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Erdogan Jails Top Political Rival As Protests Sweep Across Turkey

Turkey descent into full-blown banana republic status continued on Sunday morning, when the country’s police formally arrested President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, a decision that will trigger even more market turmoil and protests across the country. Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor, was jailed on corruption charges days after being detained by police; he was also officially suspended as mayor of Istanbul, sparking an unprecedented political crisis in Turkey which may urgently require another fake coup by Erdogan as he slowly loses control.

The case – which the “Democratic” western media would be screaming about… if only it didn’t involve the second largest army in NATO – has the potential to keep Imamoglu, who denies the charges, behind bars for years and prevent him from running against Erdogan in the next elections. He is the most prominent person to be ensnared in a recent wave of detentions and investigations against opposition figures.

WATCH moment Turkish police spray angry protesters with pepper spray after boos ring out
Arrested Istanbul mayor wants MORE protests in country https://t.co/wULT2xgJKo pic.twitter.com/94X6d9UST7
— RT (@RT_com) March 23, 2025
Imamoglu’s detention on Wednesday came a day after authorities revoked his university diploma, which Turks need to run for the highest political office. The Istanbul court hearing the allegations on Sunday decided against a formal arrest on separate terror charges, but Imamoglu will remain in jail over the corruption probe.

Protests against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Imamoglu are escalating all over the country
In Bursa, police and protestors are engaging in mutual violence https://t.co/emS5SUGwZj pic.twitter.com/kfKFhnyWEa
— RT (@RT_com) March 23, 2025
Imamoglu was scheduled to be declared his party’s candidate on Sunday for the next presidential vote, scheduled for 2028. The cancellation of his university degree and decision by Turkish authorities to put him behind bars leave his political future unclear.

“We’ll together remove this black stain put on our democracy,” Imamoglu said in a statement shortly after his arrest. “I stand tall, I will never bow.”

He repeated the popular campaign slogan he used in municipal elections: “All will be good.”

His arrest suggests that Turkish authorities won’t be deterred by mass protests that have broken out in cities including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Erdogan and his officials have accused the main opposition party of trying to sow chaos by calling people onto the streets. Of course, the opposition party wouldn’t be trying to sow chaos if its leaders hadnt’ been arrested.

WATCH moment Turkish police spray angry protesters with pepper spray after boos ring out
Arrested Istanbul mayor wants MORE protests in country https://t.co/wULT2xgJKo pic.twitter.com/94X6d9UST7
— RT (@RT_com) March 23, 2025
The 54-year-old mayor’s popularity has risen nationally since 2019, when he defeated Erdogan’s handpicked candidate in local elections. He repeated his success at the ballot box against another Erdogan ally last year, helping the main opposition Republican People’s Party, known as the CHP, inflict an unprecedented defeat on Erdogan’s AK Party.

The arrest will surely trigger a renewed selloff of Turkish assets, which cratered last week and saw the lira plunge to a now record low. The…

Hungary’s Orban Continues Blocking EU’s ‘Pro-War’ Stance On Ukraine In Key Vote

Hungary continued this past week being a lone EU voice blocking the European Union’s collective efforts to ramp up more financial and military aid to Ukraine, at a moment Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has a powerful backer in Washington – the Trump administration.

Hungary in a Thursday European Council summit vote refused to endorse a statement reaffirming the bloc’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Orbán government slammed the ‘pro-war’ stance of the EU, despite 26 out of 27 EU nations signing off on it.

While the statement had only largely symbolic significance, saying Europe backs the “continued and unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” – Orban described that this only prolongs the war and brings the conflict no closer to peaceful resolution.
AFP via Getty Images

“Once again, they wanted to adopt a common position in which we want to give Ukraine even more money and even more weapons, and we are committed to the war,” the Hungarian leader explained after the veto.

“Over the past three years, Hungarian families have lost around 2.5 million forints (approximately €6,268) per household as a result of the war. I must stop this, and we must not allow Hungarian families to continue to pay the economic consequences,” Orbán stated.

He urged European capitals to get in Trump’s corner, who is seeking a diplomatic solution. But here’s how The Associated Press and other outlets characterized Hungary’s stubborn refusal to go along with Brussels:

At the same time, Orbán is also emboldened by U.S. President Donald Trump, who is pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump has blamed Ukraine for Russia’s unprovoked invasion, all while accusing Kyiv of unnecessarily prolonging the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Orban described further in an interview with regional media…

“There is one way to achieve this: if we get Europe to support the president of the United States in his peace efforts, instead of embarking on war adventures, and then there will be peace. This debate took place, but we were unable to convince each other.”

