Analyses on recent geo-political development

‘Russia alone can already confront the entire West…’

President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of talks in restricted format, Kremlin, Moscow, March 21, 2023

The Russian media reported that President Vladimir Putin made an extraordinary gesture as President Xi Jinping left the Kremlin following the state dinner last week on Tuesday evening by escorting him to the limousine and seeing him off. 

And Xi during the goodbye handshake reportedly responded, “Together, we should push forward these changes that have not happened for 100 years. Take care.” 

Read Full Article: https://www.indianpunchline.com/russia-alone-can-already-confront-the-entire-west/

Erdogan weighs up Russia, dares Biden

Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s (R) friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) annoys the US (File photo) 

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has disclosed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the nuclear fuel loading ceremony on April 27 at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. 

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov deftly handled the political bombshell, choosing not to refute Erdogan’s statement. According to Erdogan, Putin’s participation in the ceremony may form part of an official visit. 

Read Full Article: https://www.indianpunchline.com/erdogan-weighs-up-russia-dares-biden/

OPEC: Saudis aren’t afraid of US anymore

The shock oil production cuts from May outlined by the OPEC+ on Sunday essentially means that eight key OPEC countries decided to join hands with Russia to reduce oil production, messaging that OPEC and OPEC+ are now back in control of the oil market.

No single oil producing country is acting as the Pied Piper here. The great beauty about it is that Saudi Arabia and seven other major OPEC countries have unexpectedly decided to support Russia’s efforts and unilaterally reduce production. 

Read Full Text: https://www.indianpunchline.com/opec-saudis-arent-afraid-of-us-anymore/

Regional isolation of Syria may end soon

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad. (Photo: Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Saudi Arabia may invite Syria to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Riyadh in May, Reuters reported on Sunday, April 2, quoting three unnamed sources close to the process. The report confirms the trend of Syria’s reintegration in regional politics after over a decade of isolation.  

While not officially confirmed yet, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is likely to visit Syrian capital Damascus in the coming weeks to formally invite Syria for the summit, the report claims.

The Arab League summit is scheduled to be held from May 19.  

Saudi Arabia and Syria have agreed to reopen their respective embassies in Damascus and Riyadh after Ramadan this year. 

Read Full Article: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/04/03/regional-isolation-of-syria-may-end-soon/

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Turkey: Communist, Left parties formed the “Union of Socialist Forces”

In Defense of Communism | August 20, 2022

An electoral alliance under the name “Union of Socialist Forces” (Sosyalist Güç Birliği) was formed in Turkey in order to context in the upcoming general elections which are due to be held on 18 June 2023.

Under the slogan “We protect the future of our country together”, the electoral alliance was announced on August 20th during a press conference in Ankara. 

The participatory parties include the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), the Left Party (SOL), the Communist Movement of Turkey (TKH) and the Revolution Movement (Devrim Hareketi). 

Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions

M. K. Bhadrakumar

Indian Punchline | August 09, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Sochi, Russia, on August 5, 2022

The 4-hour meeting on Friday at Sochi between President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Erdogan promises to be a defining moment in regional politics. The single biggest takeaway from the Sochi meet is, of course, the “win-win” economic partnership between Russia and Turkey that helps Russia, on the one hand, to continue to interact with the world market circumventing Western sanctions, while, on the other hand, is a boon for the Turkish economy.

Turkey is a member of the European Uinion’s Customs Union and it is no secret that there is a lot of Russian money floating around in the wake of the western sanctions. If that money can be turned into investments in Turkey to set up production units with western technology and market access, creating jobs and revving up the country’s economy, it is a “win-win”. This is one thing.

Turkey ‘playing its last card’ as it faces defeat in Iraq Kurdistan, Kurdish guerillas say

Morning Star | September 30, 2021

Guerrilla Aliser and Guerrilla Arin

KURDISH guerillas said today that Turkey was “playing its last card” in its invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan as its forces face fierce resistance.

“The enemy cannot move freely in the areas he occupies,” guerilla Aliser said of the Turkish troops, thousands of whom are engaged in a military offensive in the mountainous border region of Duhok.

Kurdish resistance fighters are carrying out frequent attacks to prevent the soldiers from advancing.

Turkish conflict with United States

Batko Milacic

The Saker Blog | July 15, 2021

Erdogan may have learned a good lesson in his dealings with Washington and Moscow.

