Hattip Chaos Cat

Related Content; from 2025 below

Some excerpts

The base at Abu al-Duhur had been dead for thirteen years. Wrecked in the Syrian war, out of service since 2012, its runways cratered and its hangars stripped, it sat in Idlib province about 60 kilometers from the Turkish border, useful to no air force. On the night of August 18 eight Israeli missiles fell on it. Israel said it had struck to stop Turkish troops from moving in.

Six days before the strike, Israel had gone to Washington with the same warning. Its intelligence, it said, indicated there might be Turkish movement into the airfield. The Americans took the warning and ran it down through their own agencies. Tom Barrack, Donald Trump’s ambassador to Ankara and his envoy for Syria, described what came back. “We all did our due diligence. We went back to our respective intelligence agencies. The answer we got is, no, that’s not happening.”

Then Barrack said the thing an envoy is not supposed to say in public about an ally. “One theory is they were just baiting Turkiye.” He called the strike aggressive and timed, and he named what it was timed to. Israel votes on October 27.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, called Barrack’s account “full of inaccuracies” and said the intelligence had been clear. Both cannot be true. Either Turkey was about to seize a derelict runway and the closest ally Israel has could not find the evidence, or it was not, and a NATO member’s base was bombed on a claim that dissolved the moment anyone checked it. The envoy who checked it settled the matter to his own satisfaction on a podcast, five days after the missiles landed, by guessing at the motive.

The motive was on a billboard before it was in the air. Along Tel Aviv’s main highway, above the traffic, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had appeared beside Iran’s supreme leader, the head of Hezbollah and the mayor of New York, under a single line: “They want Netanyahu to lose. Don’t let them win.” Benjamin Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be tried for corruption. His Likud has been falling in the polls. Trump has told him to wind down the wars on Iran and Lebanon that filled his last two years. A man who runs as the wall between his country and its enemies had run short of enemies he was still allowed to fight.

Turkey filled the gap, and filled it safely. Iran could be bombed toward collapse. Turkey cannot. It holds NATO’s second-largest army, its president has a warm line to the American one, (disagree) and a quarrel with it can be conducted in airstrikes on other people’s territory and in warnings traded through the press, at no risk of a war that reaches Israeli cities. The opposition read the timing on sight. Yair Lapid, who backed the strike, ridiculed the noise around it: “if you struck, stay quiet.” Ehud Barak wrote that the whole escalation smelled of a plan to fight the election on a war footing.

More related content from 2025

A year before the strike, a committee Netanyahu had appointed under his former acting national security adviser, Jacob Nagel, told him to prepare for direct war with Turkey. The Syrian threat, the report said, “could evolve into something even more dangerous than the Iranian threat.” It urged raising the defense budget by up to 15 billion shekels a year and buying the long-range aircraft such a war would require. After October 7 Israel had already traded deterrence for prevention: not to wait for a threat and answer it, but to destroy it before it forms. Abu al-Duhur was that rule carried out on concrete. Hit the runway while it is still only a runway, before Turkish soldiers arrive and turn it into a piece of NATO. The rehearsal was on the record too. In the spring of 2025 Turkish teams had surveyed the airfields at T4, Palmyra and Hama for a deeper presence, and Israel had struck each in turn.

The legal cover was being drafted while the fires were still out at Abu al-Duhur. Two days after the strike a former Israeli official, Shay Gal, wrote in the Adelson-owned daily Israel Hayom that Turkish soldiers in Syria would be, in plain terms, targets. Article 5 of the NATO treaty, he argued, “protects Turkish territory; Turkish troops do not carry that territory with them” onto Syrian ground. Israel had acted, he wrote, “before Turkish military depth matured.” The paper is owned by Miriam Adelson, the largest single donor to the American president. An opinion column in such a place is not a fringe position tossed into the void. It is a balloon released over friendly airspace to see who salutes.

