Middle Orient

Israeli leadership is coping not only with the question of military preparedness for the possibility of attacking the Iranian nuclear program, but also with the implications of such an attack on Israel’s homeland security, its economy and its growth. The extensive Dec. 18 New York Times write-up quoting serving and …

Turkey has made major economic and diplomatic strides in Africa since the early 2000s, but growing military sales to African countries raise the specter of a risky shift. Dozens of top African officials, including 12 presidents, two vice presidents, two premiers and 26 foreign ministers, flocked to Istanbul last week …

Ağustos ayında hükümetin 2022 baharında erken seçim hazırlığında olduğunu ifade etmiştim. Okuyuculardan da birçok uzmandan da 2022 Kasım ayından önce seçim olmayacağı tepkisi gelmişti. Bu tepkinin en temel nedeni ise o dönem üzerinde konuşulan Seçim Kanunu’nda değişiklik yapılması meselesiydi. Değişiklik yapıldıktan bir yıl sonrasına kadar yapılan değişiklikler uygulanamayacağı için Kasım …

Iraq has bombed Islamic State targets in the eastern Diyala province for the second month in a row. The Iraqi air force conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State today following a flurry of attacks. Iraqi pilots using US-made F-16 fighter jets struck IS outside of Sadiyah in the Diyala province …

The Islamic State core in Iraq and Syria continues to evolve and could be in the process of an operational evolution focused on fewer but more sophisticated attacks At present, it remains unclear just how closely involved central Islamic State leadership is with its global network on a regular basis. …

There are growing signs that countries in the Middle East are prepared to accept the normalization of Assad’s regime, even after the ten-year civil war in Syria. Many countries, including the U.S. and Qatar, have been outspoken in their opposition to normalizing relations with Assad, while the United Arab Emirates …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to the Gulf states ahead of the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit is intended to help rebuild his international reputation, sullied by his numerous missteps. With his stop in Qatar, MBS is also trying to continue healing the intra-GCC rift that began in …

Elite forces from the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) arrested two ISIS arms smugglers in Erbil, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT), part of the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS. “Today the CTD conducted operations in the …

The State Department’s annual report on terrorism said Islamic State branches outside of Iraq and Syria caused more fatalities in 2020 than any previous year. The number of terrorist attacks increased worldwide in 2020 in part due to the spread of Islamic State (IS) branches and al-Qaeda affiliates, the US …

Lebanon’s interior minister on Wednesday ordered the deportation of non-Lebanese members of a Bahraini group after some of them held a news conference in Beirut, harming Lebanon’s ties with the Kingdom. Bahrain accuses the group of harboring terrorism. Bahrain’s government has denounced “the promotion of malicious allegations and causing harm …