Eurasia

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara said it will “retaliate” for the sanctions on four top officials of Turkey’s defense procurement agency. The Trump administration on Monday unveiled limited sanctions on Turkey in response to the NATO ally’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system last year.

Iran is stirring up a diplomatic quarrel over a poem recited by Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his recent visit to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Tensions between Turkey and its historic regional frenemy Iran are rising over Azerbaijan, the arrests of several Turkish citizens accused of links to an Iranian drug baron …

The Nour al-Din al-Zenki movement and militants from eastern Ghouta have engaged in armed clashes, after the al-Zenki movement demanded that a man leave his home reports Baladi News. At least one person was killed and others were wounded on Sunday as a result of clashes involving light and medium …

The man arrested is suspected of transferring intelligence on sea operations to the second man, who worked at the Turkish consulate in Rhodes. Two men from Rhodes were arrested Saturday night, accused of being Turkish spies, as reported by Ynet and AFP.

Ankara hopes to play ‘good cop’ for incoming Biden administration. After a year of invasions, attacks, aggression, ethnic-cleansing, using Syrian refugees as mercenaries, buying Russian defense technology and working with Iran to oppose the US role in Syria, Turkey’s regime is trying to change its tune to sabotage Israel’s growing …

The report named Maj.-Gen. Ramadan Ramadan as incoming commander of the 1st Corps, replacing Lua’a Ali Ahmad Asa’ad. The Syrian Arab Army has made changes to the leadership of the 1st Corps and its operations center in the southern part of the country, following threats to its leadership by the …

Netanyahu visited Oman in 2018 and met with then-leader Sultan Qaboos, Rabin visited Indonesia in 1993. Oman and Indonesia could be next in line to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in the coming weeks, a diplomatic source said Sunday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi to visit China next year when they met in Tokyo last month, diplomatic sources said.

On December 4, President Trump announced the withdrawal of the majority of the 700 troops currently stationed in Somalia. Subsequently, just this week, the Pentagon informed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that it planned to end support to the agency’s counterterrorism missions in early 2021.