Turkey

Iran

Iran bombs Iraqi Kurdistan

Six Crimean Tatar men received long prison terms from a Russian court, following a trial considered "illegal" by the Ukrainian government and human rights groups. The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down 14-year sentences to Khalil Mambetov, Refat Seydametov, Osman Abdurazakov, Leman Zekeriayev and Ekrem Krosh. Ayder Asanov was given 11 years. Although accused of "participation in the activities of a terrorist organization" and "preparation for the violent seizure of power" under the Russian Criminal Code, the charges concern their involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a transnational Muslim civic organization that is banned in Russia but is legal in Ukraine and most countries around the world. Additionally, the nonviolent activities in question took place in Crimea, which Russia has illegally occupied and declared annexed since 2014. Kyiv, and governments around the world, recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine. (Photo: Crimean Solidarity via KHPG)

Greater Middle East

Syria: Idlib displaced march on Turkish border

During his first days back in office, Donald Trump rapidly started implementing his hardline migration agenda, including by declaring a state of emergency at the US southern border. The move allows his administration to access billions of dollars to expand the building of a border wall and to deploy the military and national guard to the area. Around 1,500 active duty soldiers are already being deployed. Trump also reinstated the controversial "Remain in Mexico" program from his first administration. This policy, which requires people to wait for asylum appointments in Mexico, helped to create a now-perennial humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico. The Trump administration has also shut down CBP One—a cell phone app for scheduling asylum appointments—leaving thousands of people stranded in Mexico, and suspended the US refugee resettlement program, as well as cancelling travel plans for refugees who had already been approved to enter the country. Trump's promised mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has yet to get underway, but his administration has begun laying the groundwork for expanded immigration raids—potentially including on schools, churches, and hospitals—and has threatened to prosecute any local officials who don't comply. (Image: White House)

Iraq

Turkey bombs Iraqi territory —again

Canadian bicycling advocacy group Cycle Toronto along with two individual cyclists, Eva Stranger-Ross and Narada Kiondo, have filed a court challenge against new provincial legislation granting the Ontario government authority over the installation and removal of municipal bike lanes. The group argues that the law, Ontario Bill 212, infringes on cyclists' rights to life and security under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (Photo: Hallgrimsson via Wikimedia Commons)

Greater Middle East

Podcast: genocide, propaganda and the Idlib offensive

The government of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe imposed a territory-wide curfew after a strike by workers at the central power plant shut down the island's electricity supply. Amid ongoing complaints over salaries, workers at the Pointe Jarry facility entered the control room of the thermal plant and caused an emergency shutdown of the engines. After police secured the plant, the government requisitioned the employees needed to operate the power station through a prefectural decree. This ordered employees deemed essential to the operation of the station to return to work based on an "observed or foreseeable damage to good order, public health, tranquility and safety." (Map: PCL)

Greater Middle East

Assad, Russia launch Idlib offensive

The French government deployed the special anti-riot police, the Republican Security Companies (CRS), to Martinique in response to ongoing protests over the rising cost of living on the French-ruled Caribbean island. The deployment marks the first time CRS units have been sent to Martinique since they were banned from the territory in December 1959, following violent protests in departmental capital Fort-de-France that drew widespread criticism over heavy-handed police intervention. (Map: PCL)

Greater Middle East

Turkish occupation builds wall through Afrin

The Taliban announced that they have taken the Panjshir Valley from the incipient National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA). In an audio statement from an undisclosed location, NRFA leader Ahamd Masoud pledged to carry on the fight, and called upon Afghans to launch a national uprising against the Taliban. Another NRFA leader, Fahmi Dashti, was reported killed in the battle for the Valley. News sources in India claimed he met his death in a targeted drone strike launched by Pakistan. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Greater Middle East

Dozens detained at Istanbul May Day march

Indian-administered Kashmir was plunged back into internet darkness as India's central authorities enforced lockdowns and a news blackout following the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a prominent separatist leader. Geelani's body was immediately seized by authorities, and buried in a quiet funeral held under harsh restrictions. His son, Naseem Geelani, said the family had planned to bury him at the main martyrs' cemetery in Srinagar, as specified in his will, but was not allowed to do so. Police also charged family members under an anti-terrorism law for wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag and raising anti-India slogans. Kashmir spent months without internet following an August 2019 crackdown. High-speed mobile internet was only restored earlier this year. (Photo: Kashmir Global via Nationalia)

Greater Middle East

Syria’s Idlib still under bombardment

Two were killed as Iranian security forces opened fire on Ahwazi Arab protesters in Ahvaz, capital of southwestern Khuzestan province. The deaths came after days of demonstrations in the Arab-majority region, which is stricken by withering drought. Hundreds of sheep, cattle, buffalo and other livestock have died over the past weeks. The protests began a week ago, with a peaceful vigil outside the governor's office, demanding that authorities open the sluice gates on the network of massive hydroelectric dams built upstream on the region's main rivers, which divert some 90% of the waters to other regions of Iran. Protesters held up placards in Arabic, Persian and English, with messages including: "Water is a human right", "We are thirsty–give us water!", "Stop killing our environment!", and "Stop drying out the Ahwazi rivers and marshlands!" The protesters also chanted slogans condemning Iran's central government, such as "The regime keeps us in poverty in the name of religion!" (Photo: Dur Untash Studies Center)

Greater Middle East

Dutch anti-ISIS volunteer arrested in Netherlands

One week after Peru's close and hotly contested presidential run-off election, far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori appears to be taking a tip from the Donald Trump playbook. The official results from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) give Fujimori 49.8% of the vote, and 50.2% to her left-populist challenger Pedro Castillo. However, the results only become official when they are certified by the National Jury of Elections (JNE)—and Fujimori is calling for some 200,000 votes to be nullified as fraudulent, enough to throw the race in her favor. The JNE initially said it would extend the deadline for filing challenges to votes, which has now passed. However, it quickly reversed this decision in response to a public outcry and accusations by Castillo and his supporters of an attempted "coup d'etat." (Photo: Diario Uno)

Greater Middle East

Repression in wake of Turkish elections

In Episode 75 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines distorted reportage on the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline by Russian hackers. The disaster illustrates the urgent need for a crash conversion from fossil fuels—but also from digital technology. Signs of hope are seen in the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, the recent indigenous-led protests against the Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota, and the gas bill strike launched by Brooklyn residents to oppose the North Brooklyn Pipeline that would cut through their neighborhoods. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Map: US Energy Information Administration)

Greater Middle East

Turkey arrests Kurdish politicians on election eve

The US Department of Justice announced the seizure of 32 internet domains linked to an alleged Russian government-backed disinformation campaign aimed at influencing US and global audiences. According to the DoJ, the operation, known as "Doppelganger," sought to sway public opinion in favor of Russian interests and interfere in the 2024 US presidential election. The campaign was allegedly orchestrated by several Russian organizations under the supervision of Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior official in the Russian Presidential Administration. These organizations utilized the domains to distribute pro-Russian propaganda and undermine support for Ukraine. The operation used deceptive methods that violated US "money laundering and criminal trademark law." (Photo: Wikipedia)

Greater Middle East

SDF take last ISIS pocket: what next?

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have announced the complete "territorial defeat" of the Islamic State. Trump was of course quick to take credit for the victory. But this is a victory for the Rojava Kurds and their Arab and Assyrian allies, not for Trump. And it could paradoxically be very bad news for them, as they have now outlived their usefulness to the empire and could be betrayed to Turkish aggression. The collapse of ISIS could set off a new scramble for Syria's north, with potential for an Arab-Kurdish ethnic war. (Image: SDF)