Middle Orient

The Turkish presidency has sent a memorandum to Parliament to extend the mission of the Turkish Navy in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the territorial waters of Somalia for an additional year, starting February 10, 2021. It does not seem that Turkey will put an end to …

Peshmerga that fought on the front lines against the Islamic State see the film as an “insult and belittling the role of Peshmergas.”

Turkey’s state-run press agency is churning out angry coverage of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea producing a TV series about the Syrian Kurdish women fighters who were key in defeating the Islamic State.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hinting to the new US administration that reentering the original nuclear deal with Iran could spell Israeli military action.

Though Moscow’s stance on Iran’s regional activities might be ambivalent, Russian competition with Iran in Syria, as well as their military-defense cooperation, will afford Washington limited opportunities to rely on Russian leverage-plays with Tehran.

Turkish forces continue to expand their presence around the key M4 highway in Idlib as attacks by new groups fuel uncertainties in the rebel-held region. Obscure jihadist groups have stepped up attacks on Turkish forces in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib, adding to Turkey’s dilemmas amid the fragile status quo …

China passed its coastguard legislation on Friday, and experts said China will safeguard sovereignty regarding the dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. The 25th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) concluded on Friday afternoon in Beijing, and adopted the coastguard law. The law …

Israeli security officials say the United States is expected to soon begin deploying Iron Dome missile systems to its bases in the Persian Gulf Arab countries. Speaking to Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Sunday, the officials refused to reveal the countries in which the Iron Dome batteries will be stationed.

After taking hold of Idlib, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham sought to expand control over the Free Syrian Army-held areas in the Aleppo countryside by marketing its alleged security and civil administration successes and the lack of security in the FSA areas.

Factions of the Free Syrian Army are supporting their fighters to return to school and graduate, as part of efforts to promote education among their fighters.