Turkey has opened over 1,800 cases against those who insulted Erdogan

Turkey has opened over 1,800 cases against those who insulted Erdogan

Special to WorldTribune.com Insulting the president in Turkey is a crime. Apparently, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t like being insulted – and a lot of people are doing it. “The justice ministry has allowed 1,845 cases on charges of insulting Erdogan to go ahead,” Bekir Bozdag said, responding to questions in parliament. “I am unable […]

Syrian crisis present more immediate threat to Israel

Syrian crisis present more immediate threat to Israel

Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey Israel is wisely keeping out of the fray in Syria, but it may be challenged all the same. There are more than two dozen state and non-state actors battling over the prostrate body of what used to be Syria, one of the artificial entities carved out in the Middle […]

Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

Special to WorldTribune.com President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will not cease its attacks on Kurdish forces even though the Kurds have been the only consistently effective ground force against common foe Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Erdogan on Feb. 17 said Turkey would continue shelling Kurdish targets in Syria to prevent the […]

Russia-Turkey spat threatens to draw NATO into Syrian conflict

Russia-Turkey spat threatens to draw NATO into Syrian conflict

Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey and Russia risk setting off an “accidental war” which threatens to bring NATO into the equation, analysts say. “Both Russia and Turkey are looking to position for strategic advantage,” Tim Ash, head of emerging-market strategy at Nomura in London, said on Feb. 15. “The risk is of an actual Russo-Turkish military […]

Turkish military strikes Syrian regime targets near Aleppo

Turkish military strikes Syrian regime targets near Aleppo

Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey’s military carried out attacks on Kurdish and Syrian regime targets in Aleppo province on Feb. 13, reports said. Turkish forces shelled Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets near the town of Azaz, and also responded to fire from Syrian regime forces on a military guard post in Turkey’s southern Hatay […]

Egypt’s Sisi hosts key American Jewish leaders

Egypt’s Sisi hosts key American Jewish leaders

Special to WorldTribune.com A delegation of American Jewish leaders met with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi on Feb. 11 to discuss Cairo’s security cooperation with Israel and U.S.-Egypt relations. The meetings between Sisi as well as other Egyptian officials, and 36 members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was described as […]

Russian air power, Iran-backed militias help Syrian forces advance toward Turkish border

Russian air power, Iran-backed militias help Syrian forces advance toward Turkish border

Special to WorldTribune.com Syrian forces, in a major offensive supported by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, advanced toward the Turkish border on Feb. 8. The Syrian advance and relentless Russian air strikes in recent days have led to one of the biggest shifts in momentum of the five-year war. The offensive by President Bashar […]

Erdogan rules out meeting Egypt’s Sisi over death sentences for Brotherhood

Erdogan rules out meeting Egypt’s Sisi over death sentences for Brotherhood

Special to WorldTribune.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will not meet with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi until Egypt lifts the death sentences of Mohammed Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. “My stance on that issue is clear; in the first place, I will not meet Sisi until the decisions of death penalty […]

Turkey closes border to thousands of Syrians fleeing Russia-backed offensive in Aleppo

Turkey closes border to thousands of Syrians fleeing Russia-backed offensive in Aleppo

Special to WorldTribune.com Some 35,000 Syrians are stranded at the Turkish border after fleeing a Russian-backed Assad regime offensive in Aleppo. Turkish humanitarian groups warned of a desperate situation in the making as they set up camps and sent in truckloads of aid on Feb. 8 for people, many of them women and children, amassed […]

Raqqa residents said overjoyed as U.S.-led coalition planes drops leaflets vowing ISIL’s defeat

Raqqa residents said overjoyed as U.S.-led coalition planes drops leaflets vowing ISIL’s defeat

Special to WorldTribune.com U.S.-led coalition warplanes dropped thousands of leaflets over Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) de facto capital in Syria vowing that ISIL will soon be defeated. The leaflets were dropped over Raqqa during a break in coalition airstrikes. ISIL opposition group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS) said on Twitter that […]