Orientul Mijlociu

The Syrian Ministry of Interior has outlined the procedures for submitting applications to obtain Syrian citizenship for Kurdish residents covered under Decree No. 13 of 2026, issued on January 16.

According to a decision published by the ministry on Friday, February 20, applications may be submitted individually or on a family basis. The head of household may apply on behalf of himself, his wife, and his minor children at designated centers set by the ministry.

For 10 years now Hamas has used Turkey as a base to operate against Israel.

• A decade has passed since the official opening of Hamas’ offices in Istanbul, and Turkey is courting Israel anew.
• Turkey collaborates with terror organizations on both the ideological and operational levels.
• Terrorists working on Turkish soil establish infrastructures and plan terror attacks against Israel.
• Hamas senior officials (most former inmates in Israel for terrorism who were released in a prisoner exchange) are operating from Turkey against Israel. Some have even been granted Turkish citizenship.
• In December 2021, Israeli security forces broke up Hamas-linked terror cells in Nablus (Shechem) and Hebron in the West Bank. On December 12, 2021, Israel’s Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked signed an order banning the departure from the country of several known “senior Hamas activists” who, it was suspected, would link up with Hamas officials overseas.
• Turkey today seeks another reconciliation with Israel. Israel should demand “payment in advance,” meaning that the Turks must first act against the Hamas operatives on their soil and prove that they are preventing them from continuing to act against Israel.
• Only then will it be worth upgrading relations with Turkey to a level of understanding and cooperation – a goal that both sides certainly have an interest in promoting.

Latest Developments

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on July 21 that the Shin Bet internal security service had foiled a major terrorist attack orchestrated from Turkey. The attack was planned by the Hamas cell at Birzeit University in the West Bank, at the direction of Hamas headquarters in Turkey. Five terrorists were captured by the police’s Gideonim elite unit. According to Katz, they were “planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel with the military training, weapons and thousands of dollars they had acquired.” The terrorist cell was led by Mahmoud Anjatz, a resident of the village of Kharbatha Bani Harith, who recruited four others under the banner of “Kutla Islamia,” an Islamist student group. At the time of their capture, an M-16 rifle was seized, along with tens of thousands of dollars provided to the terrorists following coordination by high-ranking Hamas officials in Turkey, the Shin Bet investigation concluded.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, announced today, Friday, February 20, the return of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp in the countryside of al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. The camp has housed families of Islamic State fighters alongside displaced civilians for years.

UNHCR Representative in Syria Gonzalo Vargas Llosa said the agency supported, on Thursday, February 19, the voluntary return of 191 Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp to Iraq.

Excerpt

On February 11, Turkish lawmakers came to blows on the parliament floor over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to appoint new justice and interior ministers. Cabinet reshuffles are routine in Erdogan’s Turkey, serving as a calculated mechanism to purge insufficiently loyal officials and replace them with figures willing to faithfully execute his increasingly authoritarian agenda.

Despite the SDF’s integration deal and peace talks with the PKK, Turkey appears set to maintain a long-term military presence in Syria and Iraq

Despite the recent setback for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a renewed peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkey shows no signs of withdrawing its troops from Syria or Iraq.

Recent clashes between government forces and French-speaking fighters in northern Syria have rekindled concerns about military and social integration

Damascus, Syria – A group of Uyghur men laughed uproariously over a Syrian friend’s seemingly vain requests for a waiter to take better photos of them together, as they shared food at a mid-scale restaurant not far from the Syrian central bank in late October.

L’arme nucléaire, étant la plus puissante arme offensive de destruction massive, est simultanément un facteur clé de dissuasion. Cependant, le dilemme de savoir qui doit la posséder et qui ne le doit pas reste l’une des questions centrales de la politique mondiale. Quelle est la situation dans le cas de la Turquie ?

L’arme nucléaire est entrée dans les doctrines militaires des principaux États du monde comme une conséquence directe de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et des progrès scientifiques rapides dans le domaine de la physique atomique. En réalité, le catalyseur de ces développements fut l’Allemagne nazie. Quand Hitler a pris conscience de l’inévitabilité de la défaite militaire, il plaçait ses espoirs dans le docteur Braun et ses missiles V-1 et V-2, qui auraient pu fournir à la Wehrmacht une arme puissante pour poursuivre la guerre. Cependant, les succès offensifs de l’Armée rouge et le travail efficace du renseignement soviétique ont réussi à localiser cette menace.

Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, deadly state repression across Iran halts protests, and violence escalated between state forces and the SDF in northern Syria.

Gaza: Violence escalates amid the US launch of phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan

Violence intensified in Gaza in January, with the highest number of Israeli attacks since the current ceasefire began on 10 October. At least 160 Palestinians were killed during the month — double the previous month’s toll — as Israeli forces continued to use lethal force against civilians approaching the Yellow Line or collecting firewood, while also targeting militants attempting to cross into Israeli-controlled areas or plant explosive devices. Israel also carried out repeated strikes across Hamas-controlled areas in response to incidents in Rafah, including two attempted attacks on Israeli troops by Hamas gunmen emerging from tunnels, a failed missile launch, and militant activity near the Yellow Line. On 31 January, Israel carried out its deadliest attack wave of the month, killing at least 32 Palestinians, including civilians, militants, and police officers.1

The first Friday Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire have revived the Third Temple debate. Here’s why Jerusalem’s Temple Mount keeps the world on edge.

An image plastered across dailies this Saturday morning showed thousands of Muslim devotees offering their prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan at the Al Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. This was the first Ramadan prayers offered at the mosque since the fragile ceasefire deal was signed between Israel and Hamas in October 2025. The images got me thinking. About the significance of the Temple Mount and how many of us truly see it as the political and religious tinderbox that it is.