Middle Orient

On November 30, 2022, the Islamic State’s spokesman Abu ‘Umar al-Muhajir made the somewhat surprising announcement that the group’s “caliph” and leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi had been killed, while adding that the group’s Shura council had agreed on a successor going by the name of Abu al-Hussayn al-Hussayni al-Qurashi.1 …

At least 126 politicians, journalists, lawyers and artists have been detained in an operation that observers call an intimidation tactic before the May 14 elections. More than 120 people were detained across Turkey on Tuesday in an alleged counter-terrorism operation that targeted mainly Kurdish politicians, journalists, lawyers and artists less …

The US House of Representatives passed legislation last month to include the Middle East and North Africa as a category in the Uniform Racial Classification Act, which requires state agencies to compile and report statistical data using racial classifications, thus effectively defining which groups are recognized and which are not. …

China’s role in mediating peace between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia may resonate in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In a recent visit to Beijing, French President Emmanuel Macron encouraged China to play a role in winding down the conflict in Ukraine. In late March, the European Union’s top diplomat …

For the first time in twenty years, a change of leadership in Turkey is possible. The EU must be prepared for the foreign policy shift an opposition victory would bring. Whether in the first round on May 14 or the second on May 28, Turkey’s presidential election will ultimately be …

Türkiye is preparing to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May 2023, after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, had announced that the date of the elections will be moved from the previously scheduled 18 June to 14 May 2023. These elections in Türkiye have been …

Ukraine has had considerable success using the drone against Russia since Moscow’s invasion last year. Turkey and Romania have signed a multimillion dollar deal to sell Bucharest 18 Bayraktar TB2 drones. The deal further cements Turkey’s military relations with eastern Europe amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Turkey’s ambassador to …

Open-source reports indicated the Advantage Sweet was bound for Houston, Texas, when the United States said it was seized by Iran’s IRGC navy on Thursday afternoon. Naval forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized an oil tanker in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the …

Turkish police on Tuesday detained 110 people over alleged militant ties, security sources said, with a pro-Kurdish lawmaker saying politicians, lawyers and journalists were among those held in raids that he linked to elections on May 14. The operation was focused on Diyarbakir, the largest city in mainly Kurdish southeast …

“Coalition Forces continue to see successful results with SDF-led operations in ar-Raqqah province.” The U.S. Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force – Levant (SOJTF LEVANT) on Monday said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested four ISIS operatives in Raqqa on April 14 and 15. “SDF, advised, assisted, and enabled by …