Why Turkey is flexing its muscles abroad

 

Image courtesy of Reuters, fair use doctrine.

 

Joel Kontinen

 

Since coming to power in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opted to restore the Turkish empire, as it was under the Ottomans. He sees the west in decline and sees a China and Russia as potential sources of refuge,

 

According to the BBC, Turkey has in the past few years

"-launched three military incursions into Syria

- sent military supplies and fighters to Libya

- deployed its navy to the Eastern Mediterranean to assert its claims in the region

- expanded its military operations against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq

- sent military reinforcements to Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib

- recently threatened a new military operation in northern Syria to confront "terrorist armed groups". "

But Kurds say the only terrorist is Mr. Endogan.

And its almost warfare with Greece and Cyprys over drilling rights in the Mediterranean that has also caused harm to Israel, who has made a treaty with Greece and others to Europe to export natural gas to Europe.  

And it has let Hamas use its soil  to attack israel,

The BBC also took up Turkey’s 2015 failed coup that led to Mr. Edgogan rise in power, leading him to punish the Kurds in Syria.  

Source:

Tol, Gonul. 2020. Viewpoint: Why Turkey is flexing its muscles abroad.  BBC News 16 October.

Iran Caused Superstorm Sandy, Syria Claims

Image courtesy of The Birkes, Flickr /Wikipedia Commons.





Joel Kontinen


Major catastrophes often give rise to outlandish explanations. According to CNN, a Syrian pro-government group claimed:

“Sources confirmed to us that Hurricane Sandy that is slamming the U.S. was set off by highly advanced technologies developed by the heroic Iranian regime that supports the resistance, with coordination of our resistive Syrian regime,” pro-government group News Network of the Syrian Armed Forces said in a Facebook posting.

This is the punishment for whoever dares to attack Syria’s (Bashar) al-Assad and threaten peace and stability.”

It is a common tendency to blame Israel or global warming for all kinds of calamities, so the Syrian claim is definitely a new kind of development.


Source:

Saad Abedine, Saad. 2012. 'Heroic' Iran, 'resistive' Syria behind Sandy, pro-Assad group claims.. CNN (31 October).