Epstein Secrets

ikolas Gvosdcv 03 Feb 2012 -- Now that the United States, France and other Western powers have endorsed the Arab League's call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down -- even if that formulation is ultimately edited out of the final draft of the resolution pending before the •. Security Council -- it

ship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round-trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a dead man walking. Even if all you care about are arms sales, wouldn't Russia want to align itself with the emerging forces in Syria? "There i

cy to the relationship between the two countries. After all, EFTA00660752 the May 31, 2010 attack by Israel's navy in international waters on the Mavi Marmara carrying humanitarian activists and assistance to Gaza and challenging the Israeli blockade was not only a flagrant breach of international law but

ign minister. These critics point to the heightened tensions with Syria and Iraq, the persisting inability to overcome the hostile fallout from the Mavi Marmara incident with Israel, and even the renewed salience of the long unresolved dispute with the Armenian diaspora sparked by a new French bill that ma

as made it difficult to discuss sectarian prejudice in public, which has sometimes kept hatreds bottled up. Some in the Sunni majority perceive the Assads as representatives of their sect and resent the entire community by extension. None of this makes sectarian conflict inevitable. Class and regiona

since the ascension of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey EFTA_R1_02029349 EFTA02689724 17 and Bashar al-Assad's inheritance of the Syrian presidency, relations have dramatically improved. Turkey invested enormous financial and political capital in Syria, esta

political capital in Syria, establishing a Levantine free trade zone and distancing itself from Israel. Erdogan extracted promises of reform from Bashar at the onset of the protests and then watched with increasingly visible consternation as the promises were broken. He warned Syria repeatedly again

dly needed boost ahead of local elections in March 2009. Erdogan's anti-Israeli rants reached new heights last May, when Israeli troops stormed the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying aid to Gaza, and killed eight Turkish activists and one U.S. citizen of Turkish origin. The West's initial sympathy for Tu

r el-Qaddafi. It's true. But what an ally! What a thing to regret! And, now, the more Putin throws his support behind the murderous dictatorship of Bashar al- Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round- trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a de

i. It's true. But what an ally! What a thing to regret! And, now, the more Putin throws his support behind the murderous dictatorship of Bashar al- Assad in Syria, the more he looks like a person buying a round- trip ticket on the Titanic — after it has already hit the iceberg. Assad is a dead man wal

kolas Gvosdev 03 Feb 2012 -- Now that the United States, France and other Western powers have endorsed the Arab League's call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down -- even if that formulation is ultimately edited out of the final draft of the resolution pending before the U.N. Security Council --

restore normalcy to the relationship between the two countries. After all, the May 31, 2010 attack by Israel's navy in international waters on the Mavi Marmara carrying humanitarian activists and assistance to Gaza and challenging the Israeli blockade was not only a flagrant breach of international law bu

ruiting supporters within the ranks of the still largely secular protest movement, whose unifying goal is the ouster of the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad. But if the United Nations' peace plan fails to end the government's bloody crackdown and promises of Western and Arab help for the rebel Free S

al. Although many Syrian opposition activists insist that their revolution is not sectarian, EFTA00660170 a majority of Syrians are Sunnis, while Assad, along with most leading figures in the regime and in the security forces, belongs to the Shiite- affiliated Alawite minority, lending a sectarian d

ountry a partner. - Turkey evacuated from Israel not only Turks but citizens from many countries, after they were detained by Israeli forces due to Mavi Marmara incident. It also evacuated citizens of all nationalities from Libya and Syria without making distinction. Our expectation from all allied countrie

oyed no such support. Mubarak's Egypt, Bashar al Assad's Syria, Jordan under the Hashemites and the Gul

anon's political mainstream. Hezbollah benefited from a strong patron in Iran. Hamas, on the other hand, enjoyed no such support. Mubarak's Egypt, Bashar al Assad's Syria, Jordan under the Hashemites and the Gulf monarchies under the influence of the House of Saud all shared a deep interest in keeping Hamas box

Turkey, there appears to be little that Ankara can do to mediate the conflict. Turkish-Israeli relations have been severely strained since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. Moreover, although the Turkish government is trying to edge its way into the cease-fire negotiations to demonstrate its leadership prowe

ary 29, 2012 -- A popular Washington illusion once held that the right combination of incentives and punishments might "peel off" Syria's President Bashar al-Assad from Iran's "Axis of Resistance," but nobody would have predicted that the weak link in Iran's alliance of radicals would turn out to be the Pales

, democracy and reform." Iran, Hamas knows, is not amused. But that appears to be a diminishing concern for the movement. Hamas' relationship with Assad, Tehran's key Arab ally, began to sour last year when the Palestinian group resisted pressure to stage pro-regime events in refugee camps in Syria.

42806 I lurrivct Gaza, Jerusalem, Nicosia, Baku Burak Bekdil February/29/2012 -- Since Turkey decided to isolate Israel in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara raid in which Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American in May 2010, the events have not exactly taken the route Ankara wished

e opposition in Syria began as a largely peaceful, grass- roots, pan-Syrian movement for democratic change. But it was deliberately met by President Bashar al-Assad with murder and sectarian venom. He wanted to make the conflict about his Alawite minority versus the country's Sunni Muslim majority as a way of d

m, democracy and reform." Iran, Hamas knows, is not amused. But that appears to be a diminishing concern for the movement. Hamas' relationship with Assad, Tehran's key Arab ally, began to sour last year when the Palestinian group resisted pressure to stage pro- regime events in refugee camps in Syria.

ck 2. Hurriyet Gaza, Jerusalem, Nicosia, Baku Burak Bekdil February/29/2012 -- Since Turkey decided to isolate Israel in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara raid in which Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American in May 2010, the events have not exactly taken the route Ankara wished

killing an estimated 160 people, according to the Turkish military. Davutoglu has begun publicly calling for Syria's embattled dictator, Bashar al- Assad, to step down. And during a planned visit to Egypt this week, EFTA00586779 9 Erdogan says he intends to cross the border into Gaza—a move guaran

hern Iraq, killing an estimated 160 people, according to the Turkish military. Davutoglu has begun publicly calling for Syria's embattled dictator, Bashar al- Assad, to step down. And during a planned visit to Egypt this week, EFTA00586779 9 Erdogan says he intends to cross the border into Gaza—a mo

led child. Still, there's method to Erdogan's heated talk. It's about something more than justice for the nine activists who were killed aboard the Mavi Marmara as they challenged Israel's blockade of Gaza. The Iraq War and the Arab Spring have created a regional power vacuum, and Erdogan is determined to f

n, Gadhafi used heavy weapons from the start, but Assad hasn't. SPIEGEL: Yet tanks have been deployed in

cle 7. Daily Beast Mideast’s Changing View of America Randall Lane HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_024997 --- PAGE BREAK --- Article 1. Today’s Zaman The UN's Mavi Marmara report and Turkish foreign policy Cenap Cakmak 07 September 2011 -- The long-awaited UN report on the Mavi Marmara incident has been finally publis

ke sure that the matter is discussed in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). And finally, Turkey will extend full support to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims in their pursuit of justice from Israel. Some of these sanctions could be considered radical; however, some of these same actions, although w