Free Republic

World leaders have been targeted quite frequently this month, and that should deeply alarm all of us. I think that all of this geopolitical instability is a sign that there is far more going on behind the scenes than we are being told. The major powers appear to be making moves in anticipation of what they believe is coming next. Right now, the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is dominating the news cycle, and at this stage we don’t know if that was an accident or not. But as a Twitter user known as “Cillian” has pointed out, there...

In a conversation with the First Vice President, the special assistant to the Russian President stated that, by Putin's order, two advanced aircrafts with special helicopters and 50 professional mountain rescue personnel will be dispatched to Tabriz, Iranian media reported on Sunday overnight.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on Wednesday that Israel would "set its sights" on Turkey if it succeeded in defeating Hamas in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported. "Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza," Erdogan told his party lawmakers in the parliament in the capital Ankara. "Unless it's stopped... this rogue and terrorist state will set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later," he added, referring to the large Turkish peninsula also called Asia Minor that comprises more than half of Turkey's territory. "We will continue to stand by Hamas, which fights for the independence of its...

Turkey was in "constant contact" with and supports Hamas, which is not a terrorist group, said the Turkish leader. ... Erdoğan has made a habit of comparing Netanyahu and Israel to Hitler and the Nazis... Last week, Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Erdoğan of acting like a “dictator” by blocking the country’s ports to Israeli imports and exports as part of a trade war. “This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” tweeted Katz. Erdoğan’s government, which openly supports Hamas in its war against Israel, announced export restrictions...

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held an emergency meeting with the heads of intelligence and the ministry of justice after his fellow party member, Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli, had warned of a possible coup d'état being prepared by law enforcement agencies, the Turkiye newspaper on Wednesday. The dismissal of several police officers in Ankara's security directorate accused of links to criminal organization Ayhan Bora Kaplan has caused widespread concern. Their homes had been searched to seize digital materials. Bahceli has said the situation could be a conspiracy against the government, and the suspension of...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the United States and European countries were not doing enough to pressure Israel to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, after Hamas' move to accept a truce proposal, Reuters reported. Speaking to Muslim scholars in Istanbul, Erdogan said Hamas had accepted a ceasefire proposal by Qatar and Egypt in a "step in the path toward a lasting ceasefire", but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not want the war to end. "The response of the Netanyahu government was to attack the innocent people in Rafah," he charged. "It has become clear who...

Turkish Foreign Minister: We must stop Israel. Either by peace or by force.

The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, traveled to Tehran on Monday to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who warned him to prevent “anti-revolutionary elements” from getting too friendly with the autonomous Kurdish region. The warning appeared to be a threat intended to dissuade Kurdish cooperation with the United States and any potential cordial ties with neighboring Israel. The KRG maintains friendly relations with the United States and cooperates militarily with Washington, particularly against the Islamic State (Isis) jihadist organization. The KRG’s Peshmerga forces were pivotal in the ouster of the ISIS “caliphate” from...

Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits." The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his US and Iranian counterparts in the past week to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments. Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the...

Iran said it warned its allies and neighbors in the region 72 hours before the drone and missile attack on Israel began, the Iranian foreign minister said Sunday. "We informed them that the Islamic republic's response was legitimate and definitive," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a televised meeting.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar warned on Friday that “one tiny mistake” could turn Cyprus into “a new Gaza”. Tatar, not recognized as a head of state by the international community, also suggested that Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan may soon recognize the north. Turkey is the only country that recognizes the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. in an interview with the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, said, “A mistake or a misunderstanding such as the shooting of a Turkish soldier on the Green Line… would provoke a bomb between the two populations.” “If you shoot one Turkish soldier, you...

ISTANBUL, April 1 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Monday to correct any mistakes that led to his party's defeat in Turkey's local elections where the opposition capitalised on economic woes and alienated Islamist voters, casting uncertainty over his reform plans. Sunday's vote marked Erdogan and his AK Party's (AKP) worst defeat in more than 20 years in power, revitalising the opposition party and strengthening Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's standing as the president's main rival. Redrawing a political map long dominated by the AKP, the Republican People's Party (CHP) won the popular vote for the first time in decades...

Today, a side of Adams that was not made much of in his lifetime has for many of us become the most important, and much-needed, part of his legacy: his critical view of Islam and of Muhammad. He derived these views from experience — his own and his father’s — of Muslim behavior (both of the Barbary Pirates and of the Ottoman Turks), from his lifelong study of history, and from his intensive reading of the Qur’an. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were sent in 1786 to negotiate in London with the ambassador from Tripoli, Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, about the...

Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Friday ordered the Foreign Ministry to summon Turkey’s envoy to Israel for a “serious reprimand” after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “send [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] to Allah.” “I instructed officials to summon the Turkish deputy ambassador to Israel for a serious reprimand, following Erdogan’s serious attack on Prime Minister Netanyahu and his threats to send PM Netanyahu to Allah and to convey a clear message to Erdogan,” Katz posted on X. “You who support the burning of babies, murderers, rapists and the mutilation of corpses by Hamas criminals, [are] the last one...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the Turkish President, and the rude-and-crude master of all he surveys from the 1,100 room “White Palace” that he had the government build for him in Istanbul, at a cost to the Turkish taxpayers of $615 million. But when a man like Erdogan comes along only once a millennium, why should the national exchequer skimp? In Istanbul, having announced to the world that he will not be running for office again (the hundreds of journalists he has imprisoned in Turkish jails must now be breathing proleptic sighs of relief), just to make sure we do not...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose NATO-member country has sought to balance its close relations with both Ukraine and Russia, offered during a visit Friday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to host a peace summit between the two countries.

Officials say Sheher Bano, an assistant superintendent of police in Lahore, risked her life to rescue the woman after Arabic calligraphy on her outfit was mistaken for verses from the Quran. PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A police officer in Pakistan is being hailed as a hero after she protected a woman from a furious mob accusing her of blasphemy over what she was wearing. Sheher Bano, an assistant superintendent of police in the city of Lahore, “put her life in danger” to rescue the woman after colorful Arabic calligraphy on her outfit was mistaken for verses from the Quran, the Muslim...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Thursday soundly defeated an effort to stop the $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to Turkey, which President Joe Biden's administration approved after Turkey approved Sweden's joining the NATO alliance. The Senate voted 79 to 13 against a resolution of disapproval of the sale introduced by Republican Senator Rand Paul.Before the vote, Paul criticized Turkey's government and said allowing the sale would embolden its "misbehavior." Backers of the sale said it was important for Washington to keep its word to a NATO ally. The Biden administration formally informed Congress on...

An incident in Lahore Pakistan stands as a damning indictment of modern Islamic society. From distant Pakistan, an NBC news story surfaces that serves to remind us of everything we need to know about our current crisis. A week ago, a female police officer in Lahore, Pakistan, patrolling a shopping district in the busy muslim city, saw a crowd gathering, to taunt, accuse, and threaten a young woman in a colorful Kurta (a long shirt-dress). Her dress was covered with bright and abstract calligraphy that the crowd assumed was an improper quoting of the Koran. In Pakistan, when a crowd...

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğa reiterated Türkiye’s offer to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as he said Ankara emphasizes diplomacy and dialogue to put an end to the war between the two countries. -snip- Erdoğan also said Türkiye supports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan in principle. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan is based on a complete Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, reparations and punishment of war criminals, as well as the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and their return under mediation by Riyadh.