He continued, “I vetoed the common position, and therefore the European Union has no common position. What will be made public here today is nothing more than the private position of 26 member states, not the common position of the European Union, because without Hungary such a position cannot be accepted.”

“The president of Ukraine is confused about his role, he is behaving as if he were in the European Union and therefore could afford to take a sharper tone when he cannot do so. He is an applicant who wants to join the European Union, about which opinions are divided,” Orbán remarked.

Parrel to all of this, NATO is seeking to ‘Trump-proof’ the alliance for the long-term, which reports of closed-door discussions on how to replace United States leadership in the alliance some five to ten years down the road, amid fears that Washington will retreat from leadership, and its majority financial and weapons support to NATO.

Tyler…

Clashing Visions: ‘Made In China 2025’ vs. ‘America First Investment’

Authored by Hamza Zaman via RealClearDefense,

China’s Two Sessions, conducted from March 5 to 11, highlighted China’s aim to enhance its global economic footprint. President Donald Trump also unveiled his ‘America First Investment Policy’ two weeks earlier to manifest his economic designs and counter ‘Made in China 2025’ policy endorsed in the Two Sessions. This competition between the two opposing policies is expected to catalyze the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, resulting in major implications for the global economy including the possibility of global recession.

In the Two sessions, China pledged to enhance its growth rate by expanding the advanced technological sector. As part of the ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy, China plans to become a global leader in smart manufacturing by focusing on advanced high-end technologies including biomanufacturing, quantum technology, Artificial Intelligence and 6G technology. The launch of DeepSeek underlines China’s advancements in the high-end technological sector. AliBaba’s announcement of USD 53 billion investment in cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in China also manifests its growing footprint in the supply chain of high-end technologies.

As an anticipatory and preemptive action against the Two Sessions’ resolutions, President Trump announced ‘America First Investment Policy’ on February 21 – merely two weeks before the Two Sessions. It stated multiple strategies aimed at enhancing foreign investment in the U.S., especially from allied countries. It also suggested new and expanded restrictions on the American outbound investment in China in high-end technologies, including semiconductors, AI, quantum, biotechnology and aerospace. This highlights the Trump administration’s resolve to counter the growing Chinese clout in advanced technologies.

However, this ambitious policy of President Trump is riddled with paradoxes, including the financial interests of American tech giants. Despite denunciation of the U.S. outbound investment in China, Elon Musk, President Trump’s closest ally in the election campaign and senior advisor to the President on government efficiency, is among the leading investors in China. This reveals the duality in President Trump’s approach, who is fixated on curtailing outbound investment in China while his closest aides continue being the biggest investors in the country. The ‘Gold Card’ Visa Program, President Trump’s attempt at increasing inbound investment, is also being predicted to elevate America’s housing prices. This implies that the focus of President Trump’s ‘America First Investment Policy’ is to compel investors into the U.S. by degrading the business environment in other states through exorbitant tariffs.

The competition between ‘America First Investment Policy’ and ‘Made in China 2025’ is anticipated to greatly impact the economies of the U.S. and China while influencing the global economic milieu. Speculations of another recession are looming in the American financial sector as tariffs and protectionist policies like ‘America First Investment Policy’ aggravate uncertainties among the investors and the masses. The Two Sessions aimed to attract foreign investors, especially in smart manufacturing. The Trump administration, however, might respond with even higher tariffs on Chinese smart manufacturing, compelling China to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S..

The recent enforcement of tariffs on…

Governance By 677 Gavels

Authored by Dave Carter via PJ Media,

Question: What’s the difference between a federal district judge and God?

Answer: God doesn’t think he’s a federal district judge. 

Or as Winston Churchill once said, “There, but for the grace of God, goes God.” Imagine the sheer hubris and limitless ego needed for an unelected jurist to don a black robe and assume the power of commandeering the national security apparatus and tell an aircraft full of dangerous foreign terrorists to turn around and return back to America to terrorize. Did Commissar Boasberg get his black robe from Hogwarts? 

Of course, there are a few problems with this, the first being purely logistical. If His Royal Awesomeness Commissar Boasberg is taking over the Venezuelan operation, that leaves the remaining 676 Commissars to split the remaining 194 countries into various principalities to accommodate their imperial administration. 

