July, 2014

• 15 July

  UNSC calls for Gaza ceasefire

  The United Nations Security Council called for “de-escalation” on Saturday evening, in the latest wave of the militarised conflict playing out in the Gaza Strip. The council “expressed serious concern regarding the crisis related to Gaza and the protection and welfare of civilians on both sides”. It called for a …

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• 11 July

  Egypt Declares Emergency State On Rafah Border With Gaza

  Egypt declared an emergency state on the border with Gaza on Wednesday following Israeli airstrikes on the strip, a security source told Aswat Masriya. The source added that army forces have stepped up caution in the Sinai Peninsula which falls on the border of Israel. Egypt’s presidential office said on …

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• 11 July

  Egyptian FM to visit Iraq

  Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi directed his Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry on Thursday to head to the Iraqi capital and convey Egypt’s stance in support of Iraq. The current Iraqi crisis comes as the forefront of priorities for consultations on ways to restore national reconciliation between all parties involved in Iraq, …

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• 11 July

  Kurdish forces take over two oil fields in Iraq

  Kurdish peshmerga forces took control of production facilities at two northern Iraqi oil fields Friday, replacing Arab workers with Kurdish personnel. The national oil ministry in Baghdad condemned the takeover at the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan fields and called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid “dire consequences.”

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• 11 July

  Pro-Russian Separatists left Slaviansk for Kramatorsk

  Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have left the eastern town of Slaviansk and moved to Kramatorsk. Ukrainian defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and the chief of military staff of Ukraine, Viktor Muzhenko, informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday that the national flag had been raised over the city council building. Slaviansk was seized in April …

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• 11 July

  Russian FM visits Sofia

  Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting his counterpart Kristian Vigenin on July 7, during his official visit to Bulgaria. He is to mark the 135th anniversary since diplomatic relations were established between Bulgaria and Russia, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said in a statement to the media.

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• 11 July

  Ukrainian president blames Russia, separatists for rejecting ceasefire efforts

  Amid growing calls for a fresh ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the country’s president told U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday that both Russia and the separatists were rejecting his efforts in this regard. In a phone conversation with Biden, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had suggested a number …

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• 11 July

  Syrian rebels attack defense minister’s village

  Syrian activists say rebels have attacked the village of the country’s defense minister and captured parts of it. Activists say the attack began Friday with a suicide bombing that targeted a checkpoint in the village of Rahjan in the central province of Hama.

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• 7 July

  Turkey blasts ban on Crimean Tatar Leader

  Turkey condemned the five year entrance ban to Crimea which was made to the head of the National Assembly of the Crimean Tatar People. Refat Chubarov was slapped with a five-year entrance ban by the peninsula’s pro-Russian administration.

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• 7 July

  French Defence Minister visits CAR due to rise of violence

  French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian headed to the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday for a two-day visit to take stock of the situation after a rise in violence involving the French deployment in that country. Defence Ministry sources said that Le Drian will be visiting troops serving in …

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