The two designs for Syria cannot both hold on the same soil. Turkey wants a single Syrian state under Ahmed al-Sharaa, its Kurdish militias folded into a national army, its refugees sent home, its northern border shut. Israel wants Syria kept weak and split, its minorities shielded from Damascus, its south left open to Israeli entry. The foreign minister in Jerusalem has been clear that Turkish radar and air defense and aircraft would close skies that Israeli jets now cross at will, and would make a future strike on Iran harder to fly. Al-Sharaa, pressed from both sides, takes Turkish training and reconstruction while quietly thinning the Turkish-shaped units inside his own army, unwilling to become anyone’s client. Syria is not where the rivalry is happening. Syria is what it is over. The place it is most likely to tear is the Kurdish seam, where a force armed by Washington is being pushed into a state that Turkey wants it dissolved by, and that Israel would sooner see it armed against.

That Turkey is not Iran is the danger, not the reassurance. It carries NATO’s second army, a new mutual-defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and a president nearer to Trump than any in years. To bomb a base that Turkey backs is to strike at the rim of the alliance that underwrites Western security, and the alliance has no agreed answer for the morning after. The shield may bring the collision on rather than hold it off. If NATO membership tempts Ankara to push a little deeper into Syria, trusting that Israel will not risk hitting a protected army, and if that trust pushes Israel to strike sooner, before the protection attaches, the deterrent has turned into its opposite. Washington sees it. Barrack has spent weeks trying to build a channel among Israel, Turkey and Syria so that jets do not meet by accident. Israel does not want the channel. A formal mechanism, its officials fear, would set into intelligence-sharing and bind their hands, taking from them the freedom to strike whenever they alone decide a threat is forming.

Netanyahu once ran precisely such a channel with Vladimir Putin, to keep Israeli and Russian pilots from firing on each other over Syria, and it held for close to a decade. It worked because both sides wanted it to. This time one side is bombing empty runways two months before an election and filing the result under deterrence.

More content from 2025

For a generation the region was arranged on the belief that Israel stood at its center, wired to Washington, its supremacy the fixed point the Abrahamic accords and all that followed were built around. That belief is coming apart. The strike on Abu al-Duhur was not the confident act of a power sure of its place. It was the nervous act of one no longer sure of it, a country cratering a dead airbase to prove a dominance that a NATO member’s drones and export ledgers are quietly taking away. The threat the missiles answered could not be found by the ally sent to look for it. What could be found was the billboard, the trial, the sinking polls, the rival in an Istanbul cell, the constitution still to be rewritten in Ankara, the engines Netanyahu wants Turkey never to hold. Two men who need the same war moved a step nearer to it, on land that belongs to neither, over a runway no one was using.

NATO will NOT back Turkey in a battle with Israel

NATO does NOT back Turkey as Ukraine attacks it’s ships.

Turkey has long been targeted by Usrael for destabilization and balkanization- so while the anti war piece is interesting, I disagree completely with the premise NATO will side with Turkey as Israel escalates. And Israel will escalate.

Turkish Minute

Turkey summoned Ukraine’s ambassador on Saturday over attacks this week on a Turkish vessel and a second ship sent to tow it in the Black Sea, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The attacks took place on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministry told Agence France-Presse.

“During the meeting, Turkey warned about the absolute need to ensure the safety of people, of assets, of navigation and of the environment in the Black Sea,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Turkish container ship Lider Bordo Mavi was hit on Wednesday off Russia’s Black Sea coast. The Lider Kocatepe, which was sent to tow the cargo vessel, was also targeted the next day, the ministry said.

The ministry did not say whether anyone was killed or injured.

Turkey, a NATO member that maintains ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, has not joined Western sanctions against Russia.

Long term readers here will understand Turkey was always going to be targeted and their NATO “allies” were going to stand aside. Silently.

Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a new alliance which will treat an attack against one as an attack against all. Well, that’s lovely, but can we please see the actual treaty? No. We can’t? Oh, that’s funny, why would you keep that secret?…

Give a listen. Some are claiming Iran is the target, but, Iran seemed quite subdued..

