia’s attack on Qatar unravels

theduran.com

Alexander Mercouris

June 11, 2017

A ploy that appears to have been intended to isolate Iran has instead brought Turkey, Iran and Kuwait together in defence of Qatar.

A week into the crisis Saudi Arabia instigated when it broke diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed a land and air blockade of the tiny Gulf state, it is becoming clear that it is failing to bring Qatar to heel.

Instead Qatar has successfully secured pledges of support from Turkey and Iran – the two military giants in this region – appears to have the tacit support of Kuwait, and is gaining diplomatic traction with Russia.

As for the US, though US President Trump has seemed to tilt to Saudi Arabia’s side in this quarrel, US Secretary of State Tillerson – who as a former oil executive must know this region well – seems intent on taking a more conciliatory line towards Qatar, calling for the blockade on Qatar to be lifted.  I have no doubt it will be his counsels which in the US will eventually prevail.

The US cannot afford to break relations with Qatar.  Not only is Qatar strategically positioned as a key oil and gas producer but even more importantly it is home to the US’s gigantic Al Udeid Air Base, by far the biggest US air base in the Middle East, and a key element in the US’s whole military position in both the Middle East and the Gulf.  Suffice to say that the US military’s Central Command has its forward base in this region at Al Udeid Air Base.

Whilst I do not know this for a fact, I think it is at least possible that Saudi Arabia’s breaking of diplomatic relations and the land and air blockade it imposed on Qatar were intended to be followed up by a ground invasion of Qatar.

Such an aggressive step would be very much in character for Saudi Arabia’s volatile de facto leader Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Much as former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1990 mistook a conversation with the US ambassador as a green light from the US to invade Kuwait, so it is possible that the equally foolhardy Prince Mohammed bin Salman misread some comments of US President Trump during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia as a green light for a Saudi attack on Qatar.

If so I am quite sure that President Trump – who is completely inexperienced in the intricacies of inter-Arab quarrels, and has little experience of international diplomacy generally – meant by whatever comments he made no such thing.

One other person who I am sure also thinks that Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have had a ground invasion of Qatar on his mind is President Erdogan of Turkey.  His willingness to rush Turkish troops to Qatar has come in for some understandable criticism.  However it looks to me as if it was intended to warn the Saudis against any ideas they might have had about an invasion of Qatar.

President Erdogan’s decision to side with Qatar in this quarrel was actually fully predictable and is a consequence of Turkey’s domestic politics.

Erdogan’s party – the Justice and Development Party – has close links to the Muslim Brotherhood of which Qatar is the financial patron.  Indeed it would not be wholly wrong to think of the Justice and Development Party as the Turkish branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Given that the Saudi assault on Qatar is targeted as much at the Muslim Brotherhood as against Qatar itself, Erdogan has no realistic option but to side with Qatar in this quarrel or risk upsetting the activists of his own party.

Had Prince Mohammed bin Salman thought this all through carefully before he acted, he would have realised that US support for an attack on Qatar would not be forthcoming, and that Turkey was bound to side in any quarrel between Qatar and Saudi Arabia with Qatar.  Instead he seems to have thrown caution to the winds, with the result that he has managed to bring Turkey, Iran, Qatar and Kuwait all closer together.

Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s original objective – to the extent one can discern one – seems to have been to isolate Iran, an action which has instead resulted in Iran becoming de facto allied with Turkey, Qatar and Kuwait in a quarrel over Qatar in which Saudi Arabia does not have the unequivocal support of the US must be considered a failure.

As my colleague Adam Garrie correctly says, the US seems to have decided to take a backseat to Russia in this crisis.

It will be interesting to see what face-saving formula the Russians can come up with to get Prince Mohammed bin Salman out of the mess he has got himself into.

Russia, Iran, Turkey Impose “No-Fly Zone” Against U.S. Over Parts of Syria

“The US expressed doubts”.

We world does not care what you think USA.  This conflict is on the other side of the world and has nothing to do with you! Go home Yankees and fix your own  country.

