ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups have gathered in the Kazakh capital Astana to hold peace talks aimed at ending the six-year conflict in the Arab state, with senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey mediating the process. The two-day talks opened at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on Monday with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov delivering the keynote speech. The negotiations, which are backed by the United Nations, will be held behind closed doors. At the event, Iran and Russia will be mediating on behalf of the Syrian administration, while Turkey will be siding with the opposition. Syria’s UN ambassador and head of the Damascus delegation Bashar al-Ja’afari (R) speaks with Syrian ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad prior to the first session of Syria peace talks at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on January 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP) On the eve of the negotiations, delegates from the three countries held long-hours talks in Astana. They discussed

Syrian security forces have prevented an attempt to supply militants operating in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus with US-made TOW anti-tank guided missiles. According to reports, last weekend, security forces seized a batch of at least 12 TOW units (some sources say that over 20) en route to the region. Most likely, the missiles were set to be delivered to the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam militant group, operating in the area. A Twitter user, WithinSyriaBlog, released alleged photos of the captured missiles:

A logo of the Turkish-backed police Some 450 members of “police units” trained, backed and supplied by Turkey have been deployed to the Syrian border town of Jarabulus, controlled by pro-Turkish militant groups and the Turkish Armed Forces. General Abdel Razaq Aslan, a defector from the Syrian Army is a commander of the Turkey-led police in the town. The logo of the so-called “Jarablus police” includes the word “police” written in Turkish. Abdel Razaq Aslan In 2016, reports appeared that Turkey was recruiting Syrian refugees (males aged between 20 and 35 years) in order to create police and security units in the Turkish-controlled area in northern Syria. The deployment of police units to Jarabulus is the first public result of this effort.

Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionTrump's inauguration (left) and Obama's in 2009, viewed from the Washington Monument President Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonesty over the number of people attending his inauguration. Mr Trump was speaking after photographs were published appearing to show more people attended the inauguration of his predecessor Barack Obama in 2009. Mr Trump's press secretary said it had been "the largest audience to ever see an inauguration" even though figures he cited add up to under 750,000 people. He said the new US administration would hold the media accountable. On Saturday, millions in the US and around the world took part in protests to highlight women's rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the new administration. The largest US rally was in the capital, Washington DC, which city officials estimated to be more than 500,000-strong, followed by New York with some 400,000 and hundreds of thousands else

US says air strike killed more than 100 al-Qaeda fighters just a day before President Obama left office. Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and other affiliates have in the past been targeted by US air strikes in Syria [Ammar Abdullah/Reuters] A US air strike on Thursday targeting an al-Qaeda training camp in Syria killed more than 100 fighters, a US defence official said on Friday. The strike took place just a day before the end of President Barack Obama's presidency and a day after more than 80 fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) were killed in US air strikes in Libya, according to the Pentagon. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the air strike in Syria was primarily carried out by a B-52 bomber and dropped 14 munitions. The official added that the strike against the camp took place in Idlib province, west of Aleppo, and there was a high level of confidence that there were no civilian casualties. A US-led coalition has been ca

According to head of the Russian Federation Council’s defense committee, Viktor Ozerov, Russia is not conducting talks on creating military bases in Libya. Commander of the Libyan Armed Forces, General Khalifa Haftar (R), and Deputy Commander of the Russian Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Victor Sokolov (L), on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Russia is not conducting talks on creating military bases in Libya, the Sputnik news agency reported on Sunday, citing head of the Russian Federation Council’s defense committee, Viktor Ozerov. “Such talks are not being conducted,” Ozerov told Sputnik. Earlier, Libyan media reported that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, and a number of Russian military officials allegedly arrived to the Libyan city of Tobruk in order to hold talks with Supreme Commander of the Libyan Ar med Forces, General Khalifa Haftar. According to the Switzerland’s Neu Zuercher Zeitung

Reuters has released an interesting map of various protests and rallies that have been officially permitted. About 270,000 protersters or Trump backers will participate in these events on January 20 and January 21. The total number of people that are set to attend the inauguration is about 900,000 .

President-elect Donald Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremonies to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017 © Lucy Nicholson / Reuters Originally appeared at ZeroHedge In an inaugural speech that appealed to the core tenets preached during his presidential campaign, tinged with an overtone of palpable anger and a suggestion of protectionism, Trump addressed the core promises that brought him into the White House, and vowed to bring back jobs, fortify America’s borders and restore America’s wealth, while transferring power from Washington and giving it back to “you, the people.” “Today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another,” Trump said in his inauguration speech. “We are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.” In his speech, Trump described an America riven by crime and social tumult, as O