in bocca al lupo to the dog star

On the 6^th of February 2023 at 04:17 TRT a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern Türkiye and north-western Syria. As of this writing the quake has killed over 50,000 people, with over 120,000 injured, the great majority of them in Tűrkiye. There have been over 2100 aftershocks, with over 230 of those registering M4.0 or higher. Regional support was swift to Syria, with Russian troops still stationed in Syria aiding in rescue and relief efforts, not so much in Tűrkiye. More than 80 countries have offered material aid and assistance. Absent from those 80 were Western nations until very recently. The chart is rather interesting for several reasons. The quake is already having geopolitical effects, too. For more, read on… Continue reading “The 2023 Türkiye-Syria earthquake”

On 19 Dec 2019 the Syrian Army (SAA), backed by Russian air support and contingents of Iranian and Hezbollah troops, began a renewed offensive in the Idlib governate of Syria with the aim of enforcing the Sochi Memorandum of Understanding. The ongoing action will clear the M4 and has already cleared the M5 highways that run through Idlib, thus eventually connecting the Russian base at Latakia on the Mediterranean with eastern Syria, as well as connecting Damascus with all points north and east. The action has enraged one Recip Tayyip Erdogan, the wannabe Sultan, for reasons outlined below. He has invested heavily in the takfiri fighters in Idlib. And now all of Aleppo has been liberated. Syrians have been celebrating in the streets and a large number of reinforcements for the SAA are pouring into the region. The question then arises, is the battle for Idlib the Sultan’s Waterloo? Continue reading “Will Idlib be the Sultan’s Waterloo?”