Middle Orient

The Biden administration imposed economic sanctions on five Islamic State financiers in Turkey, Syria and Indonesia on Monday night. Members of the network played key roles in helping IS recruits join the group, and moved funds to help IS fighters obtain weapons and for children to be smuggled out of …

Growing popular resentment of refugees and migrants is on course to become the second hot-button election topic in Turkey after the economic crisis, but the government is not in a position to force the return of Syrians, the main component of the problem. The danger of xenophobia is rising in …

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards artillery fire hit an area north of the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil on Wednesday, targeting what Iranian state television described as terrorist bases. Iraqi Kurdish media reported that a shell had landed in a village in the Sidekan area near the Iranian border, around 60 miles …

The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that it arrested a suspected ISIS leader and two local collaborators in Raqqa on Sunday. “Our forces have raided a house where the terrorist was hiding with the help of two local collaborators who helped in securing shelter and movement,” the SDF …

Iran-linked parties in Iraq are playing on perceived and actual support for once-ostracized Sunni leaders to divide their political opponents despite inherent risks. Following series of meetings between Kurdistan Democratic Party and their Shiite and Sunnies allies in Erbil in order to form a majority government, a high delegation from …

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s visit to Israel May 24 could finally open the way for both countries to reinstate their ambassadors. Israeli and Turkish representatives are both expected to participate May 10 at the spring meeting of the international donor group for Palestine (AHLC). But apart from the expected …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a rare visit to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, Khamenei has not met …

Although Ankara has secured several diplomatic strides by normalizing its relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, rapprochement with Egypt still seems a challenging prospect. Turkey’s efforts to turn a fresh leaf with its former Arab rivals have so far been fraught with U-turns and unilateral concessions from …

Israel’s rapidly deteriorating relations with Russia contain a message for other Middle Eastern powers: attempting to remain on the sidelines of the conflict in Ukraine risks falling in between the cracks. Like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, Israel has sought to maintain good relations with the United …

On April 18, 2022 Turkey launched a new ground and air offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Supported by helicopters and drones, Turkish jets and artillery struck suspected targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and then commando troops crossed into the region by land or were airlifted …