Suspect in New Year’s Eve Attack on Istanbul Nightclub Captured Alive
Posted: January 16, 2017 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Global, Terrorism | Tags: AK-47, Anadolu Agency, Bosphorus, Central Asia, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Istanbul, New Year, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Turkey, Turkish Armed Forces, İzmir Leave a commentSuspect aught with his son in a raid in an Istanbul suburb.
The man authorities suspect of being behind the New Year’s Eve attack on an Istanbul nightclub has been captured alive, according to Turkish police sources.
The alleged attacker was caught with his son in a raid on the Esenyurt suburb of Istanbul, sources said.
Thirty-nine people were killed in the attack and dozens more were injured.
Authorities said the gunman fired 180 rounds of 7.62-mm bullets, which are commonly used in AK-47 assault rifles. The attacker also used flares to illuminate the inside of the nightclub during the attack, according to police.
Police said they don’t believe the weapon used in the attack came from inside Turkey. The serial number on the weapon had been defaced. Read the rest of this entry »
BREAKING: Santa Claus Costume-Wearing Attackers; ‘Many Wounded’ in Istanbul’s Reina Nightclub
Posted: December 31, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, Terrorism | Tags: BBC, Beşiktaş, Interior ministry, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Istanbul, Kurdistan Workers Party, Numan Kurtulmuş, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Reina nightclub, Süleyman Soylu, Turkey 1 CommentFootage appears to show a number of ambulances and police vehicles outside the Reina nightclub, in the Besiktas area of the city.
One of the Istanbul shooters disguised as Santa. pic.twitter.com/DfSPh8DNPk
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) December 31, 2016
NTV says two attackers were involved, with CNN Turk reported they were dressed in Santa costumes.
Istanbul had been on high alert for any terror attacks, with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city…
Developing..
Source: BBC News
Around 50 people injured
Around 50 people have been injured according to the latest reports.
Armed police are on the scene at the Reina club. Read the rest of this entry »
Russian Ambassador Gunned Down in Turkey; Shooter Ali Hashem Shouts ‘Allahu Akhbar’
Posted: December 19, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Russia, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Al-Bab, Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Council of Ministers (Syria), Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, John Kerry, Michele J. Sison, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, RUSSIA, Syria, Syrian civil war, Syrian opposition, Turkey, United Nations Security Council, Vitaly Churkin, Vladimir Putin Leave a commentDavid French writes: The world just got more dangerous. A gunman shot and killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey and then stood over his body, shouted “Allahu Akhbar” and began ranting about Syria and Aleppo. I won’t embed video of the shooting, but you can see the entire thing here. Warning, the footage is extremely disturbing.
[Read the full story here, at National Review]
Early reports are often wrong, but it appears the shooter was a Turkish police officer:
According to reports the assasin of the Russian ambassador is indeed a security personnel and his name is Mert Altintas pic.twitter.com/lBezzoIMWV
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) December 19, 2016
We can’t forget that this incident comes just a little more than a year after Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet, and it comes after Erodgan has comprehensively purged Turkish security forces to allegedly leave only his loyalists on staff. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Thanksgiving Dinner vs. Guy With A .50 Caliber Desert Eagle
Posted: November 24, 2016 Filed under: Entertainment, Food & Drink, Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere | Tags: .50 BMG, AR-15, bulletproof, Bullets, Pumpkin Pie, Thanksgiving Dinner, Turkey, video Leave a comment
To get you in the spirit, here’s a video of the CEO of BulletSafe (a bulletproof vest the Daily Dealer team tested out in person) shooting through Thanksgiving dinner with a .50 cal Desert Eagle…(read more)
Source: dailycaller.com
Original Art by Steve Muffatti for ‘Turkey in the Raw’ from Little Audrey #33, Harvey Comics, 1954
Posted: November 24, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment | Tags: Cartoons, drawing, Harvey Comics, Original Art, Steve Muffatti, Turkey Leave a comment
Two-Thirds of the World’s Internet Users Live Under Government Censorship
Posted: November 14, 2016 Filed under: Censorship, Global, Mediasphere | Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, Ann Kirkpatrick, Facebook, Freedom on the Net 2016, Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present), Internet, Internet service provider, Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey), Selahattin Demirtaş, Turkey, Twitter, Whatsapp, YouTube 1 CommentWeb freedom declined across the globe for the sixth consecutive year, according to a new report.
