Greater Middle East
Lines drawn in imperial scramble for Syria
The US and Russia each groom their own rival proxy forces to fight ISIS and the Nusra Front—which in turn pledge to turn Syria into "another Afghanistan."
Tag: Greater Middle East
Greater Middle East
Amnesty charges Syrian Kurds with ethnic cleansing
Amnesty International accuses Syrian Kurdish forces of ethnic cleansing against Arabs and Turks in areas liberated from ISIS, raising pressure on Kurdish authorities for an accounting.
Greater Middle East
Peace demands unbowed by Ankara massacre
Kurdish and Turkish activists are continuing to demand "peace despite everything" after twin suicide blasts at an Ankara anti-war rally killed at least 100 and injured twice as many.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: Amnesty demands halt to arms transfers
Citing "damning evidence" of war crimes, Amnesty International is calling for the suspension of transfers of certain arms to the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.
Greater Middle East
Tatar militants pledge to Syria’s Nusra Front?
In a claim convenient to Russian war propaganda, a group of Tatars calling themselves the Crimean Jamaat reportedly pledged loyalty to Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise.
Greater Middle East
Syrian Kurds as pawns in Turko-Russian game?
With tensions high between Turkey and Russia, Moscow's intervention risks drawing the Kurds into the geopolitical game and escalating divisions within the Syrian resistance.
Greater Middle East
Russia bombs ISIS —not!
The Syrian regime says Russian air-strikes hit "ISIS dens"—but a look at the map indicates the strikes were nowhere near ISIS territory, and targetted rebel forces hostile to ISIS.
Greater Middle East
Syria war prompts ‘doomsday’ seed bank withdrawal
An Aleppo-based seed research center, forced by the war to flee to Beirut, has made an emergency request for seed stock from a "doomsday" vault on a remote Arctic island.
Greater Middle East
Putin pries Western leaders from anti-Assad stance
British Prime Minister David Cameron is now the first Western leader to take Vladimir Putin's bait in agreeing that Bashar Assad can be part of a Syrian "transition government."
Greater Middle East
China enters Syrian war?
China is reported to be sending warships to Syria to augment the Russian build-up there—as word emerges of a Uighur jihadist group allied with the Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.
Greater Middle East
HRW: Egypt violated international law in Sinai
Human Rights Watch charges that Egypt violated international law in the creation of a "buffer zone" on the border with the Gaza Strip, evicting thousands of local residents.
Greater Middle East
Kurds punished for success against ISIS —again
With the Rojava Kurds mounting an offensive on the last ISIS-held border town in northern Syria, Turkey has launched a new propaganda push to brand them as "terrorists."