However, I did see that another federal district commissar is assuming operational oversight of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to prevent it from ending a $20 million grant program begun by former President Biden even as another federal district liege has assumed control of military readiness by blocking President Trump’s ban on transexuals serving in the military. Still another federal district overlord says that Trump’s dismantling of the corrupt money-laundering machine known as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is likely unconstitutional. History buffs will recall that the USAID clause is written in the Constitution next to the right to stick a fork in a baby’s head, which itself adjacent to the divine right of federal judges to appropriate the President’s Article II powers. 

The logistical challenge of what to do with 677 otherwise idle Federal District Commissars having been solved by dispersing them, like the witch’s flying monkeys, throughout the Executive Branch, leaves only one remaining problem. No one elected these judges. They are not answerable to the American people, whom they hold in less esteem than foreigners with a knack for assaulting and murdering the innocent. As Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller wrote: 

Currently, district court judges have assumed the mantle of Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security and Commander-in-Chief. Each day, they change foreign policy, economic staffing and national security policies of the Administration. The day the nation arises to see what the craziest unelected local federal judge has decided the policies of the government of the United States shall be. It is madness. It is lunacy. It is the gravest assault on democracy. It must and will end.

In his book, “The Devil’s Dictionary,” Ambrose Bierce defines law as “Compatible with the will of a judge having jurisdiction,” and he defines a lawyer as “One who is skilled in circumvention of the law.” That last little bit was conclusively demonstrated to me a few days ago when a lawyer acquaintance of mine wrote on social media that “[I]n 1798 Congress enacted the Alien Enemies Act, which specifically provides that when war is declared, the President can…

The Greatest Threat To Our Republic Will Always Come From Within

Authored by Thomas W. Smith via RealClearPolitics,

For most of the past six decades, the United States has been facing the threat of implosion from a growing federal budget deficit. Today, that threat is no longer lurking. It is here. The annual federal budget deficit has left Americans saddled with unimaginable debt. It has increased more than sixfold in the last 20 years. Today it is on steroids. This year, interest on the federal debt will be approximately $1.1 trillion. By comparison, our annual defense budget is $850 billion. 

Think of the exciting opportunities Republicans had when they narrowly captured control of the House of Representatives in 2022. Unfortunately, even before they were sworn in, the House leadership called for a secret vote on how to spend taxpayer dollars. By a vote of 158-2, they brought back to life earmarks that had been put to bed under Speaker John Boehner in 2011. Earmarks are special appropriations tailored to member’s pet projects. Historically, they were known as “pork-barrel” spending.

After a secret vote, those 158 GOP members enabled a system in which 7,500 pork-barrel projects were enacted at a cost to the taxpayers of $16 billion. It was not only – or even primarily – liberal “tax and spend” Democrats pigging out. Fifty of the largest earmarkers in the House were Republicans. In the Senate, eight of the 12 largest offenders were Republicans. Nor was it only established Republicans. Some of the largest MAGA voices were busy pushing earmarks. They include Florida representatives Matt Gaetz (who requested over $1 billion) and Brian Mast (who received some $437 million).

In the second year, the top seven earmarking specialists in the Senate were Republicans, for a grand total of $2.3 billion. In the last two years, highlights of congressional pork included the following:

Sen. Susan Collins earmarked $870 million for her own state, Maine (population 1.4 million). Those projects included “an outdoor heating facility” and “space education simulators.” 
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski earmarked $851.1 million, including a “whale abundance survey” and a “crab enhancement project.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky requested 26 earmarks totaling $640.9 million.
A total of 31 members earmarked taxpayer dollars for universities they attended. 
Another four lawmakers set aside taxpayer dollars for companies where their wives worked. 
Actions speak louder than words. These GOP earmark enthusiasts have made a clear statement –they are totally comfortable with the exploding federal debt. Yes, it is true that many Democrats pushed earmarks. But it is also true that the Democratic Party did not bring back earmarks when they controlled the House. Those 158 GOP members did. And they far outspent the Democrats.

What those GOP House members and senators failed to realize is that the world has changed dramatically since Speaker Boehner left Washington. 

A decade or so ago, The Economist pointed out that Big Data would change social science like the microscope changed medicine. That was a prophetic observation. Government is a social science. The combination of Big Data and the cloud is bringing a massive change to every aspect of our lives, including how…

These Are The World’s Fastest-Growing Economies In 2025

Which economies are set to grow the fastest?