Amar Toor reports: Two-thirds of the world’s internet users live under regimes of government censorship, according to a report released today. The report from Freedom House, a pro-democracy think tank, finds that internet freedom across the globe declined for a sixth consecutive year in 2016, as governments cracked down on social media services and messaging apps.
“Although the blocking of these tools affects everyone, it has an especially harmful impact on human rights defenders, journalists, and marginalized communities who often depend on these apps to bypass government surveillance.”
— Sanja Kelly, director and co-author of the Freedom on the Net 2016 report
The findings are based on an analysis of web freedom in 65 countries, covering 88 percent of the world’s online population. Freedom House ranked China as the worst abuser of internet freedom for the second consecutive year, followed by Syria and Iran. (The report does not include North Korea.) Online freedom in the US increased slightly over the year due to the USA Freedom Act, which limits the bulk collection of metadata carried out by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies.
“Telegram faced restrictions in four countries including China, where the government blocked the encrypted messaging service due to its rising popularity among human rights lawyers.”
This year saw a notable crackdown on secure messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. WhatsApp was blocked or restricted in 12 countries over the course of the year — more than any other messaging app — including in Bahrain, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia, where authorities blocked it in response to civilian protests. Telegram faced restrictions in four countries including China, where the government blocked the encrypted messaging service due to its rising popularity among human rights lawyers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Russian Government Officials Told To Immediately Bring Back Children Studying Abroad
Posted: October 11, 2016 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Russia, War Room | Tags: Bratislava, Brexit, Brussels, Bulgaria, Donald Tusk, EUROPE, European Union, François Hollande, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jean-Claude Juncker, Military of the European Union, President of the European Commission, Turkey, United Kingdom 2 CommentsIn Europe, when it gets serious, you have to lie… at least if you are an unelected bureaucrat like Jean-Claude Juncker. In Russia, however, when it gets serious, attention immediately turns to the children.
“On the one hand, this is all part of a package of measures to prepare the elites for some ‘big war’ even if it is rather conditional, on the other hand – this is another blow to the unity of President Putin with his own elite”
— Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky
Which is why we read a report in Russian website Znak published Tuesday, according to which Russian state officials and government workers were told to bring back their children studying abroad immediately, even if means cutting their education short and not waiting until the end of the school year, and re-enroll them in Russian schools, with some concern.
[Read the full story here, at Zero Hedge]
The article adds that if the parents of these same officials also live abroad “for some reason”, and have not lost their Russian citizenship, should also be returned to the motherland. Znak cited five administration officials as the source of the report.
“People note the hypocrisy of having a centralized state and cultivating patriotism and anti-Western sentiment, while children of government workers study abroad. You can not serve two gods, one must choose.”
The “recommendation” applies to all: from the administration staff, to regional administratiors, to lawmakers of all levels. Employees of public corporations are also subject to the ordinance. One of the sources said that anyone who fails to act, will find such non-compliance to be a “complicating factor in the furtherance of their public sector career.” He added that he was aware of several such cases in recent months. Read the rest of this entry »
Cascade Mall Suspect IS a U.S. Citizen
Posted: September 30, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere | Tags: American Immigration Lawyers Association, Cascade Mall, Citizenship, Citizenship of the United States, Federal government of the United States, Immigration law, KING-TV, Turkey, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Department of State Leave a commentA federal official told KING that further investigation revealed that Cetin is a naturalized U.S. citizen. That means he was legally registered to vote.
UPDATE: KING 5 learned Thursday that Arcan Cetin, the 20-year-old who killed five people at Cascade Mall on Sept. 23, is in fact a U.S. citizen.
[Original Post: Cascade Mall Shooting Suspect Arcan Cetin Not a U.S Citizen, Voted in 3 Elections Anyway
For days after the shooting, Cetin was described by local and federal law enforcement as being a permanent U.S. resident. He immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey when he was a child, after his mother married an American citizen.
On Thursday, a federal official told KING that further investigation revealed that Cetin is a naturalized U.S. citizen. That means he was legally registered to vote.
KING’s initial story on Sept. 28 questioned state officials about how Cetin could register and vote without being a citizen.
ORIGINAL STORY FROM SEPT. 28 IS BELOW:
The Cascade Mall shooting suspect, Arcan Cetin, may face an additional investigation related to his voting record and citizenship status.
Federal sources confirm to KING 5 that Cetin was not a U.S. citizen, meaning legally he cannot vote. However, state records show Cetin registered to vote in 2014 and participated in three election cycles, including the May presidential primary….(read more) Read the rest of this entry »
Arcan Cetin, Native of Turkey; ‘Call of Duty’ Player, #CascadeMallShooting Slayer
Posted: September 24, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption | Tags: #CascadeMallShooting, Arcan Cetin, Call of Duty, Mental health, Ronald Reagan, Turkey, Washington State 1 CommentArcan ‘The Turk’ Cetin: The suspect in the shooting deaths of five people in a mall in Washington state has been named.
Online records show that Cetin was arrested in July 2015 on charges of assault in the fourth degree. KIRO reports that as a result of the charges, Cetin was ordered to undergo mental health counselling that he completed in March 2016.
During which time, he was ordered not to take drugs or drink alcohol. As of August 25, 2016, Cetin was found in compliance with the court order.
Initial descriptions had described Cetin as being Hispanic. According to his Facebook page, Cetin is a native of Adana in Turkey. He’s a graduate of Oak Harbor High School, class of 2015.
Cetin describes his nickname as “The Turk.” Read the rest of this entry »
About That Coup: Never Mind! Thousands in Military Detained as Turkey’s Government Goons Reassert Control
Posted: July 16, 2016 Filed under: Politics, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Coup, Erdogan, military, Turkey Leave a commentTurkey’s elected government on Saturday rounded up thousands of soldiers, including high-ranking officers, as it moved quickly to reassert control after a failed military coup to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demands the US extradite the Muslim cleric he blames for attempted coup
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) July 16, 2016
Turkey’s Prime Minister Binaldi Yildirim called the attempted coup a “black stain on Turkish democracy” that left 161 people dead and 1,440 wounded.
He said 2,839 military personnel had been detained as part of a crackdown on coup plotters.
Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. He flew home early Saturday and declared the coup to have failed.
“They have pointed the people’s guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge,” Erdogan told large crowds after landing at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish Military Says It Has Taken Over Country
Posted: July 15, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Binali Yildirim, Coup, Instanbul, President Erdogan, Turkey 1 CommentPresident Erdogan calls on people to take to the streets as soldiers storm the state TV studios to declare they’ve seized power.
The Turkish military claims to have “fully seized control” of the country amid reports that at least one explosion has hit parliament in Ankara.
Soldiers stormed Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT, forcing a presenter to read a statement live on air announcing that a military coup is under way.
The statement said the country, a NATO member, is now being run by a “peace council”. It declared that martial law and a nationwide curfew are in place.
Numerous reports of aerial attacks, gunfire and explosions are emerging from Istanbul and the Turkish capital Ankara.
An unconfirmed report from the state-run Anadolu news agency suggests that parliament in Ankara has been hit by at least one bomb.
Lawmakers are currently hiding in shelters inside the building, one member of parliament told news agency Reuters.
Meanwhile, 17 police officers have been killed in a separate helicopter attack on the police headquarters in the capital, according to Anadolu.
Media reports suggest a Turkish F-16 fighter jet has also shot down a military helicopter over the city, although this could not be independently verified.
Turkey’s leaders have confirmed that a coup “attempt” has taken place, but denied that the military is in control. Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATE: 28 Dead As Explosions Rock Istanbul Airport
Posted: June 28, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Istanbul, Turkey Leave a commentTwo attackers blow themselves up at the airport after police fire at them, a Turkish official says.
Ten people have been killed and another 20 wounded in two explosions at the main airport in Istanbul, Turkey’s justice minister has said.
Two suspects blew themselves up at Istanbul Ataturk Airport after police fired on them, government officials said.
“According to the information I was given, a terrorist at the international terminal entrance first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew himself up,” Turkey’s state-run news agency quoted justice minister Bekir Bozdag as saying.

“We have around 10 martyrs (dead) and around 20 wounded.”
Reports say the second explosion hit the domestic terminal of the airport, Turkey’s largest.
Hand grenades were thrown during the attacks, Turkish broadcaster Haberturk said.

Taxis were ferrying the wounded from the hospital, witnesses told CNN Turk.
Witness Ercan Ceyhan told CNN Turk that he saw around 30 ambulances rush to the scene.
In recent months Turkey has suffered several attacks linked to Kurdish or Islamic State group militants…(read more)
Source: SkyNews
UPDATE:
At least 28 people were killed and dozens more were injured when three suicide bombers attacked Istanbul’s main international airport Tuesday night, a government official said.
Istanbul’s provincial governor, Vasip Sahin, confirmed the death toll from the blasts at Istanbul Ataturk Airport to the private NTV broadcaster. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that around 60 people were injured, six of them seriously.
Initial reports indicated that there had been two suicide bombers, at least one of whom attacked the airport’s international terminal. Sahin said authorities believed there were three attackers because three explosions had been heard.
“According to the information I was given, a terrorist at the international terminal entrance first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew himself up,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told Turkey’s state-run news agency earlier in the evening. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Miss Turkey Convicted of ‘Insulting’ Islamist President Erdogan
Posted: May 31, 2016 Filed under: Censorship, Global | Tags: Agence France-Presse, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, European Union, Hamburg, Istanbul, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey, Turkish language 1 CommentTurkey retreats further into dictatorship.
Welcome to the New Turkey, where people can get locked up for saying something critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Turkish President Erdogan (Thomas Koch / Shutterstock.com)
When the AKP came to power in the early 2000s, Western liberals claimed the party’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was pro-democracy. He was supposed to be enlightened; an innocent Islamic version of a Christian Democrat.
An Istanbul court convicts a former Miss Turkey of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through social media postings and gives her a 14-month suspended sentence.The court finds 27-year-old model Merve Buyuksarac guilty of insulting a public official but immediately suspends the sentence on condition that she does not re-offend within the next five years.
Back in 2014, Buyuksarac (who now goes by her married name of Ciner) shared a satirical poem on her…(read more)
Source: PJ Media
Dutch Newspaper Publishes Cartoon Depicting Erdogan as an Ape Crushing Free Speech
Posted: April 25, 2016 Filed under: Comics, Global, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Agence France-Presse, Ankara, Belgium, Brussels, Brussels Airport, EUROPE, Kurdistan Workers Party, Netherlands, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, The Washington Post, Turkey 2 CommentsThe cartoon appeared on the front page after a Dutch journalist was detained in Turkey.
After a Dutch journalist was arrested in Turkey this weekend for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the most-read newspaper in the Netherlands on Monday published a front-page editorial cartoon that shows Erdogan as an ape, apparently crushing Europe’s free speech.
The cartoon, published by the populist daily De Telegraaf, has an ape with Erdogan’s face squashing a woman who appears to be Ebru Umar, the Dutch writer with a Turkish background who was arrested in Turkey on Sunday. In the cartoon, the Turkish president is standing on a rock labeled “Apenrots” — a Dutch term meaning “monkey rocks” that is used to refer to the Dutch Foreign Ministry but can also refer to a place where one dominant individual holds power.
The cartoon is titled “the long arm of Erdogan.”

Ebru Umar, the Dutch writer with a Turkish background who was arrested in Turkey on Sunday.
Umar, a columnist for the newspaper Metro, had been detained by Turkish authorities who were investigating tweets she had sent about Erdogan. Umar was released Sunday, but she says she has been ordered to remain in the country as the investigation proceeds.
[read the full story here, at The Washington Post]
The detention of Umar has added another layer to what many in the Netherlands think is a growing crackdown on free speech within Turkey — and outside its borders, too. Last week, the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam came under fire after appearing to send an email that called for Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to report insults against Erdogan to it. The Turkish Embassy later said that the email had been poorly phrased and misunderstood, but it sparked controversy within the Netherlands, which is one of many European countries that still has “lèse-majesté” laws that prohibit insults against friendly heads of state. Read the rest of this entry »
Islamist Turkey Seizes All Christian Churches in City and Declares them ‘State Property’
Posted: April 21, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Religion, Terrorism | Tags: Anadolu Agency, Ankara, Brussels, EUROPE, European Union, Istanbul, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Syria, Turkey 2 Comments“The government didn’t take over these pieces of property in order to protect them. They did so to acquire them.”
— Ahmet Guvener, pastor of Diyarbakir Protestant Church
The state-sanctioned seizure is just the latest in a number of worrying developments to come out of increasingly hardline Turkey, which is in advanced talks with the EU over visa-free travel for its 80 million citizens.
Included in the seizures are Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches, one of which is over 1,700 years old.
[Read the full story here, at express.co.uk]
They claim it was made on the grounds that authorities intend to rebuild and restore the historical centre of the city, which has been partially destroyed by 10 months of urban conflict between government forces and militants from the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
Merkel Bows to Primitive Censorship: Comedian Faces Prosecution for Poem About Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Posted: April 15, 2016 Filed under: Censorship, Crime & Corruption, Diplomacy, Mediasphere | Tags: Academia, Angela Merkel, Belgium, Brussels, Car bomb, EUROPE, Istanbul, Kurdish people, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, The Guardian, Turkey 1 CommentUnder section 103 of the criminal code, insults against organs or representatives of foreign states are punishable with up to three years in prison, or three months to five years if a court judges the insult to be slanderous.
Philip Oltermann reports: Angela Merkel, has been criticised by members of her cabinet after acceding to a request from Ankara to prosecute a comedian who read out an offensive poem about the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The German chancellor insisted her government’s decision did not amount to a verdict on whether Jan Böhmermann was guilty or not, but should be understood as a reaffirmation of the judiciary’s independence.
“I consider this to be the wrong decision. Prosecuting satire on the basis of a lèse-majesté law is not appropriate to the modern age.”
— Thomas Oppermann, leader of the Social Democratic party’s parliamentary faction
“In a constitutional democracy, weighing up personal rights against freedom of the press and freedom of expression is not a matter for governments, but for public prosecutors and courts,” Merkel said in a press conference on Friday.
The chancellor expressed “grave concerns” about the prosecution of individual journalists in Turkey, as well as growing limitations to the right to protest, but emphasised Germany’s close diplomatic ties with the country.
Merkel was left with the final decision on whether Germany’s state prosecutor should start proceedings against Böhmermann after Erdoğan requested the comedian be prosecuted.
“Throughout his reading, the comedian is advised by another comedian impersonating a media lawyer, who tells him this poem is precisely the sort of thing that does not qualify as satire and is therefore illegal.”
Under an obscure section of Germany’s criminal code, prosecution for insults against organs or representatives of foreign states requires both a notification from the offended party and an authorisation from the government.
Merkel and other ministers confirmed reports that there had been disagreements on how to handle the Böhmermann affair between ministers within her coalition government.
[Read the full story here, at The Guardian]
The foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said Social Democrat ministers, including himself and the justice minister Heiko Maas, had been overruled by Merkel in allowing the prosecution to proceed. “It is our view that the prosecution should not have been authorised,” Steinmeier said. “Freedom of the press, freedom of expression and artistic freedom are the highest goods requiring protection in our constitution.”
“I consider this to be the wrong decision,” said Thomas Oppermann, leader of the Social Democratic party’s parliamentary faction. “Prosecuting satire on the basis of a lèse-majesté law is not appropriate to the modern age.”
The little-used paragraph of the German legal code that had allowed the Turkish president to request the prosecution is likely to be scrapped in the aftermath of the affair. Merkel said on Friday that she considered the law unnecessary, and that legal steps would be taken towards deleting it from the penal code within the next two years. Read the rest of this entry »
Two US Navy Boats Reportedly in Iranian Custody
Posted: January 12, 2016 Filed under: Global, War Room, White House | Tags: Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Incirlik Air Base, Islam, Persian Gulf, Syria, Turkey, United States European Command Leave a comment“Earlier today, we lost contact with two small U.S. naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain. We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel. We have received assurances the sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey.”
— Senior administration official
Two Navy boats are reportedly in Iranian custody, according to the Associated Press.
Iran has reportedly told the US that the crew will be returned “promptly.”
“Earlier today, we lost contact with two small U.S. naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain,” a senior administration official said in a statement.

Google Earth/Amanda Macias/Business Insider
“We are working to resolve the situation such that any US personnel are returned to their normal deployment. We are hopeful it will be resolved.”
— White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes
“We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel. We have received assurances the sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey.” Read the rest of this entry »
OH YES THEY DID: U.S. Carrier Harry S. Truman Has Close Call With Iranian Rockets
Posted: December 29, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, France, French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91), Gulf War, Incirlik Air Base, Middle East, Persian Gulf, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates 1 Commentand The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman came about 1,500 yards from an Iranian rocket in the Strait of Hormuz last week, two U.S. military officials told NBC News on Tuesday.
As the Truman was transiting the strait, which connects the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, Iranian Revolutionary Guards conducted a live-fire exercise right near the U.S. carrier Saturday, officials said.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii
A U.S. military official said an Iranian navy fast and short attack craft began conducting a live-fire exercise at the same time the carrier was nearing the end of the strait, firing off several unguided rockets. A French frigate, the U.S. destroyer USS Buckley and other commercial traffic were also in the area.
[Read the full report here, at NBC News]
The official said the U.S. ships were in the “internationally recognized maritime traffic lane” at the time, not in any territorial waters, when the Iranian navy announced over maritime radio that it was about to conduct a live-fire exercise and asked other vessels to remain clear. Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATE: ISIS Jihadists Stole ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Blank Passports
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Global, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Accession of Turkey to the European Union, Astana, Brussels, EUROPE, European Council, European Parliament, European Union, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom 1 CommentBerlin (AFP) – The Islamic State group may have stolen “tens of thousands” of blank passports that it could use to smuggle its fighters into Europe as refugees, a German newspaper reported Sunday.
The Welt am Sonntag cited Western intelligence sources as saying that IS could have acquired the stolen travel documents in areas of Syria, Iraq and Libya it now controls.
The passports could be issued to would-be attackers to enter the European Union as asylum seekers, according to the report.
Moreover IS has already launched a money-spinning operation with the fake documents, selling them on the black market where they fetch up to 1,500 euros ($1,630) each, Welt said.
European authorities have repeatedly warned of the potential threat posed by refugees travelling with counterfeit documents.
The two unidentified Stade de France attackers in Paris have been tracked back to two fake Syrian passports used to enter Europe.
“The large influx of people who are travelling to Europe unchecked represents a security risk,” the head of EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, told Welt. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Drone with a Flame-Thrower, Roasting the Holiday Turkey
Posted: December 20, 2015 Filed under: Entertainment, Food & Drink, Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere, Science & Technology, Space & Aviation | Tags: 3D printing, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, Adafruit Industries, Do it yourself, drone, Hobby, Holiday Cooking, Turkey, video Leave a comment
For those interested in the parts used on this creation, see below.
Motors: (8x) https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s…
Propellers: (8x) https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s…
ESC: (8x) https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s…
On/Off switch for pump: https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s…
5V BEC: https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s…
Frame Bars: (16x) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/st…
Relay: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002K…
Pump: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001BF…
There was also a significant number of 3D printed parts, wiring, soldering, and miscellaneous parts
Saturday Evening Post November 23, 1907: Cover Illustration by J. C. Leyendecker
Posted: November 26, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, History, Mediasphere | Tags: Illustration, Magazines, Pilgrims, Saturday Evening Post, Thanksgiving, Turkey Leave a comment[VIDEO] Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Cider: How Bulletproof is Thanksgiving Dinner?
Posted: November 24, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Food & Drink, Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere, Self Defense | Tags: Apple Cider, Bulletproof vest, BulletSafe Bulletproof Vest, Holiday, Michigan, Personal armor, Pumpkin Pie, Thanksgiving, Turkey 1 Comment
How Bulletproof Is Thanksgiving Dinner? Find out in this episode of How Bulletproof. How Bulletproof is a web series that compares regular objects against the $299 BulletSafe Bulletproof Vest by shooting them with a .50 Cal Desert Eagle, one of the world’s most powerful handguns. The results are eye-opening and fun to watch. http://www.BulletSafe.com
[VIDEO] Russian SU-24 Jet Shot down by Turkish F-16 Warplanes Over Syria
Posted: November 24, 2015 Filed under: Russia, Space & Aviation, War Room | Tags: Bashar al-Assad, Interfax, John Kerry, Latakia, Moscow, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, RUSSIA, Syria, Turkey, Vladimir Putin Leave a commentA Russian jet has been shot down by Turkish warplanes this morning, near the border with Syria.
Russia’s defence ministry claims the aircraft at no point strayed into Turkish airspace, with authorities insisting it remained in Syria “at all times”, according to Interfax.
However, a Turkish military official told Reuters that the Nato member country’s F-16s had fired on the then-unidentified aircraft only after warning it was violating Turkey’s airspace.
“It was downed in line with Turkey’s rules of engagement after violating Ankara‘s airspace,” the wire reports. President Tayyip Erdogan has been briefed.
A statement issued by Turkish military added that the plane had been warned “10 times in five minutes” Read the rest of this entry »
‘Faux Passeport Syrien’: Paris Stadium Attacker Got to Europe Using Fake Syrian Passport
Posted: November 16, 2015 Filed under: France, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Aegean Islands, Alexis Tsipras, Athens, Balkans, Coalition of the Radical Left, Croatia, Czech Republic, EUROPE, European Union, Greece, Hungary, Lesbos, Member state of the European Union, Middle East, Refugees of the Syrian civil war, Serbia, Syria, Turkey 1 CommentGreece’s migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, during a news conference in Athens on Sunday. Greek authorities say the man posing as Ahmad AlMohammad took a ferry to the port of Piraeus, arriving on Oct. 8, before traveling north through the Balkans. Photo: angelos tzortzinis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
“Greek authorities on islands such as Leros, Lesbos and Chios have confronted thousands of arrivals every day in recent months as refugees and other migrants make the short sea crossing from Turkey in inflatable boats.”
