Middle Orient

On 8 January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkiye is determined to send flour and grain to African states through the Black Sea corridor. He added that the Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Ankara that Russia would be able to provide grain for free on the condition that …

As the prospect of a rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus becomes more imminent, the most extreme elements of Syria’s armed opposition have been feeling a sting of betrayal, accelerating a trend that, over the past year, has seen many jihadists relocate to Ukraine. This is especially true for foreign militants, …

On July 19, 2022, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian gas company Gazprom worth close to $40 billion. The deal was signed by the CEOs of both companies during a virtual ceremony on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived …

Following a relatively quiet year in the Middle East from Europe’s perspective, 2023 is likely to bring significant challenges in the region – and governments in London and other European capitals will need to be prepared. In 2022, the Middle East seemed to drop down the list of priorities for …

The precision of Iranian-made suicide UAVs, combined with their cheapness, has turned them into a potent weapon on the battlefields of Ukraine. The appearance of Iran’s Shahed 131/136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine has catapulted them to the centre of global attention and generated numerous papers by military observers …

Turkey’s major pro-Kurdish opposition party has announced it will field its own candidate in a move sure to have a profound impact on the presidential race, but in which direction? Turkey’s third-largest political party, the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party (HDP), announced over the weekend that it will field its own …

The Islamic State (ISIS) jihadi group, which grew out of Al-Qaeda in Iraq during the first two decades of the 21st century and expanded into Syria following the outbreak of the ongoing civil war there, has remained an international jihadi militant organization despite the loss of its territory in Iraq …

A high-ranking Kurdish delegation led by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with officials in Baghdad over energy, security and finance disputes — but no resolution is expected. Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani received the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Masrour Barzani, on Wednesday in Baghdad where …

Saudi Arabia is now not only one of China’s most important suppliers of energy, but the kingdom is also an important link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a gigantic global development project to enhance China’s global influence from East Asia to Europe by making countries worldwide increasingly …

Le président turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan pourrait être qualifié du politicien mondial le plus réussi de l’année 2022. Depuis le début de l’opération militaire russe en Ukraine il reste au-dessus du conflit et conserve le statut de médiateur pratiquement sans alternative entre les parties au conflit tout en obtenant des …