Turkey

Although Ankara has secured several diplomatic strides by normalizing its relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, rapprochement with Egypt still seems a challenging prospect. Turkey’s efforts to turn a fresh leaf with its former Arab rivals have so far been fraught with U-turns and unilateral concessions from …

Israel’s rapidly deteriorating relations with Russia contain a message for other Middle Eastern powers: attempting to remain on the sidelines of the conflict in Ukraine risks falling in between the cracks. Like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, Israel has sought to maintain good relations with the United …

Both powers are fostering a reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan to promote greater stability in the region. Since Azerbaijani forces crossed into Armenia’s Syunik and Geghrkunik provinces in May 2021, border tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan have continued to flare. After a gradual ebb in hostilities from mid-January, Armenia repeatedly …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has unveiled a new project in several parts of northern Syria, which will allow the return of one million Syrian refugees to those areas. In a video message to Syrians on Tuesday, Erdogan said that the project covers 13 areas in northern Syria, including Azaz, …

Turkey’s annual inflation jumped to a two-decade high of 69.97% in April, according to data on Thursday, fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising energy and commodity prices after last year’s lira crash. The surge in prices has badly strained households just over a year before presidential and parliamentary elections …

Western leaders shrugged it off when, in 2016, Erdoğan said in plain language that Turkey did not need to join the European Union “at all costs” and could instead become part of a security bloc dominated by China, Russia and Central Asian nations. Erdoğan’s popularity, since he came to power …

Turkey has asked some Hamas members to leave Turkey and prevented others from entering the country. Israel’s Israel Hayom daily reported April 26 that in February and March Turkey has requested dozens of Hamas activists to leave its territories, while preventing others from entering the country. The alleged request coincides …

The Iraqi army is seeking to dislodge Yazidi fighters from Sinjar who Turkey says are members of the PKK. Thousands of Yazidi civilians are fleeing the area as clashes escalate. A Yazidi militia known as the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) has accused Iraq’s prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, of colluding with …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be aiming to tighten his grip on the domestic front, taking advantage of Ankara’s rising profile amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A Turkish court sentencing of prominent Turkish philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala and seven other defendants on April 25 in the trial …

Baghdad’s military moves in Sinjar, coinciding with a Turkish military operation in northern Iraq, and the construction of a wall along the border with Syria have rekindled fears among the local Yazidi population. As the struggle for control in Iraq’s northwestern region of Sinjar escalates, some observers believe that Turkish …