Yearly Archives: 2020

UN: Mercenaries in Karabakh conflict zone must be withdrawn

UN human rights experts noted the agreement reached on 9 November to put an end to hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and hope that it will lead to sustained peace in the region. They are nonetheless concerned by the use of mercenaries in and around the conflict zone until this …

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Erdogan's economic model of family loyalties collapses

Some analysts say the Turkish president felt compelled to sacrifice his son-in-law to save what could be saved. The sudden resignation of Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak announced the end of the model that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to impose, which is based on replacing those who are politically …

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Appearance of Turkish peacekeepers in Karabakh could turn into a war

As we wrote earlier [November 10 – ed.], A ceasefire between Armenia, the forces of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan was reached through an agreement with Moscow. Russia immediately announced the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and deployed troops and military equipment along the conflict …

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Pompeo to visit US allies as Trump refuses to concede

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday announced a seven-nation tour of US allies, which have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden despite Donald Trump’s refusal to concede. Pompeo said he will leave Friday for Paris and then head to Istanbul and the former Soviet republic of Georgia before visiting Jerusalem …

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Russia leaves little room for Turkey in Azeri-Armenian truce

The terms of the Russian-sponsored deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia speak of Moscow’s reluctance to let Turkey increase its influence in the region. Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to end hostilities in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh under a Russian-sponsored deal that sidelines the United States and Europe from settlement …

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Will the Biden Team Be Warmongers or Peacemakers?

Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as America’s next president! People all over this pandemic-infested, war-torn and poverty-stricken world were shocked by the brutality and racism of the Trump administration, and are anxiously wondering whether Biden’s presidency will open the door to the kind of international cooperation that we …

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Afterword to Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program

To the memory of Noel Ignatiev. Dixi et salvavi animam meam. With these Latin words Karl Marx concludes his Critique of the Gotha Program (1875) – “I have spoken and saved my soul.” One is unaccustomed to religious expression from the great communist, unless it be sarcastic, yet here he …

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Who really won in south Caucasus?

While the conventional wisdom is that Russia allowed Turkey to soften Armenia for the kill, then swooped in and imposed its own terms, talk of Russia’s big win may be somewhat overstated. Of all Turkey’s recent foreign forays, it was the fastest and most decisive.

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Why the Muslim Brotherhood Came Out of Its Hole

The labeled terrorist organization [Muslim Brotherhood] said, with a straight face, that it “wishes Mr. Biden, the American people, and the peoples of the whole world to continue to live in dignity under the principles of freedom, justice, democracy and respect for human rights.”

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