I tracked #ergodan when he started squashing the press in Turkey and using Syria as his path to crush the Kurds in this blog Hitch 22 Also, I discussed discussed the late Christopher Hitchens comments on the Middle East.
Yesterday Ergodan offered a declaration of war to Greece, “if anyone wants to stand before us and face the consequences, they are welcome to", during an anniversary celebration marking the 1071 battle of Manzikert, during which Turkish Seljuks beat Byzantine forces. The Seljuks created a huge Turco-Persian (Iran ) tradition.
Greece and Turkey are vying for territorial waters for energy exploration in an area between Cyprus and Crete .
aug 28
Greece signed exclusive economic zone (EEZ) maritime deals with Italy on June 9 and with Egypt on Aug. 7. Yesterday, Ergodan hosted Hamas terrorists in Istanbul. It's going to take a miracle to prevent bloodshed.
aug 30
It's getting tenser. Greece, who just completed air force exercises with France, Italy and Cyprus, began joint air force training exercises with the UAE in the eastern Mediterranean on Friday. EU threatened Turkey with sanctions over Mediterranean drilling.
Sept 11
More warehouse fires in Lebanon. Also, USA put sanctions on two former Lebanese government ministers, Yusuf
Finyanus and Ali Khalil, who are accused of ensuring contracts went to
firms owned by Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist group, and
moving money to associated institutions.
Oct 3
USS Hershel "Woody" Williams, an expeditionary sea base ship, will be
homeported at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete, 600 miles from the
Turkish coast. And it could become an alternative to the use by the USAF of the
Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
Oct 27
#Putin ain't playing nice with Turkey in Syria and elsewhere . Russian airstrikes killed 78 al-Sham,a Sunni Islamist rebel military unit, recruits at a
Turkish-supported training camp near Idlib,Syria. He is angry that Turkey sentone thousand Al-sham trainees to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region between Russian- supported Armenia and Turkish-backed Azerbaijan.
Nov 12
Money is part of the issue, but a lack of trust and confidence in the
political leadership is a major factor in exodus of Doctors from Lebanon. And a hefty part of that leadership is affiliated with #hezbollah .
Dec 7
Mixed bag of chilling news from Egypt: Three EIPR, a human rights group, members were released from detention, but Patrick Zaky, an #EIPR researcher, is still being held on suspicion of spreading fake news, misusing social media, and inciting protest without permission. Think about those shaky charges a few times.
Dec 10
Somalians are obtaining student or healthcare visas for Turkey, and with assistance from criminal gangs, attempting to cross into Greece and then possibly to Europe.
dec 31, 2020
In the mountainous village of Pera Melana in Greece’s southern Peloponnese peninsula, you’ll hear the buzz of conversations among descendants of ancient Sparta in a 3,000-year-old language called Tsakonika, which is based on the Doric language spoken by the ancient Spartans.
Jan 14, 2021
While Congress fights over bashing Trump, Secretary of State #Pompeo accused Iran of expanding its ties with al Qaeda by allowing senior operatives from the terrorist group to establish a new headquarters in its territory. And added this comment about finding moderates to work with inside the Iranian government. “The reality is that you have a better chance of finding a unicorn,”
feb 5, 2021
#LokmanSlim, a prominent critic of Hezbollah, was shot four times in the head and once in the back in Lebanon. His sister's comment on her brother's death: "Killing is the only language they are fluent in,"
feb 25,2021
While I have few doubts, that Assad's folks have done horrible things during the Syrian civil war, a German court's successful prosecution on torture charges of Eyad A, who arrived in Germany from Syria in 2018 and was granted asylum, raises serious issues about Germany’s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow its courts to prosecute crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. I foresee a tit for tat game growing around the world.
Also wondering why they granted him asylum in 2018.
March 5, 2021
I wonder if this will get traction: #GilaGamliel , Israel’s environmental protection minister, accuses the Iranian government of environmental terrorism. Iran sent a ship that turned off its radar and spilled crude oil into the Mediterranean last month. while smuggling it from Iran to Syria .
mARCH 8, 2021
Proxy war between Iran and SA is going to get huge. Iran's proxy, Yemen's Houthi forces, fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry yesterday including the Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura.
March 18, 2021
Turkish prosecutors are trying to get the HDP, a legal political party, outlawed via the courts by alleging the party was "acting as an arm of the PKK" and "attempting to disrupt the unity and territorial integrity of the state.". If this is successful, tensions will escalate in Turkey, Syria, and possibly Iraq.
April 18, 2021
Iran named 43-year-old #RezaKarimi as a suspect in the attack on its Natanz nuclear facility that damaged centrifuges there,stating he had fled the country before the sabotage occurred.
