www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/10/putin-met-prigozhin-private-talks-in-moscow-after-mutiny/
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Explosions thundered in Odesa before dawn on Tuesday as Russia targeted the port city with a barrage of missiles and drones, a day after the Kremlin said it was suspending its participation in an agreement allowing the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine across the Black Sea.Explosions thundered in Odesa before dawn on Tuesday as Russia targeted the port city with a barrage of missiles and drones, a day after the Kremlin said it was suspending its participation in an agreement allowing the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine across the Black Sea.Explosions thundered in Odesa before dawn on Tuesday as Russia targeted the port city with a barrage of missiles and drones, a day after the Kremlin said it was suspending its participation in an agreement allowing the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
Explosions thundered in Odesa before dawn on Tuesday as Russia targeted the port city with a barrage of missiles and drones, a day after the Kremlin said it was suspending its participation in an agreement allowing the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine across the Black Sea.The Kremlin warned Ukraine on Tuesday against trying to export its grain across the Black Sea, after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called for international support to continue the shipments despite Russia’s withdrawal from a landmark wartime agreement.
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The New York Times describes a frightening plan developed by Donald Trump’s administration-in-waiting to consolidate power in the President’s hands. …
Trump Plans to Increase Power of the President If Re-Elected -
As of July 15, Ukrainian courts found 53 Russian nationals guilty of war crimes, more than 300 identified Russians are currently suspected, the country’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said.
— Read on kyivindependent.com/prosecutor-general-more-than-50-russians-found-guilty-of-war-crimes-in-ukraine/ -
UK Defense Ministry: Wagner elements arrive in Belarus, group expected to continue Africa operations
Wagner Group’s interim arrangements with the Russian state are taking shape, according to the latest intelligence update from the U.K. Defense Ministry published on July 16.
— Read on kyivindependent.com/wagner-elements-arrive-in-belarus-uk-intelligence-expects-group-to-continue-africa-operations/ -
chief
Russian generals who have been killed, missing or sidelined in Ukraine
11
10
2
Dead
Missing
Dead
Missing
Dead
9
3
Dead
Dismissed
8
Dead
1
Dismissed
Dead
4
7
5
6
1
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff
Unpopular army chief was made overall commander of the war against Ukraine in January 2023.
2
General Sergei Surovikin
Unknown
3
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Chief WAG
Unknown
4
Colonel General Rustam Muradov
Dismissed
5
Maj General Ivan Popov, 58th CAA
Dismissed
6
Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky, Dep Commander, 41st CAA
Dead (Killed in battle)
7
Lt General Oleg Tsokov, Dep. Commander SMD
Dead (Killed in battle)
8
Major General Sergey Goryachev, Chief of Staff, 35th CAA
Dead (Killed in battle)
9
Major General Vladimir Frolov, Dep Commander, 8th Guards CAA
Dead (Unknown)
10
Marina Yankina, Financial dept head, MOD
Dead (Unknown)
11
Lt General Roman Kutuzov, Commander, 1st Army Corps DPRPM
Dead (Killed in battle)
CAA = Combined Arms Army, WAG = Wagner group, SMD = Southern Military District, MOD = Russian Military of Defence, DPRPM = Donetsk People’s Republic People’s Militia -
Friday 14 July 2023
For over a year, our primary international interest has been Ukraine, but after watching a number of Trukish films on Netflix, and reading about the possibility of a fundamental shift toward democracy in Spring elections, we watched closely as the presidential and legislative votes to came in.
It seemed, there was a real possibility. After more than two decades of Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic rule, the economy in Turkey had hit the bottom. Basic goods were unaffordable for regular people. An earthquake in February 2023 killed tens of thousands of people and Erdogan’s government failed to adequately respond to the disaster. Part of the reason so many people lost their lives was shoddy governmental enforcement of housing codes for residential buildings. There was hope a vote could oust Erdogan.
But a media almost completely controlled by the government hid the true extent of the damage. And, even though Erdogan’s rivals for the first time combined into one opposition party, they could not defeat him.
As Halil Karaveli (7/14/23) wrote in Foreign Affairs, even though many see Erdogan as more powerful than ever, are just resigned to “waiting for the longtime ruler’s retirement,” there is an alternative.
Karaveli argues that Erdogan’s most recent rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, even though heads the social democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP), he sought to defeat Erdogan by running to Erdogan’s right, “competing on political terms set by the president.”
“He promised to preserve the regime’s hard-line policies against Kurdish elected representatives. It is, therefore, little wonder that he was soundly defeated; he never offered an ideological alternative to the country’s frustrated citizens.”
Any effective opposition proposing to restore Trukish democracy must embrace progressive causes instead of campaigning on conservative ones. And, the opposition must build a viable labor movement. In short, “…to take on the Erdogan regime, the Turkish opposition needs to turn resolutely to the left.”
As Karaveli notes, this will not be an easy task. Erdogan has subjected the left to severe state oppression and mobilized a religious and nationalist identity politics to give the right the upper hand.
Leftists stood up against Turkey’s military rulers in the early 1970’s and brought democracy back to the country. They could do it again.
This is a really interesting article.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/turkey/how-save-turkish-democracy
In case you are interested in sampling some of Turky’s astoundingly good TV series:
Black Money Love (2014-2015) Warning, this is addictive.
Ethos (2020) Psychiatric sessions in Istanbul.
The Tailor (2023)
Additional Notes:
- Erdogan lifted a veto this week on Sweden joining NATO.
- Zelensky was given a warm welcolm in Istanbul.
- There is fear in Moscow that Russia’s war against Ukraine has undermined one of Moscow’s most valued relationships.
- (See Washington Post)
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The recent transformation of the state’s election laws explicitly enabled citizens to file unlimited challenges to other voters’ registrations. Experts warn that election officials’ handling of some of those challenges may clash with federal law.
— Read on www.propublica.org/article/right-wing-activists-georgia-voter-challenges -
To rein in Erdogan, the country needs a vibrant left.
— Read on www.foreignaffairs.com/turkey/how-save-turkish-democracy -
Bolstered by a pliant media that drowned out any bad news, Erdogan came in first during the election’s opening round and then comfortably defeated Kilicdaroglu in the runoff.
Foreign affairs
Law, Power, and Justice 