Middle East

The relations between Ankara and Washington have for many years now been characterized as a  “fragile equilibrium.” Back when Erdogan just came to power, the US supported his Justice and Development Party, which, however, over time stopped being an American project and gained independence. Barack Obama, for instance…

On February 9, Israel launched yet another series of strikes on targets near Damascus, which resulted in one Syrian killed and five injured, which has aggravated the threat of war between Syria and Israel. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), on February 9, four Israeli F-16s, without crossing the state border of Syria, launched another guided missile…

The so-called political transition in Libya appears to have no end in sight. The political or interim phase seems to have completely diverged from the UN-sponsored roadmap, which was to culminate in parliamentary and presidential elections on December 24, 2021. But they failed because of sharp contradictions over the eligibility of several major…

For three decades Thai-Saudi relations had suffered over a diplomatic row involving stolen Saudi jewelry and the unsolved murders of several Saudi diplomats in Thailand.  Al Jazeera in its article, “Saudi Arabia restores ties with Thailand after gem theft dispute,” would explain: In 1989, Thailand-born janitor Kriangkrai Techamong stole $20m worth of precious gems…

Saudi Arabia’s determination to lay waste to Yemen has reached new heights over the past few weeks, adding to an already deplorable litany of war crimes. Faced with the possibility of a new war front, in that the Houthis directed their ire directly at the United Arab Emirates after Riyadh called on their help to precipitate…

Given how the US withdrawal from the Middle East has impacted Washington’s ties with the Gulf countries, an opportunity certainly exists for the latter to pursue their ties with Beijing more freely than was the earlier the case. There is, in fact, already signs that China and the Gulf may well be taking concrete steps towards the China-Gulf Coopertaion Council…

By promoting a Russophobic campaign in Europe, in part by escalating the information war with a fake thesis about Russia’s alleged intention to attack Ukraine, Washington is trying to convince Europeans that it can find a vital substitute for Europe’s natural gas supply here. In particular, the Joe Biden administration…

Recent years have been increasingly marked by numerous migration crises. Fleeing from wars, armed conflicts and various militant activities, migrants from Africa and Asia continue to make dangerous attempts to enter Europe by various, often risky and dangerous, means. As a result, many of them die at sea, and the coastguards of various countries have to rescue…

On February 2, the Pentagon chief announced that US Special Forces had completed a counter-terrorism operation in Syria, controlled by the US Central Command, stressing that “the mission was successful” and “there were no US casualties.” As it turned out, the target of this operation near the town of Atme in the Syrian province of Idlib, close…

African leaders are expected to head to Addis Ababa to attend the two-day African Union (AU) summit, scheduled to convene on February 5 and 6. The meeting will address a long list of conflicts — including militant and terrorist activities, management of natural resources, and internal disputes — that are stirring instability across the continent. Much attention is likely to be paid to developments…

As of late, various media have been publishing numerous reports about the involvement of Turkish law enforcement agencies and special services that are supervised directly by Erdogan in blatantly illegal operations in several countries. Thus, in recent years, the Turkish agencies have kidnapped dozens of people in various countries. Since 2016, or after the attempted…

In the last few years, Turkey’s economy has been caught in a drawn-out recession, largely due to the increasing costs related to the current model of economic growth. And as the economy is deteriorating, so is the political and economic situation in the country, forcing President Erdogan to make choices which are far from popular. When Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party came…