Free Republic

Since Hamas’s brutal attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the resulting Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, tensions and hostilities across the Middle East have reached fever pitch. And with such a complex regional crisis playing out, it should not come as a surprise that the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region.It should be cause for significant concern, however, that this could involve a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. While no definitive decision has been made to leave, four sources within the Defense and State departments said the White House is no...

Turkey's parliament ratified Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay. Turkey's general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 to bolster its security in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members need to approve applications from countries seeking to join the alliance. When Sweden and Finland asked to join in 2022, Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries' protection of groups it deems...

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem sits atop the site of the Second Temple, the central place for Jewish worship before its destruction during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. One wonders if any of the people braying about the alleged “settler colonialism” of Israel ever wonder how Al-Aqsa got there. Did the Jews voluntarily erect a version of it in an eighth-century homage to multiculturalism? If not, how did the Muslims who built it come to be in Jerusalem in the first place? These are rhetorical questions, of course. The caliphate besieged Jerusalem...

10 Questions PRO-Palestinians Can’t Answer (Can You Prove Me Wrong?) 0:00 - intro 1:48 - The oppressed people of the Middle East 4:28 - Stolen Land 5:56 - Why wasn’t an independent Palestinian state established between 1948 and 1967? 7:58 - Egypt 9:24 - Genocide 9:52 - Blacks and Palestinians 13:03- The State of Palestine 14:01- The R-word 14:58 - Tell me who your friends are

Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes on PKK sites in northern Iraq and Syria early Saturday and destroyed 29 PKK terror targets, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said. Air operations were carried out against terror targets in the Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil regions in Iraq and northern Syria, in line with the rights to self-defense arising from Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, the ministry said in a statement. The operations came after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK terror attack in northern Iraq. The National Defense Ministry announced a military operation was under way in the area...

Answering reporters’ questions on Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said strikes by United States and UK targeting Yemen was not proportionate as they claimed and accused them of trying to turn Red Sea into "sea of blood." Erdoğa said Houthis were mounting "successful defense, response" against attacks.

Turkey has vowed to block two British Royal Navy ships intended for Ukraine to pass through its waters. Last month, Britain said it would transfer the two minehunter ships to the Ukrainian navy to help bolster its sea operations in its war with Russia. However, the Turkish presidency's communications directorate has now said it will not let the vessels through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. When Russia first waged war on Ukraine in 2022, Turkey sparked an international agreement that blocks the passage of military ships through the passages for those at war. Today (Tuesday, January 2), the NATO member...

On Wednesday, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan drew parallels between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler. Turkey’s Attitudes Erdogan slammed Netanyahu’s actions, implying that there is little difference between him and the infamous Nazi leader. He also compared Israel’s military actions in Gaza to the Nazis’ brutal treatment of Jews during World War II, implying that the tactics and severity are reminiscent of Hitler and his regime’s historical atrocities. NATO member Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has criticized Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza, calling it a “terror state,” and said its leaders...

According to Germany's largest daily newspaper, Bild, Russia has established a new airline in Turkey. The intention is to organize a stream of refugees to Europe through the NATO country, thereby causing chaos on the continent. As early as today, December 23, the first airplane is supposed to have taken off. "Polish security authorities explicitly warn of a 'new, organized rush of refugees via Russia and Belarus'," the German newspaper reports. One of the airlines identified in the operation is the Turkish Southwind. Yesterday, Friday, Belarusian authorities also announced that the company will start flying between the major cities in...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan asked his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken in a call on Sunday for Washington to use its influence over Israel to halt Israeli attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, a Turkish diplomatic source said. Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, has harshly criticised Israel, calling for a full ceasefire and for Israeli leaders to be tried in international courts for war crimes, and slammed Western support for Israel. Washington, Israel's closest ally, has repeatedly said it supports Israel's right to defend itself after the cross-border rampage by Hamas militants on Oct....

Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist for Haaretz, called on "international powers" to enter the Gaza Strip Thursday, while he participated in the TRT World 2023 forum in Istanbul, Turkey. His calls reportedly were for international powers to enter the strip to put a ceasefire in place. According to a statement made by Levy, "There must be a ceasefire in the current war as soon as possible, and some international powers need to enter Gaza for that to happen." "The Israeli media and international media should not be put in the same equation in terms of how they reflect what is...

Turkish lawmaker collapsed suddenly in parliament after reportedly having a heart attack following an impassioned rant in which he said Israel would 'suffer the wrath of Allah'. Video showed the moment Hasan Bitmez, 53, fell on the floor after giving a speech in the General Assembly Hall in Ankara - prompting other politicians to run over to his aid. Rounding off a strongly worded speech, Bitmez had concluded, 'We can perhaps hide from our conscience but not from history,' stating that 'Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah', as reported by The Yeshiva World. In that moment, he stumbled and...

A lawmaker in the Turkish parliament collapsed at his podium immediately after declaring Israel would suffer “the wrath of Allah”. Hasan Bitmez had been delivering a speech in the Turkish National Assembly when the heart attack struck him down.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has sparked a diplomatic row by holding an unauthorized meeting with the Turkish president. Yousaf, roughly equivalent to a U.S. state governor, is a Pakistani-heritage Muslim. He has been pushing the British government to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and import thousands of Gazan refugees. Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, nominally a NATO ally, also backs a ceasefire. He has branded the West's support for Israel against Hamas "barbaric". By discussing a ceasefire with Erdogan at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Yousaf breached diplomatic protocol. Foreign policy and defense are reserved to the...

For the record, the term “Palestinian” is a fictitious contrivance currently used to define the Arabs from various nations who migrated into Palestine in relatively recent times. “Palestinian” was once used to describe the Jewish Zionists who settled in what was then the Ottoman territory known as Palestine. Also, unlike Palestine, the establishment of a nation of Kurdistan was included in the aftermath of the Versailles Treaty. As Lenin used to say, “promises are like pie crust...made to be broken.” What is currently called Kurdistan is the border region where Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey converge. Kurdish separatist tendencies are...

The Turkish government has launched an attack on Christians and one of their most sacred religious holidays in Germany. In the Franconian town of Karlstadt near Würzburg, local mosques have seized control of the beloved Christmas Andreasmarkt, traditionally a symbol of peace and joy, turning it into a mockery and a threat to Christians.This German Christmas market, named after Saint Andrew, an apostle of Jesus, was themed “Orient meets Occident” by the city this year. This term refers to the convergence of Eastern and Western cultures.Under the supervision of local Turkish mosque associations, specifically DITIB (The Turkish Islamic Union for...

Turkey warned Israel not to assassinate any Hamas leaders or officials on Turkish soil and stated that there will be "serious consequences"...

Israel is determined to kill Hamas’s leaders “in every location” in the world, including Qatar, Turkey, and Lebanon, even if it takes many years, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in recordings revealed Sunday. “In every location, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everyone,” he said in recordings aired by the Kan public broadcaster Sunday evening. “It will take a few years, but we will be there in order to do it.” “The cabinet set a goal for us, to take out Hamas. And we are determined to do it, this is our Munich,”...

Israel will hunt down Hamas in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar even if it takes years, the head of Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said in a recording aired by Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Sunday. It was unclear when Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar made the remarks or to whom. The agency itself declined to comment on the report. "The cabinet has set us a goal, in street talk, to eliminate Hamas. This is our Munich. We will do this everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar. It will take a few years...

Mayor Eric Adams admitted that he helped the Turkish consulate get approval to open two years ago despite fire concerns — saying it was simply what politicians do. His comments came as he was grilled by the media Tuesday about details of a federal probe into his campaign, that reportedly focuses on illegal foreign donations from Turkey. “This is what we do every day,” Hizzoner told a packed room of reporters in City Hall Tuesday. “When the constituency reaches out to us for assistance to another agency … you reach out to an agency and ask them to look into...