Eurasia

The recent Turkish-Greek row over Twitter might be a taste of things to come Rising tensions between Greece and Turkey over a simple goodwill tweet indicates how alarmingly volatile the relations between two NATO allies are becoming. Allegations that Greece’s Russian-made S-300 air defense batteries locked on Turkish jet fighters …

A multinational naval exercise focused on crisis response started this week in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, bringing warships from 12 NATO countries into an area with a sizable Russian naval presence. The Dynamic Mariner exercise led by NATO Allied Maritime Command, or MARCOM, began Sunday near Turkey’s Aksaz Naval Base …

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday that Athens would try to keep communication channels with Ankara open despite recent “unacceptable” comments from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan accused Greece of occupying demilitarised islands in the Aegean Sea and saying Turkey was ready to “do what is necessary” when …

Lebanon’s central bank said it has entirely ceased providing dollars for gasoline imports in a move that will likely lead to higher and more volatile prices as well as increased pressure on the local currency which has been steadily losing value. Although the central bank had said last year it …

On August 20, two Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested in Albania as they tried to enter a defunct military factory in the city of Gramsci. According to Albanian authorities, the detainees were trying to film the factory, and one of them, Mikhail Zorin, sprayed a “nerve-paralytic” substance in a …

While Greece shares some demographic characteristics with richer Western European countries, it is also converging in terms of its worst problems with the Balkans. Shrinking, ageing, emigrating: Greece’s demographic woes get worse by the year and its leaders are painfully aware of them. They are a “ticking time bomb,” said …

In his just-completed role as head of the Israeli military’s Home Front command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin was in charge of bolstering a network of early-warning systems and shelters in case of rocket attacks. It may have been the ideal preparation for his new assignment. Gordin is set to soon …

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said two of their fighters were killed and six jihadists arrested Thursday following clashes in a volatile Syria camp where a security operation is underway. “Two of our fighters have succumbed to their wounds following clashes” with Islamic State group militants in the Al-Hol camp …

Iraq came close to civil war but stepped back from the brink last week. On Aug. 29, street fighting erupted between followers of Iraqi Shi’a cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr and those of the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework (CF), after Sadr announced his “final withdrawal” from politics and the closure …

The Official SANA News Agency reported a new Israeli strike on the Aleppo International Airport Tuesday night. SANA said that “the Israeli enemy carried out on Tuesday a missile aggression that targeted Aleppo international airport.” The attacks came from the direction of the Mediterranean to the West of Lattakia, according …