Inner Asia
Russo-Turkish pipeline route on hold amid crisis
With Moscow threatening sanctions against Turkey, plans for a Russo-Turkish free trade zone and joint gas pipeline route appear be on hold.
Tag: Syria
Greater Middle East
Opening shots of new Russo-Turkish war?
The situation in northern Syria is escalating amid Russo-Turkish brinkmanship, with Turkmen villages coming under intense Russian bombardment.
Greater Middle East
Russian warplane down: heightened contradictions
After Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane over Syria, Vladimir Putin openly accused Ankara of backing ISIS—echoing a charge Kurdish forces have been making for months.
Iraq
Security Council adopts resolution to fight ISIS
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on all member states to fight to eradicate ISIS, calling it "a global and unprecedented threat."
Greater Middle East
Syria: protests break out in ISIS-held town
Residents of the ISIS-held northern Syrian town of Manbij have held unprecedented protests against jihadist rule, according to activists who got the word out via social media.
Iraq
Contradictions of post-Paris anti-ISIS convergence
Russia and France say they will cooperate against ISIS in Syria, but Turkey is undermining unity between Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish forces.
Europe
Conspiracy vultures descend on Paris
The Palestinian Authority's official newspaper runs an op-ed claiming Israel was behind the Paris attacks—just one of several such unhelpful responses.
North Africa
France bombs Syria; US bombs Libya
Two days after the Paris attacks, French warplanes carried out air-strikes on the ISIS capital Raqqa—as the US bombed ISIS targets in Derna, Libya.
Iraq
Kurdish forces liberate Sinjar from ISIS
On the same day as the Paris attacks, a serious blow against ISIS was dealt in Iraq as the town of Sinjar was liberated by a mixed force led by Kurdish Peshmerga troops.
Europe
Cold War déja vu in NATO mega-maneuvers
NATO is just winding up its biggest military exercise since the end of the Cold War—Operation Trident Juncture, involving 36,000 troops from over 30 countries.
Greater Middle East
Syria: anti-ISIS forces advance —despite everything
The new Kurdish-Arab alliance in northern Syria continues to advance into ISIS-held territory—in spite of efforts by virtually all the regional powers to sabotage it.
Greater Middle East
US sells Turkey ‘smart bombs’ (to use against Kurds)
The Pentagon announces the sale of 900 "smart bombs" to Turkey just as Ankara is preparing to move against US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria.