Middle Orient

Following Turkish airstrikes on his headquarters in northeast Syria, SDF commander Mazlum Kobane spoke with Al-Monitor about Erdogan’s threats of a new ground offensive. In his first interview with international media following Tuesday’s drone strike on his main headquarters in northeast Syria, Mazlum Kobane (also known as Mazloum Abdi), the commander …

Turkish analysts believe that the enthusiastic handshake between Sisi and Erdogan may facilitate the budding rapprochement but will not be a magic wand, particularly in Libya. Brushing aside name-calling and accusations of the past, the Turkish and Egyptian presidents shared an enthusiastic handshake on the sidelines of the opening ceremony …

Some experts are warning that Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia’s Rosatom, might become a tool to advance Russian interests in the region. A potential security threat has emerged for NATO and Europe at large: the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant. Experts say the project by Russia …

The US military says it opposes Ankara’s plans to send ground troops against Syria’s Kurds, but it has stood down in the face of similar attacks in the past. A suspected Turkish drone strike hit a Kurdish-led militia base in northeast Syria on Tuesday, killing two members of a local …

Τουρκικά γεράκια λένε απροκάλυπτα ότι, όπως τα τουρκικά αεροπλάνα πήγαν νύχτα στη βόρεια Συρία, μπορεί να κάνουν το ίδιο και στην Ελλάδα. Δεν πρέπει να έχουμε την ψευδαίσθηση ότι θα έχουμε άλλη αντιμετώπιση. Οι Κούρδοι της περιοχής αυτής ήταν σύμμαχοι των Αμερικανών στον πόλεμο κατά του Ισλαμικού Κράτους. Όμως, οι …

Several areas of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were targeted overnight after an IRGC commander warned of possible ground invasion and the Iranian ambassador set out demands. A massive orange fireball lit up the sky in an area outside the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on the night …

Iran is increasingly worried over Azerbaijani and Turkish geopolitical gains in the region as calls for “Greater Azerbaijan” push a hot button in Tehran. Tensions are rising between Iran and Azerbaijan over Baku’s plans for a land connection to its exclave of Nakhchivan via Armenian territory, threatening to undermine Turkish-Iranian …

Fears are rising in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast over a potential military incursion by Turkey. Turkey launched airstrikes on Syria’s majority-Kurdish region on Saturday night in apparent retaliation for a bombing that struck a crowded market in Istanbul last week. Syrian Kurdish officials reported strikes in the areas of Kobani, Derik, …

As the dust settles from airstrikes on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, Turkey is threatening a wider operation in the region. For months Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to “come suddenly in the night” for Kurdish militants on Turkey’s southern border. On Saturday night, scores of F-16 …

Hamas leaders [who have relocated to Doha]… are using Qatar as a base for calling for the destruction of Israel. Yet this does not seem to bother the rulers of Qatar or its allies in the West, including the US. This is the same Qatar whose leaders claim that they …