Referendum Result Sets Up Authoritarian Rule in Turkey

An economic slump is behind Erdoğan’s power grab, but democracy and unity will be its first victims, writes Asad Ismi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed a narrow victory (51.3%) in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reform amid charges of widespread electoral fraud by his opponents. The vote allows Erdoğan and his conservative, neoliberal and moderately […]

There is a Way to Control Arms Exports, But Does Canada Have the Will?

The Trudeau government has significantly undermined its stated commitment to human rights by going ahead with a $15-billion sale of light armoured vehicles (LAVs—combat transports that can be armed with lethal high-calibre weapons) to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi regime’s vicious repression of its own population is well documented by human rights groups, and a two-year […]

CIA Torture Program Exposed: More Than a 100 Detainees “Rendered” by U.S. With Help from Allies Including Canada

By Asad Ismi With the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal continuing to make news, another secretive U.S. agency is now the subject of its own public humiliation. In early April, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) voted to partially declassify a 6,600-page report on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) treatment of “terror suspects” during the […]

The Iraq War’s Dark Legacy: Iraqis Who Survived U.S. Genocide Still Poor and Oppressed

By Asad Ismi On the 11th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (launched in March 2003), it is important to emphasize the true motives for this attack and occupation and its horrendously destructive impact that continues today. Both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars stem from the needs of U.S. and Western capitalism for resources […]