Middle Orient

Turkey sent peacekeeping forces to Azerbaijan last year following the victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Armenia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked parliament today to extend Turkey’s military presence in Azerbaijan. Erdogan requested that the deployment be extended for another year so that Turkish forces can continue monitoring the …

At a time when the Sadrist movement is seeking understandings with Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties to form a government, the forces rejecting the results of the elections are taking to the streets in protest against any Cabinet formation talks before the results issue is resolved. Iraq’s Sadrist movement head …

The rapprochement between Ankara and Cairo has catalyzed internal rifts between exiled leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Amid a fledgling Turkish bid last April to normalize ties with Egypt, a delegation of exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders held talks in Ankara, seeking assurances that they would not be thrown under the …

Here’s What You Need to Remember: In 2017 forces loyal to the Syrian regime recaptured Ksheesh air base from ISIS. Between 2013 and 2017 a small number of L-39 light attack jets at a Syrian air force base east of Aleppo changed hands several times. Syrian rebels captured them from …

Deir Ezzor province: SOHR activists have reported that a 25 year-old displaced woman from al-Mayadeen was killed in al-Busayra city in Deir Ezzor countryside. According to local sources, two unidentified women were accused of the murder, as they had entered the victim’s house, which is next to the culture center …

Mazlum Kobane, commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, also says Damascus is not yet ready for negotiations. Turkey has resumed its threats of yet another large military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces, the United States’ top ally in the fight against the Islamic State. Unlike in October …

The attempted assassination of Iraq’s prime minister was carried out by at least one Tehran-backed militia using explosives-laden drones made in Iran, security officials and militia sources said on Monday. Mustafa Al-Kadhimi escaped unhurt when three drones targeted his residence in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday. Two of …

Sanctions are mandated by law for “any entity that does significant business with the Russian military or intelligence sectors” — Office of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Robert Menendez, Daily Sabah, September 28, 2021. “Any new purchases by Turkey must mean new sanctions.” — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, …

In addition to think tank funding that often does not get disclosed, a new report provides a behind the scenes look at DC’s Turkish lobby. “Issues of democracy, freedom of speech, and journalism but also the fight against terrorism, it’s not an easy thing to strike a balance between,” Turkish …

SDF members destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device “to prevent possible harm to locals in the area and recovered weapons cache and detained maligned actors to eliminate the threat.” The General Command of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in northeast Syria announced on Monday the arrest of a suspected ISIS …