Middle Orient

Sunni political parties are using murders in Salahuddin province to demand an end to the presence of armed militias blamed for killings. The Oct. 17 murder of 12 people from the Sunni community in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad has raised the ire of Sunnis against Shiite factions present in …

The kingdom “rejects any attempt to link Islam with terrorism,” a Foreign Ministry source said. Saudi Arabia is the latest Muslim country to denounce French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial comments on Islam and depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Israeli, Greek and Cypriot foreign ministers met today in Athens, showcasing again the strong strategic alignment between the three countries. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met this afternoon in Greece with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, Nikos Denidas and Nikos Christodoulides. The trilateral meeting was dedicated to issues of energy, security …

Ahrar al-Sham, a prominent armed group that has often collaborated with Turkey in Syria, is hit by infighting that plays into the hands of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and dampens Turkish plans to remold rebel factions in Idlib. Turkey has gained ample experience in organizing, training, equipping and using armed militants …

An ongoing Turkey-France spat deepened after French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a caricature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prompting legal action from Ankara. Turkish prosecutors launched a legal probe into the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Wednesday after it published a cover containing an insulting cartoon depiction of …

The Turkish president’s comments come a year after Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria. A year after launching an incursion into northeast Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility of another offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in the war-torn country.

Iran’s judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, told Syria’s ambassador to Iran that it supports the “resistance” to retake the Golan Heights from Israel.

The PA suspects that Dahlan, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates since 2011, is working to establish centers of power in the West Bank as part of a scheme to undermine Abbas.

The chief commander of Iran’s Army has said the Islamic Republic has bolstered its air defenses near the northwestern frontier amid ongoing clashes over the disputed Nangorno-Karabakh region. Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, who also commands Iran’s Air Defense Headquarters, made the remark on Tuesday as fighting continued between Azeri and …

Latest escalation comes amid increased Turkish military involvement in a region stretching from Syria to the Caucasus and the Mediterranean. Russia and Turkey are two sides of the same coin. They are both heavily involved in some of the world’s most significant ongoing conflicts including in Libya, the Caucasus and …