Middle Orient

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said Turkey’s relations with Kurds living in neighboring countries are not a threat and added that taboos regarding ties with Kurds should be broken. Davutoğlu’s comments came as he was on his way back to Turkey from a two-day-visit to Iraq on Monday

The United States welcomes the Syrian Coalition’s decision to participate in the Geneva II conference, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday night. “This is a significant step forward in the process to convene the Geneva conference, the goal of which is the full implementation of the Geneva

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on Tuesday as part of their ongoing discussions on shared security interests, including Iran, Afghanistan and Syria, the White House announced.

Turkey has asked NATO to extend for another year the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria because of a continuing “serious” threat, officials said on Wednesday. “We have received a letter from the Turkish government requesting the continuation of the Patriot mission,” a NATO official said.

Activists say clashes have flared up between Syrian troops and rebels on the southern outskirts of Damascus as part of a weeks-long government push to advance on opposition-held areas.

The Syrian National Coalition ( SNC), the main opposition group based in Istanbul, said on Monday that it agreed to join the Geneva II conference preconcondition that President Bashar al-

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the United Arab Emirates Sunday to brief the US ally on talks with Iran on its nuclear programme and efforts to hold Syria peace talks. He flew in from Geneva where three days of marathon talks which stretched into early Sunday failed to produce an

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Friday renewed his call upon the international community to help his country to cope with the huge influx of the Syrian refugees. “The international community must assume its responsibilities towards Lebanon because it is suffering more than any other neighbors from the flow …

Turkey and Iraq pledged greater co-operation on trade and counter-terrorism while admitting to disagreements over Syria’s war during a landmark visit to Baghdad by the Turkish foreign minister on Sunday. “I saw a strong willingness to improve relations between our countries,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a joint …

France’s foreign minister said on Monday he was hopeful a deal could be reached with Iran over its nuclear programme, although Tehran still had to make an effort on a few points. “We are not far from an agreement with the Iranians, but we are not there yet,” Laurent Fabius said. Some diplomats accused France of grandstanding during …