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, however, have been careful not to antagonise any regional or international actors while finalising what they said was the result of years of hard work and negotiations. They have stressed the pact, which does not identify a specific threat, is not targeted against any country – particularly Iran – and does not abrogate or replace any existing agreements with others.

In Tehran, the reaction has largely been subdued, with officials mostly focusing on aspects of regional and Muslim cooperation and what they perceive as a declining role for the US.

Any thoughts?

First an oped from Maritime Executive;

The sanctions on Russia have transformed crude oil and refined product flows. Before the war, the vast majority of Russian seaborne crude went directly to European Union ports. Today, that flow has essentially dropped to zero, rerouting heavily toward Asia. China and India, who are not sanctioning Russia, now consume more than 80% of Russia's seaborne crude oil exports. This has led to a massive boost in long-haul Suezmax and Aframax employment. One would typically use VLCCs for these long-haul trips to Asia, but Russia does not have access to VLCC-capable export terminals. This has transformed Russia’s oil flows from using regional pipelines and short-haul voyages to long-haul trips on medium-sized, suboptimal tonnage.

The introduction and enforcement of price caps and trade bans has reshaped fleet ownership, vessel values, and maritime safety standards globally. The sanctions against Russia have also fractured the global oil tanker industry, splitting the maritime shipping world into two distinct, parallel markets: the regulated “mainstream” market and a booming, opaque “shadow” market.

Surviving The Sanctions

Despite the sanctions, Russian crude oil exports have largely been maintained. As a matter of fact, they have been rising in 2026 to date.

Russian crude oil exports are rising! Read the rest at the above link.

Finally;

Turkish cargo ship hit in suspected Ukrainian attack near Russian port (VIDEOS)

The captain said the Nadezhda, which reportedly carried fruit and vegetables, was struck by Kiev’s drones

A Turkish-operated cargo ship was hit in an apparent Ukrainian drone attack off the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk late on Monday.

The Nadezhda had a crew of 22, including 13 Turkish citizens, according to the DGM. Turkish media reported that the vessel was operated by Samsun-based Kalyoncu Shipping and had been carrying fruit and vegetables from Türkiye to Russia.

Lavrov had mentioned this was already happening and I’d covered it in this previous post

Russia hopes Türkiye will send a strong signal to Ukraine following attacks on Turkish vessels in the Black Sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, APA’s Moscow bureau reports.

LeMonde– small excerpt. When I can, I’ll cover this topic a bit more indepth

Since October 2025, Turkey has quietly launched an extraordinary project in central Somalia. Warsheikh, a city on the edge of the Indian Ocean, 70 kilometers north of Mogadishu, will host the future flagship of the Turkish space program: a satellite launch base that will be doubled by a ballistic test site for the missile tests of Ankara’s powerful defense industry.

If it has formalized it in December 2025, the Turkish government has been working for several years on this project, the cost of which is estimated at 350 million dollars (218 million euros). “For Ankara, it is a strategic infrastructure, which will allow it to access space autonomously and strengthen its position in the global space economy,” said Arda Mevlütoglu, director at the Turkish-based consulting firm Mergen Analytical Strategies. With this base, Turkey will become the thirteenth country in the world to have a sovereign space launch site.

The choice was made on Somalia not only because of the close bilateral relationship between the two nations, but also because of technical criteria. The country’s proximity to the equator’s line reduces fuel costs and increases the load propelled into space. Its location also allows the debris to fall safely into the Indian Ocean. According to a Turkish government source, the infrastructure will be profitable by allowing other nations to send their satellites….

Interesting, indeed.

I’ve written twice about the use of US replica of the Shahed recently

Turkey, next Iran- we have seen the script

If the United States and Israel succeed in destroying Iran, Turkey may be next. This is no longer a speculative provocation whispered on the margins of Washington’s ( If these were “whispers”how the heck did I hear them?) think tank ecosystem. It is increasingly an articulated narrative, voiced by senior Israeli political figures, echoed by right wing American commentators, and amplified by a growing constellation of states allied with Israel.

