Middle Orient

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Russia Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on a grain deal brokered by Turkey and the UN, prospects for talks on ending hostilities in Ukraine, the situation in Syria and growing economic ties between Moscow and Ankara. Speaking at the start …

Ankara’s central role in facilitating the Russia-Ukraine grain deal could strengthen its hand in securing Moscow’s acceptance of a Turkish military incursion. Turkey’s president will meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday amid plaudits for his role in the Ukraine-Russia grain deal and plans for a military incursion into north Syria …

Vehicles allegedly carrying Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) commanders continue to be targeted in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq amid claims Iran controls both the PKK and Shiite-led forces in oil-rich and disputed Kirkuk. Attacks continue on vehicles carrying alleged Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq …

Turkey’s hosting of the head of Libya’s eastern-based parliament sets a meaningful landmark in its bid to reshape its Libya policy. Top Turkish officials received a prominent leader of eastern Libya this week, signaling a significant policy shift in the Libyan civil strife two years after Ankara lent military support …

Erdogan has made it clear that progress in the talks is contingent on progress on Armenia’s negotiations for a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. Armenia’s Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan announced that cargo flights from Turkey would start “in the near future,” in line with normalization efforts that resumed early this year …

President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The president said …

President Joe Biden said Monday that a U.S. missile strike over the weekend has killed the leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. For the past decade, al-Zawahiri headed al-Qaida, the Islamist terror group that spawned franchises around the world after the stunning attacks on …

An Iraqi Army unit visited the site to assess the damage, and they found the strikes yielded “positive results”. Eight suspected ISIS members were killed by twin Iraqi airstrikes in the west of Nineveh province on Thursday, according to a statement from the army’s media. The airstrikes targeted a “cave” …

The Lebanese authorities are accusing Bishop al-Hajj of treason for bringing money to the poor and the sick, at a time when Iran is delivering — through Hezbollah — money and weapons to be used in the next war against Israel. The money and the weapons that the Iranians are …

The foreign minister of Iran voiced support for the Republic of Azerbaijan’s bid to join the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, saying enlargement of the D-8 and accession of new members would serve as a tool for the realization of its goals. Hossein Amirabdollahian delivered an address via videoconference to …