Middle Orient

While the Kyrgyz government has denied helping Turkish intelligence services kidnap a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator, rights groups say it’s unlikely that he could have been taken otherwise. Kyrgyz authorities have denied claims that they conspired in the kidnapping by Turkish intelligence services of a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator who went missing from Bishkek …

On July 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers in the streets around the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for a doubly symbolic moment. Surrounded by a swarm of politicians, soldiers, security forces and imams, the Turkish leader made his way into the giant, former Byzantine cathedral …

In mid-March, Turkey and Egypt confirmed they’d had their first diplomatic contact since breaking off relations in 2013. Though the talks were described by Egyptian sources as preliminary, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying, “Contacts at the diplomatic level have started.” The thaw comes after a decade …

Isaac Herzog, the incumbent Jewish Agency chairman, former Labor party leader, and son of Israel’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog, becomes Israel’s 11th president in a Wednesday afternoon ceremony in Jerusalem. He replaces Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin. Although the presidency is a largely ceremonial position within Israel’s parliamentary democracy, the post is …

When the American Lockheed Martin Corporation was unable to complete the job it had promised Ankara – building a vertical missile launching system for the Turkish Navy – because of American sanctions imposed in response to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 anti-missile defensive system, Ankara responded with the determination to …

The International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed on Tuesday that Iran had begun to produce uranium metal enriched to 20% purity, a move that the United States and European powers immediately condemned. Uranium metal can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. Britain, France and Germany in a …

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the son of King Salman and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is on a visit to Washington that, while not a secret, was not publicly disclosed in advance. Today’s meetings are at the State Department, while on Tuesday he …

Russia skipped U.N. Security Council negotiations on Tuesday on whether to extend approval for cross-border aid access into Syria, diplomats said, as China pushed for “solutions” to its concerns about unilateral sanctions and aid transparency. The council mandate for the long-running U.N. operation delivering aid into northern Syria from Turkey …

Qatar will provide the Lebanese armed forces with 70 tonnes of food a month, the Qatari state news agency QNA reported, as Lebanon seeks assistance amid its worst economic and political crisis since a 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun had appealed to world powers at meeting in …

A Treasury official told Reuters the move was unrelated to the talks on Iran’s nuclear program. The Biden administration also removed some Iranian citizens from the list in June. A few Iranians were removed from a US government blacklist Friday. The Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List …