The language being used is not new. Rather, it is a familiar script – one that has preceded sanctions, destabilisation, and war across the Middle East for decades. The implications are unmistakable: a powerful regional actor that refuses subordination to Israel is being rebranded as an existential threat requiring containment – or worse.

This shift is not merely rhetorical. Bennett explicitly argued that “a weakened Tehran” creates “a summons to hunt down enemies ‘throughout the Middle East’ before they can solidify.” In this formulation, Turkey is no longer a rival power – it is a future target.

The warning signs extend beyond Bennett.

On 27 February, former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also escalated criticism of Ankara. While Gallant emphasized diplomacy, he simultaneously gestured towards coercive measures, suggesting Western states reconsider arms sales to Turkey, despite its status as a NATO member. The contradiction in this proposed strategy is revealing – because diplomacy, in this framing, is not engagement between equals but pressure designed to force Turkey back into alignment with Israel.

Rupture in Israel– Turkey relations

The deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel did not occur in a vacuum. Since coming to power in the early 2000s, Erdogan has been increasingly critical of Israel, particularly following Israel’s 2010 attack on a Gaza bound flotilla that killed ten Turkish activists – a defining rupture in bilateral relations. Israel’s military operations against Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, over the past decade and a half has further inflamed Turkish public opinion, pushing Ankara towards an openly confrontational stance against Israel’s genocidal policies and territorial ambitions, especially after October 2023.

Recall my mentioning Turkey being subject to an intentionally misleading propaganda campaign, most often presented in the alternative media?

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently outlined a “hexagon of alliances” – including India, Greece, Cyprus, and unspecified Arab, African, and Asian countries – designed to constrain Turkey’s regional influence. In recent months, Israel has hosted the leaders of Greece, Cyprus, and India to cement this alliance. (Could this be why the Duran’s 2 Alex’s endlessly harp on against Turkey?)

Iran let Turkish-owned ship cross Hormuz strait, Turkish minister says

A Turkish-owned ship was able to cross the Strait of Hormuz with Iran’s permission, Turkey’s transport minister said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical shipping route that Iran has closed since Israel and the United States attacked it on February 28.

“We have 15 Turkish-owned ships in the Strait of Hormuz and were able to get one of them through after obtaining permission from the Iranian authorities,” Abdulkadir Uraloglu told journalists late Thursday, in comments only published today.

The US has long targeted Turkish banks- I know because that’s a topic I’ve written on! (Censored site) Turkey helping Iran circumvent the insane US sanctions regime..

The Hill

The Turkish state-owned lender Halkbank has served as a conduit for illicit Iranian financing networks. It was indicted in the U.S. in 2019 for one of the largest sanctions-evasion schemes in modern history, and at least two of its employees were convicted during the first Trump administration for their involvement.

The US is playing for time with Turkey-

ArabWeekly

Planned Israeli strikes against Iran that would have prompted retaliation against American forces pushed the United States to launch its weekend strikes against Tehran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters.

“And so the president made the very wise decision” to hit alongside Israel, he added.

JTA

“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters in Washington, D.C.

After a reporter asked Rubio to clarify whether the United States was forced to strike because of Israel’s plans, the secretary said no.

“This operation needed to happen because Iran in about a year or a year and a half would cross the line of immunity, meaning they would have so many short-range missiles, so many drones, that no one could do anything about it because they could hold the whole world hostage,” Rubio said. He added, “Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it. But this had to happen no matter what.”

Judge Napolitano and John Mersheimer

Posted for what Mersheimer said about Turkey being Israel’s next target- Turkey has been the subject of an intense propaganda campaign of demonization to justify taking out the next country Israel wants destabilized and balkanized.

