For over two weeks, daily anti-government protests rocked Turkey. Police attacked peaceful demonstrators intermittently. They've done so brutally. Turkey's notorious for police state viciousness.

By SHAMUS COOKE - Counterpunch Weekend Edition

The western media is giving dire warnings of an impending sectarian war between Sunni and Shia Muslims...Such a war would be completely artificial, and is being manufactured for geo-political reasons. When the most influential Sunni figures in Saudi Arabia and Qatar...recently called for Jihad against the Syrian government and Hezbollah, their obvious intentions were to boost the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia and its closest ally, the United States, by destroying Iran’s key ally in the region.

By Chris Marsden - 7 June 2013

The White House issued its most threatening statement yet yesterday, denouncing Iran and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah as “partners in tyranny” for their support of the Assad regime in Syria.

It's too early to know what's ahead. Clearly people are fed up. They're angry. They're sick and tired of a regime drunk with power.

By Jean Shaoul - 3 June 2013

After forcing the lifting of a weapons embargo against Syria and thus enabling the arming of Islamist militants, Britain is now calling for the European Union to designate the Lebanese party Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist organization...Designating Hezbollah...a terrorist organization demonstrates the extent to which the conflict in Syria has become a regional war and a de facto war against Iran...It could embroil [Lebanon] in another civil war.

By Bill Van Auken - 1 June 2013

In a series of raids in the capital of Istanbul and in the southern provinces of Mersin, Adana and Hatay near the Syrian border, Turkish police rounded up 12 members of Syria’s Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front along with chemical weapons materials.

By Revolutionary Anarchist Action - Znet

This is an informative mail about the current situation in Istanbul, Turkey. After two days of protest about the urban gentrification of Gezi Park (biggest park in Taksim where green areas are continually being destroyed), people got fed up with police brutality and violence.

Speaking on the 13th anniversary of Lebanon's Resistance and Liberation Day, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed grave regional dangers.

By Chris Marsden - 25 May 2013

The United States and its allies continue to escalate their military aggression against Syria...Every day brings fresh indications of preparations for war against not only Syria, but also Lebanon and Iran, threatening a region-wide conflagration that could yet involve Russia and China.

By Alex Lantier - 22 May 2013

Israeli and Syrian forces exchanged fire across the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights yesterday, amid rising US and Israeli threats of intervention in the US-led sectarian proxy war in Syria, which is rapidly spreading throughout the region...The border fighting came only two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to act “with determination” to prevent the transfer of arms from Syria to the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

Obama's using Turkey as its missile against Syria. Both countries share a common border. CIA elements infest the region. They're very much involved in Turkey. They're recruiting, arming, training and directing insurgent fighters. They're likely doing it on both sides of the border.

By PATRICK COCKBURN - May 13, 2013

...[A]s the 20th century settlement of the Middle East collapses, the outcome is unlikely to be peace and prosperity. It is easy to see what is wrong with the governments in present-day Iraq and Syria, but not what would replace them. Look at the almost unanimous applause among foreign politicians and media at the fall of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011, then look at Libya now, its government permanently besieged or on the run from militia gunmen.

By Thomas Gaist - 10 May 2013

Calls for a war with Syria mounted yesterday, despite mass popular opposition to war in the United States...The calls for war come amid reports of major setbacks in Syria for the US-backed opposition, reflecting its small size and lack of popular support, and growing military assistance from Russia, Iran, and Lebanon for the Assad regime.

Russian condemnation of Israeli air strikes preceded Kerry's arrival. Moscow's Foreign Ministry called them "a threat to regional stability."

By Alex Lantier - 6 May 2013

Israel’s bombing of Damascus International Airport Thursday night and Syrian army targets across Damascus yesterday morning are unprovoked and illegal acts of war, abetted by Washington and its European allies as part of their escalating campaign against Syria...There is every indication that the Israeli strikes were a trial run for possible US air strikes on Syria.