Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are wrapping up their campaigns; Russia became an issue in Friday’s rallies. With less than 40 hours to go until Turkey’s closest elections in its modern history, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his top rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu are …

On April 19 and 20 Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, visited two of Iran’s close neighbors in central Asia. Facing each other across the Caspian Sea are Azerbaijan, which borders north-western Iran, and Turkmenistan, which borders its north-east. Both were among the fifteen republics once swallowed up by the USSR, …

Two French nationals that were imprisoned in Iran have been released on humanitarian grounds, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday. In a statement on Friday, Nasser Kanaani confirmed reports on the release of two French citizens from prison in Iran. He said the two French citizens, …

Fighting between the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad and Israeli forces continued for a fourth day on Friday, with no signs of an imminent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. For the first time since the start of the current round of fighting, Islamic Jihad fired shells toward Jerusalem. They were …

The founder of the Wagner Group paramilitary forces Friday sharply criticized the Russian military, saying Russian troops had abandoned the flank in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut, allowing Ukraine troops to gain ground on all sides of the disputed city. In a video released Friday, millionaire mercenary group …

Following weeks of Kyiv’s warnings about an upcoming counteroffensive, Russian troops in Crimea are reportedly bracingfor a possible attack. This development takes place despite the West’s reluctance to offer military assistance to Ukraine amidst concerns that its attempt at retaking Crimea would be a crossing of the red line for …

Introduction Among its many geopolitical implications, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has had profound consequences for the European Union’s relations with key energy suppliers. Soon after the war began, the EU began imposing sanctions on Russia, including on fossil fuel imports. In March 2022 the president of the European Commission …

Turkish presidential election Sunday goes down to the wires From a geopolitical perspective, the Turkish presidential election on Sunday may appear to be one of the most crucial non-violent political events of this year. But appearances can be deceptive in Turkish politics. In the surcharged polarisation of “West versus Rest” …

On 29 December 2022, the blockade in Jarinje and Bernjak crossing points in the North Kosovo region1 bordering Serbia ended after 19 days, following lengthy negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo with assistance from the European Union (EU) and the United States. However, the uneasy peace remains a cause for concern, …

Serbia is poised to cut the minimum age of criminal responsibility after a 13-year-old went on a shooting spree in a Belgrade school, reaching for the kind of ‘tougher punishment’ response it has deployed before. Studies, however, raise doubts about the deterrent effect. When, in the hours that followed an …