In a statement shared on X on Monday, the UAE Foreign Ministry said it would also not provide logistical support for a US action

Amidst the possibility of a US attack on Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has declared that it will not allow its airspace and territory to be used for any military action against Iran.

I looked at the map, not sure how much difference it might make? It’s just interesting to read. Turkey is also opposed to an Iranian strike, that stance has not changed.

Trump is claiming Iran wants a deal?

Donald Trump has claimed that Iran is willing to make a deal with the US after his “big armada” arrived in the Middle East, amid growing fears that Washington could order an attack.

But he added that a diplomatic resolution was still possible, adding: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”

Why would he make this claim now? If he attacks Iran after stating they want to make a deal, and in fact have reached out to the US, it just makes the US look bad. Or does he have doubts about undertaking this strike? Not sure?

Something else I’ve seen, but, can’t really verify save for the report below claiming Russia & China may assist in defending. Including 16 military cargo planes from China to Iran and at least 6 Russian cargo planes

The Chinese airlift then arrived as defensive support for Iran, coinciding with General Brad Cooper’s visit to Israel.

This aligns with leaks from American and Israeli sources regarding strong Chinese support for Iran in the face of any potential military strikes. Israeli intelligence and military reports published by newspapers, such as “Maariv,” indicated that more than 16 Chinese military cargo planes landed in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in just 56 hours. It is believed that these Chinese military aircraft transported advanced air defense systems, electronic warfare equipment, and possibly anti-ship missiles, with the aim of bolstering Iran’s defensive capabilities against any imminent American-Israeli attack. This military cooperation between China and Iran falls within a broader framework of long-term strategic, military, and intelligence agreements between the two countries, such as the “25-year agreement,” which includes massive Chinese investments in exchange for oil supplies.

The Chinese airlift comes days after similar movements by Russian military transport aircraft, which recorded approximately six flights during the first month of January alone. This is unusual military activity in the region and significantly higher than in previous periods.

There you have it-

Have these shipments occurred?

Have they given USrael pause for thought on this attack?

Has Iran’s shut down of the internet and the western backed destabilizing forces in Iran impeded US and Israeli plans?

Back in 2011-

The US, Israel & other allies began, in earnest, to destabilize Syria with an eye to balkanization along the lines of what they had done in Iraq.

So called ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) which later rebranded into ISIS(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) came via Northern Iraq and entered into North Eastern Syria. Often times in marketing the same product is rebranded to create a different perception in the mind of the targeted audience.. Hence the name change from ISIL to ISIS once the western backed terror group entered Syria

The common denominator in those two areas were the PKK affiliated Kurds. Not all Kurds are PKK. But many are. These irregulars crossed freely back and forth between those two regions for some time now. Always benefiting from the long present, well established American bases in place in Iraq. The move from Iraq to Syria was easy enough to make as the they could be and were supplied with their weapons of death and destruction

Erbil is often mentioned, but, there is a lesser known American base in Duhok as well as others

Erbil airbase (Iraq) – Used by US forces for air operations, particularly in northern Iraq and Syria, where troops advise Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

Let’s read about the other bases? Established long ago.. Enabling the US to attack Turkey. Iraq. Iran. And to shift fighters in and out of the area

U.S. to open three huge US military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan region  31.5.2007

Sulaimaniyah, Erbil, Duhok, Kurdistan region (Iraq)

Although it is expected that today responsibility for security will be handed over to the Kurdistan authorities, exclusive military sources have told Hawlati that the US forces intend to open three huge US military bases in the Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaimaniyah areas. Meanwhile, senior peshmerga forces’ officials expressed their pleasure at such a move.

The three bases will be located in Qaradagh (south of Sulaimaniyah), Zakho area (north of Duhok), while the third one will be based near Erbil. There is also a possibility that the Incirlik base in Turkey, opened in 1992, will be transferred to the Kurdistan Region, (tells you the goal for the region- Southern Turkey annexed) which is heralded as an important achievement by Kurdistan regional government military officials who said they would welcome such requests from the coalition forces.

