In incendiary speech Turkish President Erdogan lays claims to a vast zone of influence for Turkey whilst demanding paramount influence for Turkey over Iraqi province and city of Mosul.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just delivered one of the most bizarre speeches on foreign policy of his whole eccentric career.

Speaking at the newly opened University of Rize in Busra, he staked claims on behalf of Turkey to vast regions extending far beyond Turkey's borders.


Referring to the National Covenant - a 1920 declaration by the last Ottoman parliament, which was used by the newly formed Turkish Republic as the basis of its initial negotiating position at the conference of Lausanne, which eventually established Turkey's present borders - he claimed that according to "certain historians" it had included within Turkey's borders:

"Cyprus, Aleppo (in Syria), Mosul, Arbil and Kirkuk (in Iraq), Batum (in Georgia), Kardzhali, Varna (in Bulgaria), and Thessaloniki and the Aegean islands (in Greece)."

The Duran's Alex Christoforou wrote earlier on the claims made by Erdogan about Turkey's right to certain Greek islands. He also used historic, linguistic and religious ties to claim for Turkey a gigantic zone of influence for itself

"Turkey is not only Turkey. Not only for 79 million citizens, but Turkey bears also responsibility towards our hundreds of millions of brothers in the geographical area to whom we are connected through our historical and cultural ties.

It is a duty, but also a right of Turkey to be interested in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Crimea, Karabakh, Bosnia, and other sister areas (NB: this is a reference to Azerbaijan and former Soviet Central Asia - AM). The moment you give up this, it will be the time when we lose our independence and our future".

It is however Erdogan's extraordinary commentsabout Mosul in Iraq that will be the cause of the greatest concern in the major world capitals:

While Americans continue to be distracted by the discussion over Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, geopolitical tension around the proxy war in Syria has escalated to levels that could lead to regional warfare or open conflict between nuclear superpowers Russia and the United States, as described by military officials from multiple countries. US Army General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that a "no-fly zone" in Syria would lead to war with Russia, during a September 22 Senate committee hearing. Hillary Clinton also admitted similar risks of the military policy she supports for the Syria war, saying "you're going to kill a lot of Syrians," during a speech at a Goldman Sachs event.

The most recent attempt to stop the violence was a September 9 ceasefire negotiated by the United States and Russia. However that effort failed after US officials ended talks on October 3, claiming the Syrian military was killing civilians. The ceasefire agreement called for Russia to influence the Syrian government forces to stop fighting for control and for the US to influence rebel groups to separate from terrorist groups Al Nusra and Islamic State so they could be targeted by joint US-Russia military campaigns, a task which the US has failed to do since February 2016 despite US officials claiming to be in daily contact with rebel groups. The increased tension comes as the United States loses leverage in negotiations because of advances the Syrian government forces have made in regaining control over the country with the support of Russian military.

New information about the Syria proxy war continues show that actions by the United States have helped Al Qaeda and the Islamic State gain power in the country, with the goal of allowing the terrorists to overthrow the Syrian government. Evidence for this claim has been reported in small anecdotes by many international media outlets during the violent proxy war which has lasted almost six years, but American reporter Serena Shim dedicated her professional career to proving the United States and allies were purposely helping Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Russian and Syrian military jets have not conducted any air raids 10km around Aleppo for eight days, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Wednesday, adding that Moscow and Damascus are ready to resume 'humanitarian pauses' in the besieged city.

"Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force are observing a moratorium on flights which are closer than 10km to the city for the eighth day," Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.

Civilians who are leaving the city may use six humanitarian corridors which are open 24/7, according to Konashenkov.

Russia's reconciliation center has delivered about 10 tons of humanitarian aid to Aleppo civilians, the spokesman added.

Russian and Syrian authorities are "ready to resume humanitarian pauses in Aleppo if it gets guarantees from international organizations that they are ready to let patients, wounded and civilians leave the areas held by militants," Konashenkov said.

Brussels has given the green light to Russia's Gazprom to pump more gas through the Opal pipeline, reports the Wall Street Journal. Opal is an important connection to Russia's Nord Stream pipeline to Germany and the Czech Republic.

