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then, the press release section of the Turkish defence ministry’s website has once again been full of cases of “martyrdom”.
In the spring, when the snow melts in the mountainous Iraqi region where the PKK is based, the Turkish state and the PKK traditionally launch a season of bloody attacks. They have been fighting for more than four decades.
official population of around 85mn. The calculations include members of all jihadist organisations formed around the world.
Rights organisations are concerned at just how many Turks descend into insulting ordinary Syrian and other migrants who work in unregistered jobs. Indeed, there seems to be some determination in Turkey to create some serious violence
What’s more, there are some al-Qaeda offshoots (dark green on the map, across Idlib region) present on the border with Turkey’s Hatay province. Nobody has any idea what the distinguished politicians engaged in this great bog of enmity will do with them.
All the subjects in question have their own networks and ability to strike within Turkey.
There are analysts who conclude that there is no need to think for too long to work out what could happen when the chaotic balance of power in question gets out of control. Iraq and Syria offer salutary lessons.
Speculation can also take you to the conclusion that such a situation might present Erdogan – Turkey’s leader of two decades who must stand for re-election by next June at the latest, having led
the country into economic turmoil
that could turn out to be its worst in living memory – with his only path to remaining in power. After all, Syria has been destroyed by its multi-faceted war, but Bashar Assad remains at the helm.
“Turkey’s southern border area is essentially
a battlefield running from one end to the other”
Meanwhile, growing anti-migrant tension is boiling over in Turkey. Since the US exit from Afghanistan in August last year, Tur- key’s problem with uncontrolled migra- tion has shifted up a few places on the long list of Turkish woes that have got beyond the point where they can be solved.
How many migrants have entered Turkey is widely regarded as completely unknown.
Estimates suggest that there are at least 10mn migrants in the country with an
over migrants in the country. By now, almost every day, there are clashes across various neighbourhoods.
The establishment and middle class in Turkey, ranging from the political sphere to the media, do not seem to be aware just how grave the situation is in the country.
Turkey’s southern border area is essentially a battlefield running from one end to the other. In addition to the threat posed by hostile Kurds, pro-Turkey jihadists could at any time turn on Turkey.
Turkey’s port warehouses reportedly packed full with goods bound for Russia
bne IntelIiNews
Warehouses at ports in Turkey are packed full with goods bound for Russia, Dunya daily reported on August 4, citing people in the logistics industry.
Turkey has become a busy transit hub for Russia’s imports as Moscow attempts to work around sanctions imposed
by the US and Europe in response to
its invasion of Ukraine, the Turkish newspaper reported. Ankara has not imposed any war sanctions on Moscow. The Erdogan administration argues that it must stay on good terms with both
Ukraine and Russia in order to serve as
a trusted intermediary in peace talks when the call comes, while it also baulks at the economic damage that would be caused to Turkey by the introduction
of Turkish sanctions on its big Black
Sea maritime neighbour to the north. However, the speculation in Washington is that the Biden administration was considerably irked by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appearance alongside Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran just over two weeks ago and is also wary of Nato member Turkey
turning into an anything-goes bolthole for Russians looking to shield business and assets from Western sanctions.
On August 2, the US Department of
the Treasury, imposing a new round of sanctions targeting Kremlin-connected elites who provide substantial revenue to the Russia, hit Turkey’s MMK Metalurji with sanctions. The company owns two steel facilities in Turkey, as well as a seaport in Hatay, Dortyol. “MMK Metalurji was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or
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