Middle Orient

Turkey and the United States have hammered out a deal for providing training and equipment to moderate opposition groups in Syria, a Turkish spokesman said here on Tuesday. Both sides are set to sign an agreement for a training and equipping program for Syrian opposition in the next few days, …

Turkey decided to shut its embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, and evacuate its diplomatic staff as a result of the worsening security situation in the country. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had issued a new travel warning for Turkish citizens on Saturday, urging them to leave Yemen immediately.

France repeated its position on Friday that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad must step down as part of any political transition aimed at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal reiterated the French position after UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said that Al-Assad “is …

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to authorise military action against the Islamic State militants who are cutting a swath across the West Asia, vowing their forces “are going to lose.” Yet he ruled out large-scale U.S. ground combat operations reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m convinced that the …

The United States on Feb. 10 denied that it was coordinating air strikes either directly or indirectly with the Syrian regime against Islamic militants and renewed calls for President Bashar al-Assad to go. In an interview with the BBC, Assad said Damascus was being informed about the US-led coalition air …

UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura arrived in Syria from Beirut on Monday for talks with officials in Damascus to follow up on efforts at ending the four-year conflict, official media reports said. De Mistura has been trying to facilitate local ceasefires in different areas of Syria since …

The European Union has pledged one billion euros in funding for the crises in Syria and Iraq and the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the bloc’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said. “This package will strengthen our actions to help restore peace and …

Kurdish militants have wrestled control of 65 villages in Kobane’s countryside from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control since Jan. 26 in northern Syria, according to a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) source. “Kurdish fighters are advancing rapidly because they know their area geographically very well and …

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an end to a years-old nightly curfew in Baghdad in a bid to ease restrictions on daily life despite persistent violence, officials said Feb. 5. Lifting the curfew is a major change to a longstanding policy aimed at curbing violence in the capital …

Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed to the State Department senior diplomats from nearly 60 nations, including more than 35 Washington-based ambassadors from partner countries in the international coalition against ISIL. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL John Allen and other senior US officials briefed the …