EU competition rules currently limit Gazprom's use of the Opal pipeline to half the line's capacity. The pipeline stretches about 470 kilometers from the German Baltic Sea coast to Brandov on the Czech-German border.

Having access to the full capacity of Opal is necessary for Russia's Nord Stream-2 pipeline that intends to double the volume of the existing Nord Stream pipeline. The new pipeline will be able to deliver up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Germany via the Baltic Sea bypassing Ukraine.

The deal may be regarded as Russia and the EU mending their business ties despite sanctions, analysts say.

On October 21, on the initiative of the UK, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) met to discuss the recent situation in Aleppo. The discussions demonstrated a huge divergence of opinions and views on the realities in Aleppo and the Syrian crisis as a whole.

HRC has been reviewing the Syrian file for more than four years now, but regrettably its assessments are becoming a far cry from reality due to the efforts of certain states, including those who call themselves the "Friends of Syria", to politicize the matter. The current session has been a case study in this.

Instead of supporting the fight against international terrorism, the initiators of the HRC special session, as a matter of fact, tried to let the terrorists off the hook, save them from defeat and allow them to regroup and continue to commit atrocities in Syria. There is no other explanation for the fact that a HRC draft resolution didn't demand the terrorists and militants cease hostilities, obstructing humanitarian access, using civilians as human shields, and stop preventing residents and medical workers from leaving the city via established humanitarian corridors.

Some highlights of a recent Donald Trump interview with Reuters:

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Democrat Hillary Clinton's plan for Syria would "lead to World War Three," because of the potential for conflict with military forces from nuclear-armed Russia.

In an interview focused largely on foreign policy, Trump said defeating Islamic State is a higher priority than persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down...

Trump questioned how Clinton would negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin after demonizing him; blamed President Barack Obama for a downturn in U.S. relations with the Philippines under its new president, Rodrigo Duterte;...

Trump's foreign policy talk is far more sane than Clinton's and her camp's. It is ludicrous to even think about openly attacking Russian (or Syrian) troops in Syria with an al-Qaeda supported "no-Fly-Zone". Russia would respond by taking down U.S. planes over Syria. The Russian government would have to do so to uphold its authority internationally as well as at home.

The U.S. could respond by destroying all Russian assets in and around Syria. It has the capabilities. But then what? If I were Putin my next step would be a nuclear test shoot in Siberia - a big one - to make a point and to wake up the rest of the world. I would also provide secret support to any indigenous anti-U.S. movement anywhere. China would support Russia as its first line of self defense.

Clinton campaign chair John Podesta lost his mobile phone, fell for a phishing scam, and now blames "Russian Hackers" for his email leak.

Reckless and corrupt Hillary Clinton pushes the world towards conflict with Russia over mysterious "Russian Hackers" tampering with the US elections by passing off John Podesta emails to Wikileaks, in an effort to elect Trump (because Trump and Putin are such good friends having met...never), the real culprit to blame for the Podesta email leak is John Podesta.

The "Russian Hacker" fairytale is nothing more than a pathetic attempt by the Clinton campaign to cover up John Podesta's incompetence and lack of responsibility.

No one is to blame for the Wikileaks John Podesta emails other than Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.

Emails released by Wikileaks from John Podesta, show that Podesta lost his mobile phone approximately one year ago in a taxi. Upon losing his mobile phone, which had all his email communication, Podesta took no immediate precautionary measures.

When I recently had a notebook stolen, I immediately (in a matter of minutes), changed every password to every account I had. I locked down everything with new, secure passwords, and two step sms authentication. I left nothing to chance, and I did this within the first minute of having my device stolen. Podesta did nothing.

We turn your attention to an email sent by John Podesta, the chairman for Hillary Clinton's campaign, to Eryn Sepp (who at the time was Special Assistant to the Chair at Hillary For America) on July 19, 2015, in which he asks for help finding his lost mobile.

Podesta writes...