Authorities in France and Greece have said that fingerprints taken from the remains of a suicide bomber outside France’s national sports stadium, the Stade de France, match the prints of a man who entered Europe via the Aegean island of Leros on Oct. 3.
“Short of staff and equipment, Greek police carry out only a simple procedure that involves taking people’s data and fingerprints, and sometimes asking them a few questions, before giving them permission to travel onward, deeper into Europe.”
Police on Leros registered the man under the identity in the passport he showed them: Ahmad AlMohammad, 25, from Syria. The same passport was found near the man’s body outside the stadium on Friday night.
[Read the full story here, at the WSJ]
Whoever the man was, he posed as one of the many refugees fleeing Syria’s war—including the violence of Islamic State—to enter Europe through its lightly controlled frontier in the Aegean Sea. Read the rest of this entry »
OH YES HE DID: Paris Terrorist Was Migrant Who Registered as a Refugee In Greece
Posted: November 14, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Aegean Sea, Angela Merkel, Athens, EUROPE, European Union, Frontex, Greece, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Invasion, Islamism, Jihadism, Lesbos, Migrant, Migrants, Open Borders, Paris Attacks, Refugee, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey 1 CommentThe Greek government has announced one of the terrorist gunmen who had a part in killing over 120 in Paris on Friday evening entered Europe while masquerading as a refugee just six weeks ago.
“The news will come as a major shock to the European establishment who have mocked and derided those who have warned that the migrant route into Europe would be exploited by those wishing to do harm to Europe.”
Reports early on Saturday that one of the gunmen was found to have been carrying a Syrian passport have been followed by an announcement by Greek minister for citizen protection Nikos Tosca that the individual was masquerading as a refugee, reports Greek Antenna news.
“Latest United Nations estimates show over 800,000 migrants have passed through the Mediterranean on their way to Europe this year, with 660,700 landing in Greece and 142,400 in Italy.”
The unnamed killer was registered on the Greek island of Leros in the southern Aegean sea on the third of October. The Island is just ten miles from the Turkish coast and has been a major point of ingress for so-called ‘refugees’ into Europe, alongside neighbour island Kos.
Announcement of #Greece‘s AltMinister Citizens Protection on the #ParisAttacks. (In Greek: https://t.co/sEcwm95UBS) pic.twitter.com/3w4lpaBBeM
— The Greek Analyst (@GreekAnalyst) November 14, 2015
Having come ashore in Europe in October, the killer spent just six weeks as a refugee before killing in Paris.
Read the rest of this entry »
China’s Desperate Battle Against Separatist Terrorism
Posted: October 4, 2015 Filed under: Asia, China, War Room | Tags: Agence France-Presse, Bangkok, China, Royal Thai Police, Thailand, Turkey, Turkic languages, Uyghur people, Xinjiang 1 CommentZunyou Zhou writes: Thailand’s police have linked the August 17 bomb attack on the Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist attraction in Bangkok, to Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group some of whom have been fleeing Chinese rule. The bombing killed 20 people, including seven Chinese tourists, and injured more than 100 others. Nobody has claimed responsibility for one of the worst terrorist incidents in recent Thai history.
Two men are currently in Thai custody: one is an ethnic Uighur carrying a Chinese passport while the other’s nationality hasn’t been confirmed. Thai police and security analysts have said that the perpetrators may have sought retaliation for Thailand’s forced repatriation to China of more than 100 Uighurs in July or for Bangkok’s crackdown on a human smuggling ring that had transported Uighurs from China to Turkey.
If the Thai allegation proves to be true, the blast would mark a rare spillover of violence related to Uighurs outside China. This attack would add a new dimension to the serious issue of terrorism in China, with significant security implications not only for China but also for Turkey, Thailand and other transit countries in connection with the movement of Uighurs.
Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking minority group who call China’s far-western Xinjiang region home. Overseas-based exile groups and campaigners say that Uighurs face brutal repression in China; Beijing denies any religious or cultural discrimination and maintains that its policies help bring stabilityand prosperity to Xinjiang.
[Read the full story here, at WSJ]
Since 2008, China has faced an increasing number of violent attacks which Beijing has blamed on Uighur separatists connected to overseas terrorist organizations. The violence had typically been confined to Xinjiang until October 2013 when a jeep careened onto the sidewalk near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, killing two pedestrians and injuring more than 40 others; the three perpetrators set the vehicle on fire, taking their lives.
