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In this mailing:
* Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Hamas Supports Erdogan's War
* Burak Bekdil: Turkey's New 'Bashibazouks': The Free Syrian Army
* Luis Petri: Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group


** Why Hamas Supports Erdogan's War ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • October 22, 2019 at 5:00 am
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* If, according to Hamas, Turkey has the right to protect its border, why does Israel not have the same right?
* Hamas's support for Erdogan's war on the Kurds seems to be in the context of its attempt to persuade the Turkish authorities to allow its members to continue using Turkey as a base for masterminding terrorist attacks against Israel.
* As Hamas said in its statement, it is opposed to "US and Israeli presence in the region." Hamas seems to be happy that the US abandoned the Kurds and left northern Syria. Hamas does not want the US to play any political or military role in the region....
* It now remains to be seen how Erdogan will reward Hamas for supporting his war on the Kurds. Hamas, meanwhile, is holding its breath, hoping that Turkey will embrace the group and facilitate its fight against Israel.

Hamas, the terror group ruling the Gaza Strip, is the only Palestinian party that has come out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's war on the Kurds in Syria. Pictured: Erdogan at a rally in support of Hamas, on May 18, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Getty Images)

Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terror group ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, is the only Palestinian party that has come out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's war on the Kurds in Syria.

A statement issued by Hamas on October 14 said that the terror group "understands Turkey's right to protect its border, defend itself and remove threats harmful to its national security against the tampering of the Zionist Mossad in the region, as part of [Israel's] effort to undermine Arab and Islamic national security."

Hamas also praised Erdogan for his "support for the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people" and expressed opposition to "the Zionist and US presence in the region."

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** Turkey's New 'Bashibazouks': The Free Syrian Army ([link removed])
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by Burak Bekdil • October 22, 2019 at 4:30 am
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* "In the outskirts of Aleppo, the FSA [Free Syrian Army] has implemented a Sharia law enforcement police force that is a replica of the Wahhabi police in Saudi Arabia — forcing ordinary citizens to abide by the Sharia code..." — HuffPost, December 31, 2012.
* Trained and funded by Turkey since 2016 and with a reputation for violence and looting, the fighters of the Syrian National Army (SNA, formerly the Free Syrian Army) resemble very much the Ottoman bashibazouks.
* "Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute who has interviewed dozens of the fighters and said they appear to be driven by a desire for power and money rather than by any specific ideology... 'Hatred of Kurds, a sense of Arab chauvinism, complete intolerance for any dissent, and just a desire to make a profit is what's driving most of the abuses.'" — Associated Press, October 15, 2019.
* During Turkey's most recent, ongoing, military incursion into Syria, launched on October 9, SNA militias captured a major highway that runs across northern Syria. According to Associated Press, "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the Turkey-backed fighters shot and killed six civilians along the road, including Hevreen Khalaf, a woman who led a Kurdish political party."

Turkey's principal armed allies in the Syrian war theater, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which recently reflagged itself as the Syrian National Army (SNA), is a grouping of various factions of jihadists posing as a "liberation force." Pictured: FSA gunmen on October 19, 2019 in Akcakale, Turkey, near the border with Syria. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Bashibazouks ("corrupted heads" in Turkish) first appeared in the Ottoman army at the end of the 18^th century and fought in Egypt against Napoleon's army. These irregular mercenary soldiers, often made up of homeless beggars and thugs, were notorious for their lack of discipline, plundering and brutality. During the Crimean War (1853-1856) the allied generals made futile attempts to discipline them. The bashibazouks' excesses during the Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-78 finally forced the Istanbul government to abandon using them.

More than two centuries after their Ottoman ancestors had used bashibazouks, the Turks found their Arab reincarnation in Syria.

Turkey's principal armed allies in the Syrian war theater, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which recently reflagged itself as the Syrian National Army (SNA), is a grouping of various factions of jihadists posing as a "liberation force." According to a December 31, 2012 article in HuffPost:

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** Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group ([link removed])
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by Luis Petri • October 22, 2019 at 4:00 am
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* This past July... President Macri published Argentina's first public registry (RePET) of those tied to terrorism. He made a clear commitment to the fight against international terrorism. The public registry is a historical landmark containing over 1,000 entries of individuals and entities tied to terrorism in Argentina, including Hezbollah.
* The registry will function under the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of Security and our Financial Intelligence Unit or UIF-AR will have the power to designate terror groups by requesting to freeze the assets of known terrorist actors. This whole-of-government approach ensures that the country can use a variety of tools when targeting terrorists.
* Previously, the only people in Argentina labeled as terrorists were those considered terrorists by the U.N. Security Council. This [new] registry works to target all terrorist organizations in the international arena, as well as persons or entities under investigation in Argentina.

Argentine Congressman Luis Petri (center) presenting about Argentina's new anti-terrorism public registry at an event organized by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) on July 25, 2019, at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C.

The following is an edited and translated transcript of a speech given by Argentine Congressman Luis Petri on July 25, 2019 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. during an event hosted by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) in commemoration of the 25^th anniversary of the AMIA attack in Argentina. This speech has been slightly modified and reorganized for clarity by the editors, with the approval from Congressman Petri.

There is a before and after when you consider the effects of September 11^th in the world. But in Argentina, this "before and after" began a lot earlier. In 1992, the Embassy of Israel was bombed [in Buenos Aires], followed two years later [on July 18, 1994] by one of the worst terrorist attacks in Argentina against the AMIA Jewish community center, and causing 85 casualties and wounded many more.

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