Turkey Angrily Rejects Accusations of Being ‘Terror Hub’

The regime of Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan issued a harsh statement Wednesday rejecting accusations made by a German government report, parts of which were leaked to the press this week, that Turkey has become a “hub” for Islamist terror groups. “The allegations are a new manifestation of the twisted mentality, which for some time has been trying to wear down our country, by targeting our president and government,” said a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Ankara.

The Kremlin issued a statement Wednesday flatly rejecting criticism of its use of a base in Iran to launch air strikes on targets in Syria, saying that despite criticism from the US and other Western governments, the strikes target only the Islamic State (IS) terror militia. Eyewitness accounts coming out of Syria suggest otherwise and speak of “carpet bombing” tactics that have left huge areas of Aleppo and other cities held by different rebel groups devastated, killing large numbers of non-combatants while leaving IS, which is often not reported to be in the areas bombed, untouched.

The Greek firm Energean Oil & Gas signed a $148.5 million deal to purchase the Karish and Tanin gas reservoirs on Tuesday in a move analysts said could jump start the Israeli energy industry and benefit the economies of Greece and other eastern Mediterranean countries as well. “I think it will be good for everybody,” private energy consultant Miki Korner told the Jerusalem Post.

Shirley Manson, leader of the alternative rock band Garbage, became the latest artist to ignore calls to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel by staging two consecutive evenings of concerts this week. On Tuesday, she addressed the issue directly from the stage at the Amphi Shuni theater in Binyamina, telling the crowd that those who had urged her not to perform in Israel were ignorant and that BDS wouldn’t help the cause of peace.