Have we forgotten the mass of Toyota trucks, brand spanking new, that ISIS had at their ready? Seriously, how does anyone think Toyota would have supplied that many vehicles to a terror group unless that had some sort of official okay?

US officials want to know how ISIS got all those Toyota Trucks

Toyota officials based in Japan, claimed they didn’t know? That’s not credible. NOT AT ALL!

The US and allies peppered the ISIS/ISIL irregulars with other fighters. They brought in, for example, Georgian fighters to fight alongside their Kurdish proxies. Many were trained by the US in the regular Georgian army. Much more information at my censored site on this topic, but the link included below should suffice

U.S. training helped mold Islamic State’s top military commander

According to Batirashvili’s ex-comrades in the Georgian military, Batirashvili was tapped immediately upon his enlistment to join Georgia’s U.S.-trained special forces.

“We trained him well, and we had lots of help from America,” said a former Georgian defense official who asked to not be identified because of the sensitivity of Batirashvili’s role in the Islamic State. “In fact, the only reason he didn’t go to Iraq to fight alongside America was that we needed his skills here in Georgia.” Even before Georgia and Russia came to blows in 2008, Batirashvili had earned a reputation for fighting Russians. While a part of Georgia, the Pankisi Valley’s northern end abuts Chechnya, where separatists fought a brutal war for independence from Russia in the 1990s. Batirashvili’s mother was Chechen, and his father has told local journalists that young Batirashvili had seen a handful of military operations as a rebel in Chechnya before joining Georgia’s military in 2006 at age 20.

They, the US and company, also funneled in their allies among the Uighur population, the ones they’ve assembled to target China. There are others, but, this should give anyone reading a basic idea of how this all started out

Kurds and ISIS

Please do understand that the Kurds and ISIS are equivalent to opposite sides of the same coin- Both groups propped up mainly by the US and Israel. Can you imagine that there would be any real or substantive conflict between them? I’m sure there’s some fighting over stolen goods, arms, smuggling, drugs sales. The kind of thing criminal organizations battle over- but higher up, there is coordination. Because both these groups have the same overseer.

Turkeys role

The disinfo or fog of war about Turkey’s role in all this has been thick and plentiful- It creates a smoke screen that helps obfuscate some of the realities were going to talk about.

• The biggest tell that Turkey was not on board with the Usrael backed plot was the fact they would not go along with a NATO no fly zone on their southern border (Syria’s north) opting instead to partner with Russia for overflights. And routine patrols.

The US floated the idea of a no fly zone October 2011- Had the piece below at my former site- Council on Foreign relations

There are two reasons put forward for why a NFZ is needed in Syria. First, some opposition members contend that it will protect civilians. Senator Joe Lieberman, who already supported a Syrian NFZ six months ago, more recently endorsed “safe zones inside Syria, particularly along the Turkish and Jordanian borders,” which would be enforced through a NFZ

Jordan went along Turkey didn’t

People conveniently forget this history.. to push an agenda

Turkey had it’s own reasons for entering Syria- and it did. Supporting the FSA. The empowerment of the Kurdish PKK by the US and Israel was the main impetus for Turkey to enter

I’m hoping this is enough background for readers to have a better understanding as we talk about the latest in N/E Syria.

Damascus was attempting unification

There are claims that Damascus was moving on the Kurds in N/E Syria. So the Kurds responded by releasing the ISIS fighters they allegedly held in some prison camp. Supposedly there was fighting. Probably was. But remember ISIS and Kurds have the same master, so, what ever fighting was short lived.

There were people suggesting this was Turkish disinfo about Kurds releasing ISIS. Ah,NO! The Kurds would make a public show of releasing their ISIS brethren for a number of reasons. Listed below…

1- Draw the US further in to “fight ISIS”- Though they’ve never left- But most don’t realize this

• US Strikes ISIS in Syria- earlier this month
• Islamic State fighters escape prison

2- Draw Israel in.