"[I] lost my phone this am. It must have fallen off my belt getting in or out of the cab. I used Diamond and had a 4:45 pick up at Brandywine. Can you call Diamond Cab and see if the cab driver found it. They should be able to figure it out given the pickup. The receipt says #Diamond 444 C502."

Around 300 civilians were killed in eleven airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition in Syria, which Amnesty International investigated for its latest report. Amnesty says the US must come clean about the civilian toll of its fight against Islamic State.

Amnesty suspects that US Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs coalition airstrikes in Syria, "may have... carried out unlawful attacks" in Syria, failing to take necessary measures to prevent civilian killings.


"We fear the US-led coalition is significantly underestimating the harm caused to civilians in its operations in Syria," said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International's Beirut regional office. It's high time the US authorities came clean about the full extent of the civilian damage caused by coalition attacks in Syria. Independent and impartial investigations must be carried out into any potential violations of international humanitarian law and the findings should be made public."

Amnesty investigated evidence, including eyewitness accounts, reports by human rights organizations and the media, photographs and video footage as well as satellite imagery, related to 11 suspected coalition attacks in Syria. The group estimates that the attacks have claimed as many as 300 civilian lives. So far none of these deaths has been acknowledged by CENTCOM.

The report published on Wednesday added that the total civilian death toll from coalition action "could be as high as 600 or more than 1,000" since the operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) started in Syria in 2014.

Today, the countries of the ASEAN are going through a very difficult period in their history, when their unity, cohesion and prosperity are being challenged as never before. The basic concept of independence of the region from the influence of external forces, embraced by this coalition, is hardly observed. Today's objective is not to minimize foreign influence, but to ensure the ASEAN remains an integral, coherent regional organization despite the fact that the United States and China continue fighting tooth and nail for dominance in the Southeast Asia and the East Asia as a whole.

Beginning from the early 1990s, the gaining momentum China started its triumphal rise to power in this region energetically waving the banner clearly demonstrating its intention to return the territories and influence it had allegedly lost in the so-called "period of historic weakness." It was a natural course of things for China, which had adopted a new policy, to start gradually pushing the United States, dominating after the WWII in the local military and economic domains, out of the region. Basically, China employed "the carrot and stick" approach, simultaneously expanding its presence in the South China Sea and offering lucrative economic projects to the countries of the ASEAN. The Chinese were building their policy around the core idea of the establishment of a free trade zone between China and the ASEAN. And their undertaking proved very successful. In 2005, the mutual goods turnover between China and the ASEAN exceeded $100 billion. In 2013, it reached $443.6 billion and by 2020, the parties are hoping to meet the $1 trillion milestone.

Engagement in the cooperation of this sort means that China would have to calculate with high precision when to capitalize on its economic dominance and gain political weight. China has already made several attempts, but they were unsuccessful. Since the ASEAN member states are not willing to give up their freedom of action, China is forced to continuously step up its efforts. The most influential countries of the ASEAN are willing to go as far as signing an agreement on special reciprocal partnership with China, provided that it would not impose any addition obligations on them.

For decades now, Israel has enjoyed decisive aerial superiority over all its rivals in the Middle East. There is no doubt that the Israeli air force is the strongest in the region and one of the most advanced in the world. As such, it has benefited for decades from an almost absolute monopoly over all of the other players in the region.

Ever since the signing of the peace agreement with Egypt in 1979 and Egypt's exit from the circle of hostility, the Israeli air force has had absolute freedom of operation. This reached its climax with the bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor (Operation Opera) in 1981, the bombing of a Syrian nuclear reactor (according to foreign news sources) in 2007, multiple bombings of arms convoys moving from Syria to Lebanon over the past few years, similar bombing runs in Sudan (also according to foreign sources) and other clandestine operations wherever there are Israeli interests of some sort or another.

Over the past few months, however, Israel has woken up to a troubling new reality. That freedom of operation, which its air force once enjoyed with absolute impunity, is now dependent on a foreign factor, which is out of Jerusalem's control. What began as aid to the Bashar al-Assad regime in its struggle to survive has become a massive Russian military presence along Israel's northern border.