Washington DC (SCF) – Washington’s official announcement of the withdrawal of US troops from the northeast of Syria has provoked alarm and condemnation at home as well as from Washington’s allies. However, it is easier to understand the actions and aims of the Trump administration when one analyzes events in theContinue Reading
Ankara (TM) – Turkey’s top military brass and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held a security meeting on Thursday and discussed a potential military operation in northeastern Syria, immediately after three days of talks with a US delegation over setting up a safe zone along the Turkish-Syrian border. The Anadolu news agencyContinue Reading
Ankara (TM) – The first shipment of a Russian S-400 air defense system has arrived in Turkey, according to a statement from the Turkish Defense Ministry on Friday, in a development that is likely to prompt action from the US. The ministry said in its statement that “the first group of equipment”Continue Reading
Tehran (TNA) – Turkey on Wednesday criticized a letter from Washington on Ankara’s eventual removal from the F-35 fighter jet program, saying the language used did not suit the spirit of alliance between the two NATO allies. Writing to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar last week, US acting Secretary ofContinue Reading
Tripoli (MPN) – It is likely that Saudi Arabia sees Libya’s Khalifa Haftar as a means of beating down the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a notoriously hostile relationship with the Wahhabi kingdom. Libyan strongman and former CIA asset Khalifa Haftar’s blitzkrieg on the capital, Tripoli, has stalled for now as forces loyal toContinue Reading
Brussels (SCF) – When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created 70 years ago in 1949 it was formed as a blatant military instrument for waging the Cold War, a war that the US, Britain and other European allies had newly embarked on. NATO’s public relations cant about “peace andContinue Reading
Ankara (GPA) – The US has proposed the sale of Patriots missiles to Turkey but in exchange has told Ankara to cancel a contract with Moscow for the S-400. According to recent reports, a US delegation visiting Turkey this week officially offered a $3.5 billion dollar sale to Ankara of the PatriotContinue Reading
Kiev (SCF) – Ukraine’s Constitutional Court green-lighted a bill on amending the country’s main law by enshrining into it the final goal of obtaining NATO and EU membership. The decision was announced the next day after the UK and Ukraine’s defense ministries made a joint statement, stressing the need to expandContinue Reading
Moscow (GPA) – Yet another incident has jumped off in the Russian waters near Ukraine only days after the UK announced more naval and ground power for Kiev to direct at Russia. Late last week, the UK announced that they would be deploying more ground forces to aid the Ukrainian government asContinue Reading
Kabul (SCF) – Moscow hosted talks last week to promote peace in Afghanistan as neighbors and regional heavyweights eye the rewards of stability in the long-troubled land. In the “graveyard of empires,” Afghanistan never ceases to deliver geopolitical and historical twists. Last week in Moscow, another crucial chapter in thisContinue Reading