Notice the propagandistic, emotionally manipulative headline?

‘October 7 moment for Kurds’: Israel must assist Syria’s Kurds amid attacks, analysts tell ‘Post

Over the last decade, the SDF worked with the US and defeated ISIS in Syria. However, now the SDF is facing major setbacks, and Kurds fear they may be massacred.

3- Apply pressure on Damascus- the dupe in charge foolishly thinks he’s going to rebuild Syria

4- Message Turkey, we aren’t laying down arms

• Contrary to what Ocalan had claimed.. less than a year ago– and that was never going to happen, but, it was nice public relations, right?
• Turkey’s Erdogan says lay down your arms and disband

5- Draw more Kurdish fighters into Syria on the pretext of humanitarianism and fighting ISIS

• Kurdistan mobilizing support for Kurds in North eastern Syria

Meanwhile, public mobilization has intensified across the Region where hundreds of residents, activists, and Syrian Kurds recently held demonstrations in Al-Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, including protests outside the United Nations mission and the US consulate, calling for international intervention to halt military operations in northern Syria and to facilitate humanitarian access.

In plain and clear language- The Kurds of N/E Syria almost certainly released their ISIS prisoners in hopes of increasing pressure on Damascus and Turkey. Knowing that US and Israel would chomp at the bit. Considering how venomous Israel is towards Turkey- A Turkey that has been impeding their desired Israel 2.0 aka Greater Kurdistan for at least a decade now.

Pretty sure there is more than enough information here for you guys and gals to understand where I’m coming from.

Lastly there seems to have been some assassinations on Kurdish leadership hiding out in Iraq-

Iranian Kurd opposition party in Iraq accuses Iran of attack on HQ

Considering what the PKK affiliated Iranian Kurds did in Iran during this most recent uprising in Iran- I’m not surprised that Iran would undertake such action

The plane crash in Turkey caught my eye a few days ago- The Libyan government (UN recognized official government of Libya) & Turkish government relationship is frowned up on by Israel, Greece, Cyprus, UK and the US. There is some way back reporting at my former site on this subject, if time permits it will be moved here. Haftar is allied to the US and Israel. Let’s say the US made him the man he is today. If you’ve been paying attention to Trump’s rhetoric regarding Somalia- He was trash talking for a reason- just not the reason most think.

We’ll go with the plane crash first- It’s unsurprising that a good chunk of the officially recognized government went down in the crash- By the way this recent plane crash reminds me so very much of the plane crash about 15 years ago that dead headed the Polish government- The one that was wanting friendlier relations with Russia? I did bring those reports here from my former site. Check em out via the search!

Warning…..we’re going long!

Euronews

General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, military chief of Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli, died with seven others when the plane crashed near the Turkish capital Ankara.

The Falcon 50 business jet crashed in the Haymana district some 70 kilometres south of Ankara shortly after takeoff from Esenboga International Airport, killing all eight people on board.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, who leads the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, confirmed the deaths in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday evening.

“It is with deep sadness and great sorrow that we learnt of the death of the Libyan army’s chief of general staff, Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad,” Dbeibah said, calling the incident a “tragic accident”.

Key military officials died in the crash as well

Four other senior Libyan military officials died in the crash alongside al-Haddad, including General Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, head of Libya’s ground forces, Brigadier General Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, director of the Military Manufacturing Authority, an advisor to the chief of staff and a military photographer.

Something happened with that plane- I’m leaning towards sabotage myself. Wildly speculative, but it makes so much sense when you understand the back ground and the likely geo political ramifications of that crash & those deaths.

Three crew members also died in the crash. Turkish officials said the jet was registered in Malta and had been leased. The identities of the crew members were not immediately released.

Libya has announced it will send a team to Ankara to work with Turkish authorities on investigating the crash. Walid Ellafi, state minister of political affairs and communication for the Government of National Unity, told Libyan broadcaster Libya Alahrar that it was not clear when a crash report would be ready.

