Middle East | Links

The liquid imperialism that engulfed Syria

Yassin al-Haj Saleh — How regional and global powers, internal colonialism and Salafi-jihadist subterfuge converged to short-circuit the Syrian struggle against despotism.

Syria: Revolution reborn (plus statement by Syrian Democratic Council)

Leila Al Shami — August 25, the revolution flag flew high in villages, towns and cities across Syria. In Sweida, Dera’a, Aleppo, Idlib, Raqqa, Hasakeh and Deir Al Zour, thousands were on the streets reviving the chants of the revolution.

Joey Ayoub: 'The fall of Putin's regime could lead to the collapse of Assad and the Iranian regime'

Joey Ayoub shares his optics on how anti-imperialist international solidarity is possible, explains the context of struggles of people from his region why it is important to support Ukraine, despite the contradictory civilisational approach of Ukrainian leaders.

The threat of wider wars in the Middle East and the responsibilities of socialists

By Frieda Afary June 24, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Alliance of Middle East Socialists — On June fifth, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt suddenly cut off diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar and closed their borders to it. The reason stated for this decision was Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement as well as Qatar’s friendly relations with the Iranian government. Donald Trump subsequently sent out a tweet in which he took credit for this move: “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the king and 50 countries already paying off.” Turkey immediately announced its support for Qatar and accelerated legislation to send more troops to its military base in that country. It also called on Saudi Arabia to end this crisis. The Iranian government announced that its air space and land borders were open to Qatar in order to prevent a blockade against it. Subsequently, on June 11, the Iranian navy sent two battleships to the coast of Oman.

Erdogan, the coup in Turkey and the global counter-revolution

By Santiago Alba Rico, translated from Cuarto Poder by Sean Seymour-Jones August 4, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — What many of us feared on the night of July 15 has occurred in the most sombre way possible. If a victorious coup in Turkey would have been terrible, its failure looks set to be no less so. In barely a week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has detained or purged more than 40,000 public officials: army officers, police, judges, teachers, and journalists. He has declared a state of emergency for three months - which can be extended indefinitely - and has suspended the European Convention of Human Rights, which could open the way – as the government has already insinuated - to the reestablishment of the death penalty and, in any case, normalise repression against all forms of opposition, particularly against the Gulenist forces and the Kurds, who have once again, following the reinitiating of the military conflict a year ago, been converted into the “internal enemy”. In short, to stop or avenge a coup - real and manipulated - Erdogan and his party have at the same time carried out a coup.

Selahattin Demirtaş: 'How Turkish government endangers peace process with Kurds'

The revolutionaries of Bethnahrin: cooperation between Christians and Kurds

Dawronoye's television team visits the guerrillas.

Syria: Arabs and Kurds fighting to rebuild a democratic and inclusive revolution

July 8, 2015 --

'US fuelled the rise of ISIS' conspiracy theories a back-handed attack on Syrian uprising

Syria: Nusra’s massacre of Druze villagers condemned

Members of the Druze minority wave the Druze flag.

Discussion: Michael Cooke on the left and fundamentalists

By Michael Cooke

Syria: Rojava offers a way forward

Kurdish fighters in Rojava.

[For more on the struggle of the Kurdish people, click HERE.]

By Tony Iltis

May 9, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- War planes from the US and its allies bombed the village of Birmehli in northern Syria on the night of April‭ ‬30.‭ ‬US Central Command spokesperson Major Curtis Kellogg claimed that at least‭ ‬50‭ ‬fighters from the self-styled Islamic State‭ (‬IS‭) ‬group were killed and there was‭ “‬no indication that any civilians were killed‭”‬.