Middle Orient

As Washington completes a round of airstrikes on the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria, U.S President Barack Obama on Wednesday garnered more support for the coalition at the United Nations. On Monday, PTI quoted U.S. officials as saying that Mr. Obama will ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to …

Turkey is ready to support the US-led coalition efforts to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) both militarily and politically, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying on Tuesday. After securing the safe return on Saturday of 46 Turkish citizens who were kidnapped by ISIL …

Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday met with a delegation of prominent Syrian women human-rights and peace activists on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, the State Department announced. “He stressed the U.S. governmentآ’s strong support for Syrian civil society and human rights defenders, who, …

The United States expects Turkey to step up in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group now that Turkey has secured the release of 49 hostages held by the militants, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday.

Some 130,000 Kurdish refugees fleeing Islamic militants have crossed the border from Syria into Turkey in the past four days, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said today as fighting raged close to Turkey’s southern border. The minister, Numan Kurtulmus, warned that Turkey was facing “a refugee wave that can be expressed …

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday indicated that French airstrikes against ISIL extremists in support of Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces would take place in “a short time-frame” but would be limited to Iraqi territory. “Reconnaissance flights have already taken place as of Monday. Others took place today from our …

Jihadists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) using heavy weapons have seized a string of villages around Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, as they close in on Syria’s third largest Kurdish town, a monitor said Sept. 18. “ISIL fighters have seized at least 21 villages …

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met here Tuesday with his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, to discuss a variety of issues topped by the need to combat Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) radicals, a necessity agreed by 24 countries at the Iraq conference held in Paris on Monday, …

US warplanes carried out their first air strike on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)near Baghdad, as world diplomats pledged Monday to support Iraq in its fight against the militants. The United States early last month began air strikes against ISIL positions in northern Iraq, but Monday’s …

Turkey could establish a buffer zone to defend its borders with Iraq and Syria from Islamic State (IS) militants, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. After a trip to Qatar Erdogan told journalists the Turkish army is now developing the plan which will have to be inspected by the government, according to the Daily Sabah.