Source: Russia, Iran, Turkey Impose “No-Fly Zone” Against U.S. Over Parts of Syria

theantimedia.org

By Tyler Durden 

May 5, 2017

(ZHE) Russia said it’s ready to send peacekeepers to Syria after Turkey and Iran agreed on Thursday to Russia’s proposal for “de-escalation zones” in Syria. The move, welcomed by the United Nations, has been met with skepticism from the United States as the so-called safe-zones will closed for warplanes of the United States and those of the U.S.-led coalition.

As Bloomberg reports, the three countries signed a memorandum on the creation of so-called de-escalation areas on Thursday after two days of talks in Kazakhstan that also included representatives of the Syrian government and rebel groups.

Opposition leaders distanced themselves from the plan, saying they can’t accept Iran as a guarantor of the truce and that they want “clear and tangible” guarantees the deal will be enforced.

The U.S. also expressed doubts, as State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday that the U.S. has “concerns” about the accord, “including the involvement of Iran as a so-called “guarantor,”’ and said Russia should do more to stop violence.

The four safe zones to be established in Syria will be closed for flights by US-led coalition warplanes, said the Russian envoy to the Astana peace talks, where the zones were agreed upon.

“Russia is ready to send its observers” to help enforce the safe zones, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, told reporters in the Kazakh capital. “We believe the Syrian crisis can only be resolved through political methods.”

“As for [the coalition] actions in the de-escalation zones, starting from now those zones are closed for their flights,” Aleksandr Levrentyev told journalists in the Kazakh capital.

The Russian Ministry of Defense notes that the deal on safe zones in Syria will come into effect 21:00 GMT on May 5.

We wonder how long Washington will stand for what effectively amounts to a “no-fly zone” against U.S. war planes over parts of Syria.

 

Who backs ISIS and how

I dare anyone to disprove this. Go ahead, just try.

Anonymous shared The Investigative‘s photo.

BREAKING: At Least 14 US Coalition Military Officers Captured by Syrian Forces in East Aleppo Bunker

Are we not sick and tired of the Western lies regarding Syria, terrorism, and Russia? Look who got caught with their pants down: USA, Israel, Turkey, France, Britain, Germany, and other minion US states not worthy to mention.  Shame on you Western world for spouting garbage propaganda through your controlled media, and then cozily sleeping with the enemy (ISIS). Hypocrites. Vulgar criminals of war. Garden snake variety petty psychopaths. How many innocents died in Syria because of these hypocritical monsters?

Now watch and observe the damage control that will come from these pathetic lying scum that have absolutely no right to be in that country.

Source: BREAKING: At Least 14 US Coalition Military Officers Captured by Syrian Forces in East Aleppo Bunker | The Most Revolutionary Act

With kind permission from

stuartjeannebramhall.com

December 17, 2016

DAMASCUS – According to two reports coming out of Aleppo today, at least 14 US Coalition military officers were captured this morning in an East Aleppo bunker by Syrian Special Forces.

This story was quietly leaked by Voltaire.net, who announced, “The Security Council is sitting in private on Friday, December 16, 2016, at 17:00 GMT, while NATO officers were arrested this morning by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo.” 

Syrian Army soldier holds up Al Nusra Front (al Qaeda in Syria) flag in the Umayyed Mosque, Old City, after government troop liberated terrorist-occupied East Aleppo this week (Image: Vanessa Beeley for 21st Century Wire)

Fares Shehabi MP, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo’s Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):

Mutaz Kanoğlu – Turkey
David Scott Winer – USA
David Shlomo Aram – Israel
Muhamad Tamimi – Qatar
Muhamad Ahmad Assabian – Saudi
Abd-el-Menham Fahd al Harij – Saudi
Islam Salam Ezzahran Al Hajlan – Saudi
Ahmed Ben Naoufel Al Darij – Saudi
Muhamad Hassan Al Sabihi – Saudi
Hamad Fahad Al Dousri – Saudi
Amjad Qassem Al Tiraoui – Jordan
Qassem Saad Al Shamry – Saudi
Ayman Qassem Al Thahalbi – Saudi
Mohamed Ech-Chafihi El Idrissi – Moroccan

Listen to Fares Shehabi’s interview on the Sunday Wire radio show: ‘Liberation Aleppo‘

In addition to Voltaire.net, the other original report was provided by Damascus-based Syrian journalist Said Hilal Alcharifi.

