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As Turkey’s economic and security situations continue to deteriorate, Turkish President Erdogan continues to concentrate ever more power in his hands.

As Obama finally departs from the scene, this seems as good a moment as any to assess his Presidency.
In my opinion it has been a disastrous Presidency, which has hugely deepened divisions in America – a fact which more than any other explains the exaggerated reaction to his successor – and which has brought international relations to its most dangerous point of crisis since the end of the Second World War.

Observing Russian practice, Russian President Putin has been careful to avoid making any personal comments about Barack Obama, now no longer President of the United States.
I would add that it is a courtesy that was not reciprocated.  Obama on occasion personally, and his officials frequently – including especially Vice-President Biden – spoke of Putin, and did so in the most offensive terms.

As delegations – including one from Turkey – gather in Astana to discuss a peace settlement of Syria’s ongoing conflict, comes bitter news which may in part explain Turkey’s change of positions in seeking a peaceful settlement of the Syrian war.

The Russians are playing down speculation of an early summit meeting between Russian President Putin and US President Trump.
President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov is reported to have told the BBC that a meeting is months away, and that preparations for it have not even begun.  Supposedly, they cannot begin until after Putin has telephoned Trump to congratulate him on becoming US President.
This is what RT reports Peskov as having said in part

With the position of the Syrian forces besieged in the desert town of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria remaining extremely precarious – latest reports suggest they were forced to surrender hard-won gains they made there against ISIS yesterday – the Russians have brought the full weight of their air force to bear, striking at ISIS positions near Deir Ezzor with 6 TU22M3 bombers.

The Russians have taken their first practical step to challenge the previously undisputed authority of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) on Russian legal decisions.

Three days ago, The Duran contributor Andrew Korybko wrote an excellent piece focusing on the latest round of Cypriot reunification talks, which seek to resolve the island’s near 43 year division.
To get a better understanding for what’s at stake we highly recommend reading Andrew’s post linked here.

Julian Assange has clarified his remarks stating that he would accept extradition to the US in the event of Bradley/Chelsea Manning receiving clemency from former President Obama.
As I predicted when the story broke, Manning’s eventual freedom (May of this year) will begin a negotiating process between Julian Assange’s lawyers at President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, who will hopefully be more sympathetic to Assange than Obama’s people who more or less wanted Assange dead one way or another.
Hillary Clinton stated that she sought to execute Assange with a drone.

Inauguration speeches are supposed to be about how perfect America is.
Inauguration speeches are also supposed to be about how American can be even more perfect under the leadership of the new President.
Inauguration speeches are supposed to be pompous, vague and full of platitudes.