There was no explanation on how he would have acquired access to one of the most secure facilities in Iran which has requested an Interpol “red notice” seeking his arrest.
I wonder if Interpol will ask Iran to turn over the international criminals it's hiding.
May 15, 2021
In non-Israeli news: #Karpowership , a Turkish energy company, shut down about one quarter of Lebanon's electricity supply because it is owed more than $100m (£71m) by Lebanon and has not been paid in 18 months.
May 23. 2021
Turkish mafia boss #SedatPeker ,who is living in exile, issued this statement :“Do not doubt, I will teach some tyrants that there is no more dangerous weapon than a man who dares to die." He published five videos on YouTube claiming AKP lawmakers were involved in malfeasance, murders, rapes, drug trafficking etc.
Ergodan's response was to fire a journalist for Turkey's state news agency Anadolu for asking a question about these videos.
A growing sentiment in the country is that Ergodan and his AKP cohorts have been dividing up national resources while acting under the guise of a nationalist struggle against Kurdish militants.
jULY 1, 2021
Iraq’s PM Mustafa al-Kadhemi condemned the overnight US air attack on Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria. I'm a bit surprised at Biden's moves, and Iraq should stop moaning and rein in Iran's influence.
July 27, 2021
Protests in Iran that began in the province Khuzestan over insufficient water and electricity have spread to Tehran, where a group of people in the city are chanting against the country's clerical rulers, telling them to "get lost". They picked a good time since president-elect Ebrahim #Raisa , The Butcher, takes office next month.
Aug 11, 2021
A senior Iranian security official urged Iraq to expel Iranian rebels from Iraqi Kurdistan, or expect Tehran to take "preventative measures" . Kurds have been one of our strongest allies in the region. Is Biden's crew paying attention?
Sept 22, 2021
#StenyHoyer tells Israel that the removal of Iron Dome funding is a 'technical postponement'. Omar is spreading her wings - watch out Israel!
Dec 10, 2021
United Arab Emirates ordered work halted on a Chinese facility in the country after USA officials argued that Beijing intended to use the site for military purposes. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the U.A.E.’s leadership, didn’t believe the facility was intended for military or security uses but wouldn't explain the desired uses for the facility. I just roll my eyes.
Jan 6, 2022
Posting this in case Sleepy Joe's aides don't put it on his teleprompter: Iran-aligned paramilitary groups continue to fire rockets at bases hosting U.S.-led military coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
Feb 22, 2022
While Iran cries about those "evil" USA sanctions against them, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels continue drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. Don't believe the Ayatollahs' hype!
March 9, 2022
Congratulations Biden: Saudi Arabia and UAE leaders refuse to answer telephone calls from Biden due to his administration's lack of support in the war in Yemen and the revived negotiations concerning the Iran nuclear deal. Meanwhile the Keystone oil pipeline in the USA is dormant.
May 16, 2022
The Lebanese Forces (LF) party, a Saudi-aligned Christian group which is opposed to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim movement Hezbollah, may be on course to emerge as the biggest bloc in Lebanon's parliament after Sunday's election. This could get ugly quickly.
May 28, 2022
Iran will likely squash this but protesters have been burning pictures of Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and chanting "We don't want the rule of the clerics" and calling for the return of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the former Shah of Iran.
July 17, 2022
Asim Ghafoor, an American citizen and civil rights attorney, who previously served as a lawyer for slain journalist Khashoggi, was detained in the UAE on July 14 because of in-absentia conviction for money laundering by Emirati courts. How did he ignore or not know that the plane was stopping in UAE on its way to Turkey?
Meanwhile, Biden disputed the Saudi FM's statement that he did not hear Biden blame Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of Khashoggi.
August 6, 2022
On August 4, 2020 a fire in a hangar at the Beirut port triggered a blast that killed 200 people. On Thursday a nationwide day of mourning in Lebanon, Beirut’s port burned. I wonder if a casino anywhere had odds on this.
Sept 15, 2022
A woman held staff hostage at a bank in Beirut, demanding they let her withdraw frozen savings to pay for her sister's medical bills.
She was given $13,000 (£11,240) and there are no reports of her arrest.
Sept 22, 2022
Protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities torched police stations and vehicles today as unrest triggered by the death of Mahsa Aminia, a 22-year old woman detained by the morality police for wearing "unsuitable attire", intensified.
Do the Mullahs squash another small rebellion again and laugh it off.
Does Biden take women's rights seriously and slow down negotiations to give Iran an economic break?
Oct 6, 2022
Iranian students remove their headscarves during a protest in Tehran
Oct 20, 2022
A mild chuckle from another rough day for Lebanon, whose Parliament failed to elect a President again. 55 blank votes, 42 for anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Michel Mouawad, scattered votes for political slogans, and one vote for a "benevolent dictator".
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