War

As a string of suicide attacks on Ankara and Istanbul have made abundantly clear, Turkey is in a state of turmoil. In fact, one might fairly say that the country has descended into outright chaos.

Today’s bombing of Istiklal Caddesi was just the latest tragedy to strike one of Turkey’s urban centers. Images from the aftermath of the blast are, much like those that appeared on social media in the wake of last Sunday’s TAK attack on a transit hub in Ankara’s Kizilay, horrific.

For the fourth time this year and the second time in seven days, one of Turkey’s major cities has been hit with a deadly suicide bombing.

Just six days after an explosion ripped through a transit hub in Ankara’s Kizilay neighborhood killing 34 people and wounding more than 100, a bustling shopping street in Istanbul was shaken by a powerful blast on Saturday.

Russia has pulled most of its strike aircraft out of Syria and is following through with its intention of withdrawing assets, according to U.S. military on Friday. Washington Examiner reports: A spokesman for U.S. Central Command also said that the Russians have not conducted any air strikes in Syria over the past week. “We assess that the majority if not all strike aircraft have left,” Col. Pat Ryder told reporters.

According to Turkish and Greek news outlets, a cargo ship containing thousands of guns and explosives headed towards Lebanon has been seized by Greek authorities.  The ship, named “Kukui Boy”, had left the port in Izmir, Turkey, destined for Lebanon. Greek authorities inspected the ship after it refused a warning stop and found thousands of undocumented weapons aboard. 21stcenturywire.com reports: Interestingly, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) today issued a formal declaration that decried Lebanon’s ruling political party and military group Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

Ron Paul comments on the GOP’s war on Donald Trump.