Several months later, a handful of Uighurs mounted a mass knifing at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming, leaving at least 29 civilians dead and more than 140 others wounded. Beijing said the perpetrators were separatists who had carried out the attack after they failed to flee China for Southeast Asia. Read the rest of this entry »
The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Roman-Era Sarcophagus to Return to Turkey
Posted: September 24, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, History | Tags: 12 labours of Hercules, Geneva, Roman, Rome, Sacophagus, Turkey Leave a commentVICE Journalists Charged With Working for ‘Terrorists’ in Turkey
Posted: August 31, 2015 Filed under: Censorship, Global, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Anadolu Agency, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Jake Hanrahan, Kurdish people, Kurdistan Workers Party, media, news, Philip Pendlebury, Reuters, Terrorism, Turkey, Turkish language, Vice 1 CommentTurkish authorities on Monday charged three Western news reporters in southeastern Turkey with working for a “terrorist organization,” said their employer VICE News on Monday, days after the journalists’ detention caused an outcry among human rights groups.
“Today the Turkish government has leveled baseless and alarmingly false charges of ‘working on behalf of a terrorist organization’ against three VICE News reporters, in an attempt to intimidate and censor their coverage.”
— A spokesman for VICE
Jake Hanrahan, Philip Pendlebury, as well as a fixer and a driver were detained by the Turkish authorities while reportedly filming clashes between police and supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the province of Diyarbakir.
On Monday, they were charged in a Turkish court, VICE said. Read the rest of this entry »
Syria Crisis: ISIS Deadly Return to Kobane
Posted: July 23, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Al-Hasakah, Al-Raqqah, Ayn al-Arab, Baghdad, Bashar al-Assad, BBC News, Car bomb, Diyala Province, Iraq, Islamic state, Islamic terrorism, Kurdish people, Popular Protection Units, Syria, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkey, United Kingdom 1 CommentThe ISIS attack on Kobane began with militants detonating a car bomb, followed by an assault from dozens of fighters from a number of directions.
Islamic State fighters have attacked the Syrian city of Kobane, months after being driven out in a symbolic battle that made international headlines.
They detonated car bombs and launched an assault. Kurdish media say at least 50 civilians have been killed, including 20 in a nearby village.
ISIS has recently suffered a string of defeats to Kurdish forces.
But in another attack on Thursday, it seized parts of the key north-eastern city of Hassakeh.
The apparent two-pronged IS offensive came as Kurdish fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) cut a major supply line for IS near Raqqa.
Raqqa is the de facto capital of the caliphate whose creation IS announced a year ago after it captured large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
Kobane still matters to ISIS. It was never important strategically, but this latest attack shows that its loss, after five months of heavy street-to-street fighting and coalition aerial bombardment, still hurts ISIS.

The injured have been brought to hospital in Kobane
As was the case last November when a huge vehicle bomb exploded at the same spot, questions are being asked if the attackers made it in from the Turkish side, and if so, why Turkey didn’t stop them.
Thursday’s assault is a reminder, too, that ISIS, despite recent losses in the area, is still very much active and capable of offensives. Overnight they also attacked Hassakeh to the east, a far bigger prize.
[Read the full text here, at BBC News]
Despite the narrative of the last few weeks, ISIS is far from being on the back foot.

Smoke rises over Kobane
The ISIS attack on Kobane began with militants detonating a car bomb, followed by an assault from dozens of fighters from a number of directions. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish Prosecutor Taken Hostage in Istanbul
Posted: March 31, 2015 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Al-Raqqah, Anadolu Agency, Istanbul, Kurdish people, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Tear gas, Turkey, Turkish language 3 CommentsMembers of the illegal left-wing organization the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front have broken into a Turkish prosecutor’s office and taken him hostage
Yael Klein writes: The prosecutor, Mehmet Selim Kiraz, was targeted by the organization because he represented the state in the sensitive case of a young man’s death during anti-government protests in 2013. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was the Turkish prime minister at the time of the protests, exercised a very strict policy against the protestors. The young man was killed after the police used excessive force against the demonstrators, and the organization has taken Kiraz hostage as an act of protest against Erdogan.

Special Forces surrounding the building Photo Credit: Reuters / Channel 2 News
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front has issued a message in the social media, threatening to execute the prosecutor by 3:36 pm (local time) if its demands are not answered. The members of the organization demand that the police officers who caused the death of the young man in the 2013 protests confess to killing him on live television. Read the rest of this entry »