According to Alcharifi, captured “NATO” officers were from a number of member states including the US, France, Germany and Turkey, as well as Israel. Here is his statement (translated from French):

“Thanks to information received, Syrian authorities discovered the headquarters of high ranking western/NATO officers in the basement of an area in East Aleppo and have captured them alive. Some names have already been given to Syrian journalists, myself included. The nationalities are US, French, British, German, Israeli, Turkish, Saudi, Moroccan, Qatari etc. In light of their nationalities and their rank, I assure you that the Syrian government have a very important catch, which should enable them to direct negotiations with the countries that have tried to destroy them.”

Although these initial reports describe the individuals in question as “NATO” officers, it’s unlikely they would have been carrying NATO colors on a covert operation – and might be more accurately labeled as US Coalition officers. Note that early reports suggest that these are not standard ‘street rebel’ or jihadi terrorists but actual Coalition military personnel and field commanders. . .

Source: BREAKING: At Least 14 US Coalition Military Officers Captured by Syrian Forces in East Aleppo Bunker

Major Foreign Policy Shift: Turkey Abandoning EU for SCO

Source: Major Foreign Policy Shift: Turkey Abandoning EU for SCO

http://www.blacklistednews.com

Source: The Fifth Column

Dec 3, 2016

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on November 20 that Turkey did not need to join the European Union «at all costs». Instead, it could become part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact. The Turkish leader said he had already discussed the idea with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organization founded in 2001 in Shanghai. Its members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan speak Turkic languages.

India and Pakistan are to become full-fledged members by the next meeting at Astana in 2017. Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are SCO observers. In 2013, Turkey got the status of SCO’s «dialogue partner». The other country with the same status is Belarus. Dialogue partners are entitled to take part in ministerial-level and some other meetings of the SCO, but do not have voting rights.

Turkey formally applied to become a member of the European Union in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005. Its ambition to become part of the bloc dates back to the 1960s. Its prospects of joining look dim after 11 years of negotiations. The human rights are a divisive issue.

The EU has stepped up its criticism of Ankara since the failed July 15 coup d’état, saying the country’s anti-terror laws were being applied too broadly. Luxembourg and Austria, as well as some European lawmakers, called on the bloc to halt membership talks with Turkey or punish it with other sanctions.

For its part, Turkey is frustrated with the long stalemate over EU membership. Ankara has accused the EU of treating the country differently regarding its accession attempt and failing to unlock all the cash it had promised to disburse to Turkey on the back of the refugee deal. Turkey plans to revive the death penalty. The move will make EU accession impossible. President Erdogan plans to call a referendum on the future of Turkey’s EU membership bid.

Turkey’s SCO accession would be a milestone bringing together the organization and the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS) – an international organization of Turkic countries, comprising Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. The General Secretariat is in İstanbul, Turkey. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are possible future members of the council.

The international organization also functions as an umbrella body for all other autonomous collaboration mechanisms like the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA), International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), and Turkic Academy.

Since its establishment in 2009 the CCTS has made meaningful progress on institutionalizing the interaction. The 6th Summit of the Heads of States of the Turkic Council is expected to take place till the end of the year in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan).

President Erdogan’s statement is another sign of Ankara’s moving away from the West to other partners. For instance, Turkey has just announced it is in talks with Russia on purchasing the advanced long-range S-400 air defense systems to protect its skies. It also seeks procurement deals in electronic systems, ammunitions and missile technology. General Hulusi Akar, the head of the Turkish armed forces’ General Staff, visited Russia this month to discuss military cooperation.

During Erdogan’s two-day visit to Pakistan on November 16, the editor of a pro-government newspaper in Turkey said the country needed to develop its own nuclear deterrent. He might have expressed his personal opinion but it confirms the general trend of Turkey’s reorientation away from the NATO’s concept of cooperative security under the US umbrella.

During the August 9 summit in Saint-Petersburg, Russia and Turkey signed a declaration on unprecedented partnership in defense industry. The parties also agreed to form a joint military and intelligence mechanism to coordinate their activities in the Middle East. Russian-Turkish economic cooperation is expected to make further progress with the revival of Turkish Stream gas project.

