Middle Orient

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Kuwait Friday to discuss strategic cooperation between the two nations but the talks are certain to mainly focus on the ongoing struggle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (IS) which is threatening security in the Middle East region …

Even as it prods Turkey to step up in the global fight against Islamic State militants, the United States is worried that Ankara might use military action to target Kurdish fighters who are the last line of defence against extremists trying to take over the Syrian border town of Kobani. …

Islamic State fighters seized control of a third of the key Syrian border town of Kobane today, as Turkey rejected sending in troops on its own against the jihadists. IS militants advanced in the strategic town overnight despite intensified US air strikes, as calls grew for ground action to support …

French President Francois Hollande Wednesday said he would back the creation of a buffer zone between Syria and Turkey to protect displaced civilians fleeing the bloody Daech offensive. Talking to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over phone, Hollande discussed the “alarming situation in northern Syria mainly in Kobani city” which …

Jens Stoltenberg, the new NATO secretary-general, is set to pay his first visit to Turkey since he took office on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg is expected to discuss security concerns posed to Turkey by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Intensified air strikes helped Kurdish militia push back Islamic State jihadists fighting for Kobani, as pressure mounted yesterday for more international action to save the key Syrian border town. Across the frontier in Turkey, the government’s lack of action against the jihadists was drawing a furious response, with at least 19 …

The idea of a buffer zone along the Syrian border to protect displaced people “is not something that is under consideration right now,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Wednesday, while a Pentagon spokesman said the idea was not under active consideration “as a military option.” The remark …

Turkey held a security summit on Wednesday as Islamic State (IS) militants were approaching the center of the Syrian border town of Kobane, a crisis that triggered violent protests across Turkey in which 19 people have been killed. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened the meeting in an effort to combat IS …

Syria has declared four chemical weapons facilities it hadn’t mentioned before, a special representative of the UN secretary-general has told the Security Council. The news heightened concerns that the Syrian government hasn’t been fully open about its chemical weapons program. Diplomats said Sigrid Kaag told them during closed consultations that …

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group is not different from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday. “For us, the PKK is the same as ISIL. It is wrong to consider them as different from each other,” Erdoğan told reporters …