Middle Orient

I recall vividly the latest NATO Summit that took place in Vilnius and was given a lot of coverage on the Russian TV. As a result of digesting daily news I can instantly visualise a huge gathering of Western politicians, military officials and diplomats. Within that sizable assemblage one could …

I visited the capital city of Syria, Damascus, for the fifth time in 1994, alongside Jeff Green, the British General Manager of the American-Turkish joint venture company I was working for. There was a need for a new water-tube steam boiler by the Syrian public oil refineries. The United States …

In the lead-up to his toughest election battle in two decades, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not hesitate to bash Western allies and principles, seeking to bolster support from conservative and nationalist voters and distract them from his dismal economic record in recent years. Erdogan campaigned against rights for …

Thanks to the appeasement policies of the Biden and Obama Administrations, the ruling mullahs of Iran, called by the US State Department the top state sponsor of terrorism, have now also emerged as a major arms exporter. Moreover, coupled with imminent nuclear bombs, they appear determined to ramp up their …

The growing importance of Iran for the Russian Federation and the shift in relative power between the two countries has been highlighted by a remarkable set of exchanges between Tehran and Moscow over the past week. On July 12, Moscow signed on to a declaration by the Arab Gulf states …

Chinese leader Xi Jinping clearly aspires to establish a new global economic order centered around Beijing, not Washington. However, a new global economic order cannot be built in a day. The immensity of this challenge has forced Xi to set his sights on a set of interim goals. These include …

Analysis: The maritime objectives of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have played a key role in determining the war’s direction, with control over Yemen’s ports a major driver of the military and diplomatic strategies of all sides involved in the conflict. Despite fighting side by side in Yemen, the United …

Since the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Ankara has been drawn ever deeper into the crisis. Its approach will likely hold steady for now. But the choices it makes next matter for the fate of millions of Syrians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s re-election has allayed fears among many Syrians …

The European Union said on Thursday it had established a “new framework for restrictive measures” in view of Iran’s military support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and of Syria’s regime. This new framework prohibits the export from the European Union to Iran of components used in the construction …

Turkey’s two key appointments are new foreign minister and former intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan; and the newly-appointed intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalın, also an Erdoğan confidant. Both men have interesting and impressive careers. How both of them have become the only two people who make policy and share power with Erdoğan …