manbij | Porkins Policy Review

This month Associate Professor at Stockholm University Isa Blumi joined me to update the listeners on the dire situation in Yemen. We started off with the ongoing siege of Al Hudaydah. We then moved on to a discussion of the recent media coverage the war in the west. Isa talked about a recent AP article which documented Saudi and Emirati support for Al Qaeda. Isa pointed out how the article fails to mention Qatar’s involvement in Yemen and the political implications behind this omission. We also touched on the abhorrent coverage the recent school bus bombing by Democracy Now. Later we shifted gears for a discussion of Turkey’s role in the region. We talked about the recent elections and economic problems in Turkey. We also touched on the status of the Gulen Movement, NATO-Turkish operations in Syria, and what Erdogan’s next geopolitical will be.

Download preview clip

To listen to the full episode become a subscriber today on Patreon

Christoph and I are back! After a long hiatus we have returned with a jam packed episode. In the first segment we discuss the bizarre “bomb plot” to attack the recent MEK Summit in Paris. Then we explore the allegations that this was orchestrated by the Iranian government and the bogus claims by the West and Israel about a network of sleeper cells across Europe. We then turn to a discussion about those swept up in the investigation–including an Iranian diplomat from Austria.

In the second segment Christoph and I break down the recent NATO summit in Brussels. We focus mainly on how this impacts Germany. Trump demanded that NATO countries devote 4% GDP to NATO, also stated that Germany is too close with Russia.
For the third segment we continue discussing Germany. We talk about the rise of the Gulen movement. Christoph explains how this has manifested after the failed coup in Turkey. We also touch on the whereabouts a several key plotters of the coup who are allegedly being protected in Berlin.

In our final segment we take a in-depth look at the recent election in Turkey. We discuss how Erdogan and his coalition partners with in the ultra-nationalist MHP swept the country. The rise of the ultra-nationalism within the Turkey may have a dangerous impact. We discuss MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent calls for the release of two prominent ultra-nationalist mob bosses, as well as the founder of the Grey Wolves taking a seat in parliament. We finish this segment by touching on recent joint operations between Turkey and U.S. in Northern Syria.

We close out with our traditional “weird terrorism” section. I talk about the return of Afghanistan’s Vice President, Abdul Rashid Dostum, from self imposed exile in Turkey, which resulted from assault and rape charges. Christoph shares an interesting interview of a former U.S. Army sniper who fought alongside the KLA in the 90’s on behalf of a foreign defense ministry.