Orientul Mijlociu

How Syria could become a battleground for Turkey and Israel

Since the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s government just over a year ago, Syria has become an arena for an increasingly stark contest between Turkey and Israel.

Ankara and Tel Aviv’s strategic visions for Syria are fundamentally irreconcilable. Turkey seeks a unified state anchored by an Ankara-friendly central authority and preserved territorial integrity.

Israel, by contrast, favours a weakened and fragmented Syria incapable of projecting power or resisting external aggression.

A new settlement project led by a reserve soldier named after a farm in the heart of the West Bank

It is not the story of a farm or the story of a settler who loves agriculture in “Judea and Samaria”, but a focus that is cultivated in the heart of the West Bank to transform a weapon, a road and a dominance, under the cover of “holiness.” Thus began a leaflet of a settler named Yeddia Plutkin calling for a donation to what he called a “holy farm”, in soft language that concealed a more ruthless project.

Syria’s Al Shara recognises Kurdish citizenship, language and Nowruz festival in presidential decree

Syria’s President Ahmad Al Shara on Friday issued a decree affirming the rights of Kurdish ⁠Syrians, formally recognising their language ​and restoring citizenship to the country’s largest minority community.

“I have the honour to issue a decree especially for our Kurdish people, which guarantees their rights and some of their privileges in accordance with the law,” he said in a speech, in which he also referred to the Kurds as “the grandchildren of Salahuddin”.

Tehran Chief Prosecutor Ali Salehi Responds To President Trump’s Claim That Regime Has Canceled…

Tehran Chief Prosecutor Ali Salehi responded to a January 16, 2026 statement by U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social, in which Trump acknowledged Iran’s leadership for canceling 800 executions of anti-regime protesters. Salehi told IRINN TV (Iran) on January 17, 2026 that Trump “always talks nonsense.” He added that Iran’s treatment of the rioters has been “decisive, deterrent, and direct,” with many cases culminating in indictments and being referred to the courts.

What Ankara sees in Riyadh — and why it still needs Abu Dhabi

As the rivalry between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi sharpens in Yemen and beyond, Turkey has begun edging closer to Saudi Arabia. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has openly acknowledged Saudi concerns, saying in a televised interview, on January 8, that “developments in the region — especially recent ones — pose a threat to Saudi Arabia.” Shortly afterward, reports emerged that Ankara was seeking to join the Saudi-Pakistani defense pact signed last September, which frames an attack on either country as “an aggression against both.” That “one for all, all for one” language — echoing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Article 5 mutual defense clause — has fueled claims in Washington and the Middle East that a new regional order is taking shape: a Turkey-Saudi axis backed by a NATO-like defense architecture, implicitly aligned against Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

How Israel’s Somaliland gambit will reshape Red Sea geopolitics

Late last year, Israel broke new diplomatic ground by becoming the first country to formally recognise the independence of Somaliland, a self-declared republic existing within Somalia’s internationally recognised territory.

Perched along the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, extremely close to the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab strait, Somaliland has spent more than three decades seeking international legitimacy after declaring independence in 1991.