Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Tuesday, 03 September 2024.
- TURKISH YOUTH GROUP ATTACKS U.S. MARINES: Fifteen members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) attacked two U.S. Marines from the USS Wasp while they were on liberty in Izmir. Several other Marines saw the attack and intervened, preventing injury to the victims.
- Local police detained all 15 attackers and opened an investigation.
- The TGB posted a video to their social media taking credit and saying, “The U.S. military who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands cannot soil our country. Every time you set foot on this land, you will get what you deserve.”
- Global Rollup
- Turkey formally applied to join BRICS over the weekend. (Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously expressed interest in joining BRICS and announced an intent to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July. – J.V.)
- Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Poland has an obligation to destroy Russian missiles in Ukraine that are “on course of entering our airspace” on the grounds that debris could injure Polish citizens.
- Taiwan announced a new Parliamentary committee called the “All-out Defense Committee” to develop a whole-of-nation disaster response to prepare for a Chinese attack and natural disasters.
- China’s Coast Guard rammed the Philippine Coast Guard cutter anchored at Sabina Shoal three times over the weekend. The Chinese had two Coast Guard tug boats on standby to tow the Philippine cutter.
- The Japanese Liberal Democratic Party will disband ahead of their party’s presidential election this month. Fumio Kishida leaves the Prime Minister’s office this month with no clear replacement.
- Australia will host a 2+2 meeting with Japan (Foreign and Defense Ministers) later this week. Japan intends to offer an export version of their Mogami-class frigate to the Australians. (The Japanese currently produce two Mogami frigates per year and could likely deliver the first vessel to Australia within a year of the order. – J.V.)
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.