Middle Orient

Shi’ite Muslim Iran has been a foe of the hardline Sunni Muslim Taliban for decades, but for the past few years it has been openly meeting Taliban leaders. Iran on Wednesday told Taliban and Afghan government representatives it stood ready to help end the crisis in Afghanistan, urging the country’s …

Director-General of the ministry Alon Ushpiz slated to meet his Moroccan counterpart and other senior diplomats in Rabat visit that comes ahead of the start of commercial flights between the two countries as part of the Abraham Accords signed last year The director-general of the Foreign Ministry, Alon Ushpiz, flew …

Damage assessment finds there was $380 million in physical damage and an additional $190 million in economic losses; Israel called on to upgrade border crossing A UN report released Tuesday found that it will cost an initial $485 million to repair the damage caused in the Gaza Strip during eleven …

White House says grisly murder of journalist may be raised in meetings with delegation led by Khalid bin Salman, Riyadh’s deputy defense minister and brother of crown prince Top Biden administration officials on Tuesday hosted a brother to Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the highest-level such …

Turkish President Erdogan, who previously denied knowing anything about Inandi, announced his “capture” by Turkish intelligence. Three weeks after reportedly replying to an inquiry directly from Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov that he did not know Orhan Inandi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded the “genuine and patient” work of the …

Pro-Kurdish lawmaker Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was finally released from prison Tuesday, five days after Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled his rights had been violated in his detention. Pro-Kurdish lawmaker Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was released from prison Tuesday. Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on July 1 that his rights were violated in his …

Turkey’s unremitting assault against the PKK is destabilizing Iraqi Kurdistan, weakening the rebels on the one hand while bolstering support for them among disaffected locals on the other. On Nov. 16, 2013, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided over a mass wedding in the Kurds’ informal capital, Diyarbakir, amid piercing …

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 …