Using the latest IMF projections, this infographic, via Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu, ranks the fastest growing economies in 2025, highlighting Africa and Asia as the top regions.

Oil Powering Economic Growth

The top economies in this ranking are heavily tied to the oil sector, meaning fluctuations in production can have a drastic effect on GDP.

See below for the raw data behind this graphic.

Let’s take a closer look at the top two.

South Sudan (+27.2%)

South Sudan’s GDP has fluctuated up and down in recent years due to an ongoing civil war that has thrown its population into extreme poverty.

As a landlocked country, South Sudan also relies on pipelines that run through its northern neighbor, Sudan, to transport its oil to the Red Sea.

In 2024, South Sudan’s most important pipeline ruptured, putting massive strain on government revenue. Repairing the pipeline is difficult because parts of it lie in active conflict zones.

According to Bloomberg, South Sudan has been seeking alternative routes to export its oil, as well as cash bailouts from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to stay afloat.

Guyana (+14.4%)

Guyana is the only South American country featured in this ranking. It was once one of the poorest countries in the region until major oil deposits were discovered off its coasts in May 2015.

According to a 2023 article from the Associated Press, oil production in Guyana began in December 2019 and has generated over a billion dollars in revenue.

The Guyanese government is using this money to fund a massive infrastructure boom which includes new hospitals, schools, highways, and its first deep-water port.

Analysts expect the country’s total oil revenues will reach $157 billion by 2040.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out this graphic showing the richest countries in Latin and South America.

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Fri, 03/21/2025 – 23:00…

European Leaders Start Drafting 5-10 Year Plan To Replace US In NATO

In the ultimate act of seeking to ‘Trump-proof’ the NATO alliance, even well into the future, Europe’s largest military powers are now drawing up plans to keep the alliance strong in case of a US exit from leadership over the next five to ten years.

Informal discussions have involved the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Nordic countries, who are envisioning a managed transfer of power and leadership reshaping the NATO bloc.

Financial Times writes that “The discussions are an attempt to avoid the chaos of a unilateral US withdrawal from Nato, a fear sparked by President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to weaken or walk away from the transatlantic alliance that has protected Europe for almost eight decades.”
Getty Images

Concern has grown in European quarters not only due to the White House’s Ukraine policies, but given that close Trump adviser Elon Musk had this to say earlier this month:

Billionaire Elon Musk threw his weight behind a US exit from NATO, saying on his social media platform that it “doesn’t make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe.” 

The senior adviser to US President Donald Trump was responding to a post on X early Sunday that asserted the US should “Exit NATO *now*!” 

“We really should,” the Tesla Inc. co-founder and chief executive officer said. On March 3, Musk wrote on X he agreed with a suggestion by a conservative commentator that the US should leave both NATO and the United Nations. 

And this sentiment was quickly seconded by some Republicans in Congress. Rep. Thomas Massie said on X that “NATO is a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian.”

And Utah Rep. Mike Lee as well…

NEW: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has issued a statement on what would happen if U.S. withdraws from NATO.
“If the U.S. withdrew from NATO, Europe would have to fund more of its own security needs—forcing it to choose between security and socialism.”
pic.twitter.com/0ySUc9f9Xg
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 7, 2025
One central irony in these new discussions among European NATO countries is that they plan to do what Trump has been pressuring them to do all along – ramp up defense spending and stop forcing Washington to shoulder most of the burden.

According to the Thursday report in FT:

The proposal would include firm commitments on increasing European defense spending and building up military capabilities, in an effort to convince Trump to agree to a gradual handover that would allow the US to focus more on Asia. The US, which spends more on defense than all other Nato allies combined, is indispensable to European security.

In addition to its nuclear deterrent, which is committed to the defense of Europe with several European air forces carrying US nuclear weapons, it provides military capabilities that continental allies do not possess, runs air, naval and troop bases and has 80,000 troops stationed in Europe.

Recently France’s Macron has floated the possibility of extending France’s nuclear deterrent over the continent. France remains the only EU…

Energy CEOs Ask Canadian Party Leaders To Declare ‘Energy Crisis’, Reduce Oil And Gas Regulations

Authored by Matthew Horwood via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A group of 14 energy CEOs have written a letter to all major federal parties urging them to declare an “energy crisis” in Canada and use emergency powers to relax regulations within the industry and increase production levels.
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce is warning the federal government that its proposed cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector could compromise the valuation of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Workers position pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The CEOs, who represent the 10 largest oil and gas companies and four largest pipeline companies in Canada, suggest several measures to support oil and natural gas investment and “remove the barriers we have imposed on ourselves over time.”

