Middle Orient

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month, the war’s direct effects have seemingly started to cast a shadow over military and political balances in Syria. This is especially true since the Russia that began the war is no longer the same Russia — particularly given the military, …

U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to reach out directly to the Syrian government to seek the return of American journalist Austin Tice. Tice’s parents told Axios that their son has been missing in Syria since 2012. The U.S. website noted that Tice’s parents, Mark and Debra Tice, believe that …

Last week, two researchers broke a bombshell when they uncovered a documented war crime, which the Assad regime in Syria had committed back in 2013. The Dutch scholar Uğur Ümit Üngör and the Syrian researcher Annsar Shahoud spent two years working on a video that they received showing members of …

Israeli police entered a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem to clear away Palestinian protesters on Thursday, after Jewish visits that had been paused for the Muslim holidays resumed. Recent weeks have seen several rounds of clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site for Muslims, which is built …

Turkey’s annual inflation jumped to a two-decade high of 69.97% in April, according to data on Thursday, fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising energy and commodity prices after last year’s lira crash. The surge in prices has badly strained households just over a year before presidential and parliamentary elections …

Western leaders shrugged it off when, in 2016, Erdoğan said in plain language that Turkey did not need to join the European Union “at all costs” and could instead become part of a security bloc dominated by China, Russia and Central Asian nations. Erdoğan’s popularity, since he came to power …

Turkey’s targeting of veteran PKK cadres in Iraq has pushed the Kurdish guerrillas to collaborate with an unlikely partner, a new Pentagon report suggests. US military intelligence believes Iran-backed militias have been coordinating with Kurdish guerrillas to launch attacks on Turkey’s military presence in northern Iraq, according to a Pentagon …

Turkey has asked some Hamas members to leave Turkey and prevented others from entering the country. Israel’s Israel Hayom daily reported April 26 that in February and March Turkey has requested dozens of Hamas activists to leave its territories, while preventing others from entering the country. The alleged request coincides …

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas’ coordination with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about his visit last week to Jordan and his meeting with King Abdullah might signal that he is willing to end his party’s suspension of activity in the coalition. Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas was in Jordan April 28 for …

The Iraqi army is seeking to dislodge Yazidi fighters from Sinjar who Turkey says are members of the PKK. Thousands of Yazidi civilians are fleeing the area as clashes escalate. A Yazidi militia known as the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) has accused Iraq’s prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, of colluding with …