Middle Orient

French lawmakers overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday to expand its participation in the airstrike campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Iraq. The extension was for another four months. The extension, which came under a vote of 488 ballots to 1, with 13 abstentions, was reinforced after …

A delegation of Syrian opposition groups arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, one day after the arrival of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution. A meeting between the various Syrian opposition entities is scheduled to take place on 22 January at the foreign ministry’s Council of Foreign Relations. Foreign Ministry Spokesman …

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday he could not understand why his country has been accused of not doing enough to fighting terrorism. “We will not accept that we are being accused of not doing enough to fighting terrorism. These accusations are false,” Davutoglu told a joint news conference …

Terrorist attacks are possible in every country and Turkey has been and will continue to take all necessary security measures, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, when questioned whether Turkey is at risk of an attack similar to the one that took place at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in …

Turkey’s former President Abdullah Gül has joined the condemnations of the shooting in Paris that killed 12 people at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, calling on the Islamic world to denounce the incident. “I condemn the brutal terrorist attack on magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in the strongest possible …

European Union’s next scheduled summit on 12 February will focus on how to boost anti-terror efforts in the wake of the deadly Islamist attack on a French satirical weekly in Paris, the bloc’s leader Donald Tusk said today. “Terror has struck in Europe. It is, sadly, not the first time,” …

Turkey has decided to order four more of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets in addition to the two it previously ordered, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Wednesday. Turkey said in 2012 it was sticking to plans to buy 100 of the planes with an initial order of two planes …

France is to organise an important, high-level meeting on terrorism here next Sunday, including participation by European and US senior officials, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced Thursday. The meeting will discuss coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the wake of the attack here Wednesday that left …

US and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria on Wednesday using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct six airstrikes, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve announced. Separately, US and partner nation military forces conducted seven airstrikes in Iraq on Wednesday using bomber and …

High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane briefed the Security Council this morning on chemical weapons in Syria, in particularly followup in resolution 2118. After the conclusion of the joint OPCW-UN mission late last year, this is the first briefing for her to the Council, Kane told the reporters.