The events in the Middle East have made a large number of interstate relations of the former “allies” very complicated due to the large-scale operation “Arab Spring”. After the failure of the original idea of creating the Great Middle East, a project in which the main role was played by Washington, in alliance primarily with the Gulf monarchies but also with Turkey, there was a great redefinition of relations within the axis.

Realizing that its interests in the region will not be satisfied in the alliance with the United States, Turkey turned another page in foreign policy, trying to satisfy its own interests, thus at the same time defying the synergistic policy of the NATO pact in the Middle East.

This act was a revolt within the NATO bloc itself. The most concrete results were seen with the realization of the “Turkish Stream” project with Russia and the purchase of modern S-400 anti-aircraft systems from Russia, despite numerous warnings from official Washington.

Anti-communism, authoritarianism and repression are growing in the capitalist world

Luciana Bohne

Lenin “toppled”: the convenient rebellion of fools. Freedom at last from a spurious tyranny.

Authoritarianism in China? A place that nipped Covid in six weeks and ended poverty in 2020? Let’s turn the camera, shall we? And let’s fix it on the Western/capitalist bloc. Do you see any recrudescence of BOURGEOIS AUTHORITARIANISM in examples from recent times?

1. Slovakia: passes law on 1 Dec 2020 designating Czech and Slovak Communist parties “criminal organizations.”

2. Poland: the anti-communist hysteria is well established in the persistent “witch hunt” against the communists that for decades has characterized the Polish bourgeois authorities on a dangerous undemocratic and reactionary ridge, with the complacency and encouragement of the EU. In fact, the persecutions, restrictions and criminal proceedings that have been conducted for years against the Communist Party of Poland (KPP), its daily “Bzrask” and their members are known “for the promotion of totalitarian regimes”. Furthermore, among other things, we remember the interruption of scientific conferences on Karl Marx organized by universities, the use of public institutions such as the National Memory Institute (IPN) for the dissemination of anti-communist propaganda and the establishment of a dangerous legal framework for communist persecution which includes the 2017 “decommunization law”

The Dynamic of Revolutionary Struggle in Turkey

TURKEY 

Yanis Iqbal

Since January 4, 2021, student protests have been going on in Turkey. At Bogazici University in Istanbul, rectors are elected through free and fair elections by faculties. The only time in the institution’s history when these democratic processes were suspended was in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d’état. In today’s time, it is again being done.

Femicide Continues to rise in Turkey as Women’s Organisations Targeted

WOMEN’S STRUGGLE IN TURKEY

Steve Sweeney

Morning Star| November 04, 2020

CAMPAIGNERS battling against femicide in Turkey warned of a state cover-up today after the latest figures showed that at least 21 women were murdered by a man in October.

And according to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP), a women’s rights organisation, another eight women have died in suspicious circumstances.

KDCP said that nine women were killed because they either wanted a divorce or to end a relationship with a male partner.

How USA and Turkey Plunder and Loot Syria with Impunity

IMPERIALIST EXPLOITATION OF SYRIA

Rick Sterling

While President Trump lashes out at rioting and looting in Portland and Kenosha, half way around the world, the USA and Turkey are plundering and looting Syria on a vastly greater scale with impunity and little publicity.

Turkey Loots Syria, then Disrupts Safe Water Supply  

Turkey has been plundering the Syrian infrastructure for years.  Beginning in late 2012 and continuing through 2013 some 300 industrial factories were dismantled and taken to Turkey from Aleppo, the industrial capital of Syria. “Machinery and goods were loaded on trucks and carried off to Turkey through the Cilvegozu and Ceylanpinar crossings. Unfortunately, ‘plundering’ and ‘terror’ have become permanent parts of the Syrian lexicon when explaining their saga.”

In Turkey, Unions and Women’s Organizations Call for Defense of Women’s Rights

WOMEN’S STRUGGLE IN TURKEY 

Steve Sweeney

Morning Star | September 01, 2020

In Istanbul, people clash with police during the funeral of Ebru Timtik, a human rights lawyer who died during a hunger strike in a Turkish prison to demand a fair trial for herself and colleagues. | AP

Activists have called for an organized defense of women’s rights in Turkey, where at least 15 women have been murdered in the last 10 days. Thirteen were killed by men and two died in suspicious circumstances.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is trying to take Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention, which obliges signatories to tackle gender-based crime, provide protection and services for women, and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted. In March 2012, Turkey became the first country to ratify the convention. But the government now claims that it is incompatible with “family values,” bowing to conservative and Islamist pressure.