Turkey

Despite its initial pleasure upon hearing of the US withdrawal from Syria, Turkey seems to be facing difficulties in achieving its goals in its southern neighbor. Recent back-and-forth statements between the United States and Ankara have pointed to a couple of disagreements over the Syria dossier.

Istanbul recently hosted the second “International Islamic Union Congress,” sponsored mainly by the Strategic Research Center for Defenders of Justice (ASSAM), which is headed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief military advisor, Adnan Tanriverdi, a retired lieutenant general and an Islamist.

The picture sent shockwaves through Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s grassroots: A poor Egyptian member of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan in Arabic) handcuffed by the Turkish police, put aboard a Turkish Airlines plane to fly back to Cairo, to be tortured and eventually executed. Is President Erdoğan not a staunch …

Turkey says it will form safe zones in northern Syria so that millions of Syrian refugees hosted by the Ankara government could return to their home country, which is now recovering from nearly eight years of foreign-sponsored militancy.

Turkey claims its military preparations for a cross-border operation into Syria against a Kurdish militia are complete. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar made the announcement Tuesday. “When the time comes, the necessary actions will be taken both in Manbij and east of the Euphrates,” Akar said during a visit to …

The Turkish military deployed tanks and armored vehicles to the border province of Hatay on Jan. 13, as Turkey continues its preparations for a planned military operation in the east of River Euphrates in Syria against ISIL and the YPG, which it sees as the Syrian branch of the PKK.

Only three months ago Turkey and its NATO ally the United States had too many issues about which to disagree: They had major divergences over Syria; they had different views on Turkey’s plans to deploy the Russian-made S-400 air defense system on NATO soil; they had mutual sanctions on top …

Iraq on Thursday denounced Turkish airstrikes on anti-Ankara, Kurdish fighters’ locations in the north of the country that left a number of civilians dead. In a statement, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Ahmed Mahgoub, said “The Iraqi foreign ministry denounces the continuation of aggressions and transgressions upon Iraqi borders by the …

President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani on Thursday called on Turkey to abide by international law following news of Turkish airstrikes killing four civilians in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas. According to residents and local activists, overnight Turkish airstrikes killed four civilians camping in rural areas as part of …

Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to continue supporting Syria in the fight against terrorism and the political settlement of the crisis in the country. Lavrov made his remarks during a press conference of the foreign ministers of the guarantor states of the …