Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: On "Quiet" Sunday, 78 People Are Killed

2240 GMT: Syria. The LCC has posted an EXTREMELY GRAPHIC video, reportedly showing 13 bodies "massacred," shot in the head in Bahdalieh, a suburb south of Damascus (map).

We cannot verify the video, except to say that, with graphic closeups of the brains shot over the pavement, it looks real. The hands of the bodies appear to be bound, and all the bodies (men) were wearing civilian clothing. At one point a man holds a sign that reads today's date.

The only problem - a different video, which sounds like it was taken by teenagers, was posted two days ago, and shows only five bodies. Here is the description:

GRAPHIC - Five more Syrian Sunni Arab victims of Assad's reign of terror in Damascus: Al-Bahdalieh, Nov 17th, '12 (Graphic)

Five males are found on waste ground in Al-Bahdalieh, having been stopped by an Alawite gang.

There are commonalities between the two videos. The video shot on the 17th appears to show the men to the far left of the frame (note the shirt colors and the red bag near the bodies - at the 23 second mark in the liveleaks video and the 51 second mark of the Youtube video). The Youtube video explains that the 8 new bodies (on the right) were in addition to the ones on the left, which were old:

Published on Nov 19, 2012 - Eight bodies were executed on the ground by firing squad in the Bahdalieh added to a group of bodies that are found almost daily in the region...

Click to read more ...

Turkey Live Coverage (6 June): Erdogan Chides Israel; A Meeting on the Kurdish Issue

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Spread of the Conflict

---

1900 GMT: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has landed in Istanbul. Clinton is going to be attending the Global Counter-terrorism Forum on Thursday with the attendance of other 28 foreign ministers.

1830 GMT: BDP's deputy Aysel Tugluk said:

Prime Minister should know that no solution can be developed by denying PKK and Mr. Ocalan and we will not be in such a solution. We are calling on the state to be more reasonable.

1745 GMT: The first reaction from Peace and Democracy Party comes. BDP's deputy Ahmet Tan said that they were ready to negotiate even without the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Tan also added that they received no official demand from other parties to sit on the table. 

1710 GMT: The meeting between Prime Minister Erdogan and CHP's leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu ended. Without explaining the content, CHP Deputy Chairmen Faruk Loğoğlu said the meeting was “positive” and “productive,” adding that officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) underlined that the contribution of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is key to moving forward with establishing a commission composed of all four parties in Parliament.

Click to read more ...

Turkey Latest: "State Crisis" as Nation's Top Military Officers Resign (Hurriyet)

Turkey’s military command echelon resigned late Friday from their posts amid an ongoing spat with the government over the growing number of arrested generals. The mass resignations, which marked a first in the country’s history, immediately caused a state crisis.

Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner, Land Forces Commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoğlu, Air Forces Commander Gen. Hasan Aksay and Naval Forces Commander Adm. Eşref Uğur Yiğit quit their posts days before the Supreme Military Council, or YAŞ, was supposed to meet to discuss key military promotions. Koşaner had another two years left in the office.

Gendarmerie Forces Commander Necdet Özel did not resign.

The resignations came hours after a prosecutor demanded the arrest of a top military official, Gen. Hüseyin Nusret Taşdeler, the commander of the Aegean Army. Sources said disagreements over promotions and the arrests of numerous generals peaked to an unacceptable level following the legal action against Taşdeler.

Tensions between the military and the government have been high in recent years as hundreds of high-ranking officers were put behind bars in the ongoing “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) and Ergenekon coup-plot cases.

Click to read more ...