Two French nationals that were imprisoned in Iran have been released on humanitarian grounds, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday. In a statement on Friday, Nasser Kanaani confirmed reports on the release of two French citizens from prison in Iran. He said the two French citizens, …
Read More »Jerusalem In Islamic Jihad Crosshairs As Gaza Fighting Continues
Fighting between the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad and Israeli forces continued for a fourth day on Friday, with no signs of an imminent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. For the first time since the start of the current round of fighting, Islamic Jihad fired shells toward Jerusalem. They were …
Read More »Kemalism Vs Kemalism In Turkish Elections – OpEd
Turkish presidential election Sunday goes down to the wires From a geopolitical perspective, the Turkish presidential election on Sunday may appear to be one of the most crucial non-violent political events of this year. But appearances can be deceptive in Turkish politics. In the surcharged polarisation of “West versus Rest” …
Read More »Middle Eastern Rivalries Are Alive And Kicking Despite De-Escalation – Analysis
Middle Eastern battlegrounds are alive and kicking even though rivals seek to balance contentious relations. Take efforts by the United Arab Emirates, and more recently Saudi Arabia, to bring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in from the cold in a bid to drive a wedge between Syria and Iran and address …
Read More »What Assad’s Future Means for Justice and the West
The Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria rewards brutality and betrays victims. It also confirms the marginalization of the United States and the irrelevance of Europe in the region. A collection of Arab countries grouped in the Arab League has brought President Bashar al-Assad back into its fold. The twenty-two-member-strong …
Read More »Egypt-Turkey normalization: Ankara’s perspective
On March 18, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mavlut Cavusoglu paid the first visit of its kind to Cairo in a decade. This move reciprocates a recent visit by his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukri, to the Turkish city of Mersin on February 27, which was in response to the devastating earthquake that …
Read More »Angry Ankara
Türkiye is raising the heat on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, denouncing its ties with the Syrian Democratic Forces. After a helicopter carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters crashed in Duhok on March 26, Türkiye imposed a ban on all flights to and from Sulaimaniyah through its airspace. It did so because …
Read More »Iraq asks Turkey to resume oil exports as firms in Kurdistan region scale back
Turkey has still yet to restart oil flows from northern Iraq following a controversial court ruling despite efforts by Iraqi and Kurdish authorities. The stoppage is threatening the Kurdistan Region’s oil sector. Iraq’s state oil company has officially asked Turkey to restart its oil pipeline with the Kurdistan Region, Kurdish …
Read More »Iran still smuggling weapons to Yemen despite Saudi deal, US says
US Special Envoy Tim Lenderking said Washington remains concerned by Tehran’s continued military support for the Houthi movement in Yemen. The recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran hasn’t stopped Tehran from sending weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said Thursday. Tehran and Riyadh, …
Read More »Turkey Elections: Kilicdaroglu outreach to US, NATO hindered by Russia ties
Even if victory for the opposition reinvigorates Turkey’s relations with NATO, analysts say there’s no chance Ankara will break off ties with Russia. The emergence of a credible challenger to the two-decade rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised a glimmer of hope in Washington for a potential revival …
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