Aylık arşivler: Nisan 2017

No Military Solution to Middle East’s Turmoil

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April 25, 2017

On April 4, toxic substance spread after Syrian warplanes dropped bombs on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province. Scores of people lost their lives. The West and Russia offered conflicting explanations for the tragedy. Three days later, US cruise missiles struck Al Sharyat airfield.

On April 13, in a second display of military power, the US dropped the “mother of all bombs” on caves used by Islamic State affiliates in eastern Afghanistan. Reportedly, dozens of militants were killed. A confident President Trump said that the bombing was “another very, very successful mission.” General Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement that the bomb (GBU-43/B) was the “right munition” to use against the Islamic State in Khorosan. Some observers drew attention to the “warning to North Korean” dimension of the bombing. Okumaya devam et →

Turkey: A Nation Divided

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April 17, 2017

Turkey’s experience with democracy has witnessed many ups and downs. Sometimes, it was democratically elected governments overstepping their powers, at other times it was the failure of politicians to find common ground leading to military coups or interventions. Lastly, it was a coup attempt by an insidious organization which had infiltrated state institutions including the military. In all these cases, the failure of our democracy was attributed to institutions, persons or both.  Okumaya devam et →

Syrian Conflict: State of Tension and Confusion

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April 13, 2017

According to the Trump administration, on April 4, toxic substance spread after Syrian warplanes dropped bombs on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province. Scores of people lost their lives. Russia offered another explanation. It said that Syrian warplanes had struck an insurgent storehouse containing toxic substances to be used in chemical weapons. The next day, Turkey’s Health Ministry issued a statement saying that “according to the results of the first analysis, there were findings suggesting that the patients were exposed to chemical substance (sarin)”. The UN Security Council failed to agree on a resolution which would have paved the way for a full investigation. And on April 7, US cruise missiles struck Al Sharyat airfield. The Trump administration called the operation an “overwhelming success”. Russian military called the effectiveness of the strikes “extremely low”. Okumaya devam et →