The country is split between the UN-recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli, led by Dbeibah, and a rival administration in eastern Libya led by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Turkey has been allied with Libya’s government in the west, providing economic and military support, though Ankara has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.

General Khalifa Haftar, who controls eastern Libya, issued a statement expressing his “deep sorrow over this tragic loss” and extended condolences for the deaths of al-Haddad and Ghraibil.

Haftar is a snake in the grass

Pro-Haftar Libyan official opposes 2019 deal with Türkiye (Dec 17/25)

There’s coverage of this deal at my censored site-

In the fall of 2019, Türkiye and Libya signed a deal setting marine jurisdictions, rejecting unilateral and illegal activities by regional countries and international firms, and protecting the rights of both countries. The deal was registered by the U.N. in October 2020.

So a plane crashes… just after a huge arms deal is made Between Haftar’s forces and Pakistan. The arms will surely be used to challenge the unity government

Pakistan said to have reached $4 billion arms deal with Haftar’s forces in Libya

The deal is said to include the purchase of 16 JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft that has been jointly developed by Pakistan and China.
Pakistan has reportedly reached a deal worth over $4 billion to sell military equipment to the Libyan National Army (LNA), based in the eastern part of the country, despite a UN arms embargo on the fractured North African country.

The deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever weapons sales, was finalised after a meeting held last week in Benghazi week between Pakistan military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saddam Khalifa Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the LNA and son of eastern Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar, Pakistani officials told Reuters.

The officials, all involved in defence matters, declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the deal.

Generally speaking Pakistan has always been heavily allied, subordinated to the US.

Understanding that US backed Israel is looking for trouble with Turkey, as mentioned here. we shouldn’t be surprised to now find out Israel, yes, Israel recognizes Somaliland. Which is Somalia or it was until other interested parties became involved in the separatist aspirations

Israel slights Turkey by recognizing Somaliland

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recognized Somaliland on Friday, making Israel the first country to do so and prompting a strong rebuke from Turkey.

What happened: Netanyahu said Israel and Somaliland signed a “joint and mutual declaration.” Netanyahu and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi were present at the virtual ceremony, the Israeli premier said on X.

“The State of Israel plans to immediately expand its relations with the Republic of Somaliland through extensive cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health, technology and economy,” said Netanyahu.

In a video posted by his office, Netanyahu said he would inform US President Donald Trump of Somaliland’s desire to join the Abraham Accords.

“I’ll communicate to President Trump your willingness and desire to join the Abraham Accords,” said Netanyahu on the US-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and other states in the wider region.

Abdillahi said in a post on X that he affirms Somaliland’s “readiness” to join the accords.

Somaliland is a breakaway state from Somalia that has governed itself since 1991.

The Somaliland presidency said in a post on X that Netanyahu’s decision “affirms Somaliland’s enduring statehood,” adding that Netanyahu invited Abdillahi to visit Israel.

The announcement was made during a virtual meeting and the two leaders spoke by video call, according to images released by Netanyahu’s office. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar held a call of his own with Abdillahi on Friday to discuss bilateral ties, he said on X.

The recognition provoked the ire of Turkey, a country already at odds with Israel. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli called the recognition a “new example of the Netanyahu government’s unlawful actions aimed at creating instability at both regional and global levels.”

Oh and if you’ve been paying attention Donald Trump was talking non stop about Somalia this past little while- As well as bombing Somalia in escalating attacks.

US dramatically escalates air strikes on Somalia under Trump this year

Trump’s strike total on conflict-ridden East African nation exceeds Bush, Obama and Biden administrations combined

Let’s talk about Bob al Mandeb

Bob al Mandeb is a strategic choke point and definitely has something to do with the Somalia/Somaliland – Israel, Turkey conflagaration

Trump’s relentless diatribes served a purpose. Just not the one most people thought it did!

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41073

Just the basics