Washington and its allies created the Islamist Frankenstein with their own hands: over the decades radical Muslim 'agents of destruction' have formed the belt of instability which stretches across the MENA region to Central Asia and beyond. But how did it all begin? Back in December 1979 the USSR deployed a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan in response to repeated requests from [...]

In the context of the current refugee crisis, leaders of the European Union reached an agreement on the deal with Turkey. The package of measures agreed on Friday morning is now awaiting approval by the Turkish government, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) reported, referring to Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. [...]

A declassified email exchange between former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her adviser Sid Blumenthal shows that Clinton was up to her eyeballs in the Western conspiracy against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his Pan-African "Gold Dinar" currency, F. William Engdahl narrates. [...]

As Russian troops and planes return home following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise announcement, one organization, the Pentagon, remains unsurprisingly unconvinced. "I think that the task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal, [...]

Throttling Turkey’s democracy, President Erdogan seized an opposition newspaper that dared reveal his clandestine arming of jihadists seeking to overthrow neighboring Syria, as Alon Ben-Meir explains. Only a few months after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raided the offices of the Koza Ipek Media Group, the Turkish police assaulted early this month the offices of Feza Publications, [...]

American presstitutes, such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, expressed surprise at Russia’s support for the Syrian ceasefire, which Russia has been seeking, by Putin’s halt to attacks on the Islamic State and a partial withdrawal of Russian forces. The American presstitutes are captives of their own propaganda and are now surprised at the failure of their propagandistic pr [...]

As Russia’s Vladimir Putin announced the start of the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has reported the anti-terror operation’s achievements to the Commander-in-Chief. "Backed by our aviation, Syrian forces have freed 400 populated areas and over 10,000 square kilometers [3,860 square miles] of territories," Shoigu said during a Kremlin meeting with R [...]

Global political figures have welcomed the Russian military pullout from Syria, and while many have called the Kremlin’s decision “unexpected,” it is seen as clearing the way for dialogue while a truce in the five-year-old war is negotiated in Geneva. Acknowledging that five months of military campaigns have mostly succeeded in their primary objective of eliminating the immediate wider th [...]

An Islamic State fighter from the US was arrested in Iraq after emerging from territory controlled by the militant group in Syria, a local commander told Kurdish media. The man reportedly mistook the area for the Turkish border. A local commander told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw that the arrested man was 27-year-old Muhammad Jamal Amin, a Virginia-born US citizen of a Palestinian father and an Ir [...]

Western media is ignoring what is really going on on the ground in Syria, presenting its own, largely distorted narrative, Canadian freelance journalist and rights activist Eva Bartlett notes. What lies beneath the attempts to hide the truth? For years US policy-makers have been repeating the mantra "Assad must go," turning a deaf ear to warnings that once Bashar al-Assad is toppled, [...]

An explosion that hit the center of Ankara on Sunday killed at least 27 people, 75 injured. An explosion at a bus stop in Ankara caused at least 27 people killed and multiple wounded, according to reports. Some 27 people were killed and 75 injured in an explosion that struck the Turkish capital on Sunday evening, the office of the mayor of Ankara confirmed. [...]

Austria’s interior minister signaled its opposition towards a mooted but not yet finalized EU-Turkey refugee deal. The minister says she is “extremely critical” of the agreement, citing the situation with freedom of speech in Turkey. "I am extremely critical. I am seriously wondering whether we are taking ourselves and our values seriously or if we are throwing them overboard," Johanna Mi [...]

Iran was ordered by a New York City judge to pay more than $10.5 billion in damages to the families of those killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bloomberg reported. US District Judge George Daniels ruled on Wednesday that Tehran must pay $7.5 billion to the families of people who died at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. [...]

According to German politician and member of the European Parliament Angelika Niebler, Turkey is not yet ready to join the EU and European countries need to think carefully about providing the Turks with any benefits. The EU should not forget about its own interests in order to please Turkey, the politician said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk. [...]

Several top Christian Social Union officials have said their party, an ally to Angela Merkel’s CDU, is against a visa-free regime with Turkey and the prospects for its EU bid because Ankara plays “cat and mouse” and raises demands “like at a bazaar.” [...]

In accordance with the Syrian ceasefire, Russian aviation has virtually halted its air operations out of Hmeymim airbase, Canadian journalist Raymond Saint-Pierre reports. However, the Russian military mission remains active, delivering humanitarian aid, carrying out negotiations with village leaders, and urging Syrians not to leave their homeland. [...]

Imposing sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin is an "absurd" idea, Czech lawmaker Jiri Mastalka said. According to him, the initiative will bury the fragile peaceful process in Ukraine and Syria. "Imposing sanctions against a head of state would mean a deadlock in dialogue with Russia. [...]

The Washington and Moscow-sponsored truce in Syria may be the last chance for the country to stop the bloodshed, opposition groups said in a joint statement after a meeting at the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation. The leaders of several Syrian opposition groups as well as public and religious figures voiced support for the ongoing peace conference in Geneva [...]

The US-led coalition operating in Syria is playing a massive game of dress-up in the country, where “its immense but now stranded terrorist hordes” change their banners back and forth from Daesh to the so-called Free Syrian Army, seeking protection within the terms of the ceasefire, according to a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher. [...]

Erdogan’s Turkey this week diversified its rogue-state conduct from terror sponsorship to international bribery. The proceeds? Not bad earning, with $6.6 billion in “aid” extracted from the European Union. It’s supposed to be part of a groundbreaking deal to end the refugee crisis in Europe. [...]

Despite criticism from European officials over its crackdown on opposition media, the Turkish government has reportedly taken control of another news agency. It comes days after the seizure of the popular opposition newspaper Zaman. The news agency Cihan is believed to be close to US-based [...]

The EU-Turkey summit, held in an amicable atmosphere and resulting in an agreement to put an end to illegal immigration to Europe via Turkey, has been hailed as a major success. Not everyone is thrilled, however; journalist Paul Mason argues that "the sight of Europe's leaders kowtowing to the [...]