It should be noted that Russia, not the US or any other NATO member, was the first country to be visited by the Turkish president after the failed coup.

pixabay.com

In late October, Turkey and China also held a trade symposium in Istanbul, signing a total of 36 new deals amounting to $300 million in value. Due to its geography, Turkey has a crucial role to play in implementation of China’s One Belt One Road (Silk Road) project. Turkey is again taking the position as a key investment and cooperation partner that will help bridge the East and the West.

It has risen to become the world’s 17^th largest economy and an increasingly important destination for Chinese companies that want to trade and invest. Currently, China is Ankara’s third-largest trading partner, with trade amounting to $28 billion. Turkey is popular among Chinese tourists, and cultural relations between the two countries are developing.

Turkish Customs Minister Bulent Tüfenkci announced in January that the country now aims to triple trade with Iran, an SCO observer, to $30 billion «as soon as possible».

Turkey’s gradual shift from the West to Eurasia and other partners is part of a broader process as the West gets weakened and divided. The very notion of “Western unity” is fading away. Unsurprisingly, as its relations with the West sour, Turkey is reaching out to other poles of power. Further progress on the way of Ankara’s to integration with the SCO will facilitate the multi-dimensional foreign policy to strengthen Ankara’s standing in the world.

Alex Jones: NATO Now In Declared War With Russia! (8 min)

NATO COUNTRIES, AS OF 2016

• Albania (2009)
• Belgium (1949)
• Bulgaria (2004)
• Canada (1949)
• Croatia (2009)
• Czech Republic (1999)
• Denmark (1949)
• Estonia (2004)
• France (1949)
• Germany (1955)

• Greece (1952)
• Hungary (1999)
• Iceland (1949)
• Italy (1949)
• Latvia (2004)
• Lithuania (2004)
• Luxembourg (1949)
• Netherlands (1949)
• Norway (1949)
• Poland (1999)
• Portugal (1949)

• Romania (2004)
• Slovakia (2004)
• Slovenia (2004)
• Spain (1982)
• Turkey (1952)
• The United Kingdom (1949)
• The United States (1949)

NATO Now in Declared War With Russia! » Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!

Nov 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just announced that the only reason Turkish military forces have entered northern Syria is to “end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad”.
By publicly proclaiming that Turkey intends to use military force to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Erdogan has essentially declared war on the Syrian government.

http://www.infowars.com/turkey-has-de…

Globalization new form of colonialism, President Erdoğan says

Source: Globalization new form of colonialism, President Erdoğan says

http://www.blacklistednews.com

Nov 2, 2016

Source: Daily Sabah

 President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday called globalization a new form of colonialism and modern slavery, highlighting that both Turkey and Africa refused to become colonies.

President Erdoğan spoke at the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum in Istanbul, and criticized the West for colonial policies in the Middle East and Africa.

“I see contemporary globalization as a new way of colonialism, modern slavery,” Erdoğan said. He continued by saying both Turkey and Africa refused to become colonies or being “second class citizens.”

“Our African friends reached today with brave and visionary leaders like Nkrumah, Lumumba, Kenyatta and Mandela, who we lost three years ago” he said.

Erdoğan also noted how terrorism’s role in the world is hindering economic development, and asked African leaders and officials to support Turkey in its fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which operates dozens of schools in the continent. Erdoğan said the Maarif Foundation of the Ministry of Education started taking over Gülenist schools in various countries throughout the world, and asked African education officials to cooperate with their Turkish counterparts on this issue.

FETÖ, which is being accused of launching Turkey’s bloody coup attempt on July 15, runs a global network of schools to hide its illegal activities and achieve more power through infiltrating in state institutions. These schools are also an important source of income for the shadowy group, in addition to being a useful tool for money laundering.

Explaining that Turkey will increase its current 39 diplomatic representations in Africa, Erdoğan said the country has trade agreements with 40 African countries.

Erdoğan continued by saying Turkey’s trade volume with sub-Saharan countries increased from $2.7 billion in 2005 to $6.6 billion in 2015, with the country’s foreign direct investments in the region reaching $3.9 billion. Trade volume with the whole continent jumped from $7 billion in 2005 to $17.5 billion in 2015, Erdoğan said.

Nearly 1,200 African business people are visiting Istanbul to meet their Turkish counterparts in a platform aiming to create a long-lasting cooperation.

The next move from Turkey might be to follow the Philippine’s example and move to the East.. No more little brown men helping the flatulent Western nations?