“By declaring a Canadian energy crisis and key projects in the ‘national interest’ the federal government will be able to use all its available emergency powers to ensure that the dramatic regulatory restructuring required to expand the oil and natural gas sector is rapidly achieved,” they said in the March 19 letter.

The letter was addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.

The CEOs are calling for regulatory simplification by revising or abolishing the Impact Assessment Act and oil tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast, which they said are “impeding development.” They are also requesting a reduction in regulatory timelines to allow approval of major projects within six months of application, as well as the provision of loan guarantees for indigenous communities to ensure they benefit from the development.

The letter also calls for Ottawa’s emissions cap for the sector to be eliminated. The Liberal government announced a cap-and-trade scheme in 2023 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, which the Alberta government has opposed.

Additionally, the letter calls for the carbon tax to be repealed to allow provincial governments to “set more suitable carbon regulations.”

Carney announced on March 15 the consumer carbon tax had been reduced to zero, and has planned to replace it with a system rewarding Canadians for making greener choices while making “big polluters” in industry pay for the system.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his government would remove the carbon tax for both consumers and industrial emitters, including the federal backstop that requires provinces to impose industrial taxes.

The CEOs said in the letter there is “increasing public support” for building new energy infrastructure such as oil and natural gas pipelines and liquid natural gas terminals, amid U.S. tariff threats.

Tariffs imposed by the United States have prompted initiatives in Canada to seek alternatives to lessen its reliance on the United States, which includes boosting interprovincial trade and expanding its trade relationships with countries in Asia and Europe. Energy has emerged as a concern because 97 percent of the country’s crude oil exports are transported to the U.S.,…

Escobar: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall… From The West Down To The East

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

Let’s start with that phone call. The Kremlin readout is quite sober – but it does reveal a few nuggets. There is no comprehensive deal – yet – between Moscow and Washington. Far from it: we are just in the initial tentative stage of talking and talking about several interconnected dossiers.

President Putin gave absolutely nothing away. The agreed-upon pause on attacks on energy infrastructure – not energy and (italics mine) infrastructure – spells out as Putin imposing a stop on dangerous Ukrainian hits on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

That may be lost among all the Western hysteria; but there are two absolute conditions expressed by Moscow for anything in this riddle to start complying with objective reality – and not muddle along as a reality show narrative trainwreck:

1.“The settlement in Ukraine must take into account the unconditional need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, Russia’s legitimate security interests.”

2.“The key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict should be a complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kiev.”

US special envoy Witkoff is spinning that ceasefire “details” will be ironed out on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. No matter the amount of shrieking, Kiev will have to accept it.

Putin-Trump did not spend over 2 hours just talking hockey, hazy Black Sea navigation prospects and a quite limited energy infrastructure missile strike one-month pause.

In this incandescent juncture, what matters is off the record. And that might as well have been Iran. And the prospect of serious Hard Rain fallin’.

I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forestsI’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceansI’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard

A certain psychopathological entity in West Asia is obsessed to ram all its opponents through the mouth of a graveyard. Putin must have had the chance to explain to Trump that Russia respects the UN Charter and abides by international law. Russia and Iran – top BRICS members – signed a comprehensive strategic partnership last January in Moscow. Russia provides detailed ISR/air defense/EW intel to Tehran.

A proverbially hysterical narrative now imprints the notion that Tel Aviv – courting Trump 2.0 backing – is ready to inflict airstrikes on Iran to “prevent it from going nuclear”. Tehran, as detailed by Ayatollah Khamenei, has no interest whatsoever in building a nuclear weapon.

There’s no way Russia will allow Israel – with crucial American backing – to wreak havoc on Iran. Even as Tehran is already capable to react to any attack, with devastating consequences. Without nuclear weapons – and even without Russian direct help.

Operation True Promise 2 – True Promise 3 is still on hold – had already demonstrated that Israel is absolutely defenseless against wave after wave of sophisticated Iranian missiles. Were the US under Trump 2.0 to be involved in a direct attack, all US military bases in West Asia would be incinerated, plus severe punishment to vassals hosting these bases. End result: oil…