Turkey is becoming a superpower

After extensive exploration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheerfully announced on Friday that his country had made the biggest natural gas discovery in its history. The gas discovered in the Black Sea was estimated by 320 billion cubic metres. Erdogan said that production for commercial use could begin in 2023.

The Balkan route – Background

2015 – 2016 (RE)BORDERIZATION

Starting in 2015, the Balkan region began to undergo a process of (re)borderization. During the summer of 2015, Hungary began to erect a 4 m tall and 175 km long fence along its border with Serbia, the first country along the so-called “Balkan Route” to do so. In the following months, the country launched new measures to guard its border, legitimized by a “state of emergency” catalyzed migration fears. Electronic sensors, electric wire, helicopters, drone patrols, the extension of up to 10,000 Hungarian authorities tasked with managing the border, all marked the rapid securitization of Hungary’s Balkan borders. By October of 2015, a second border fence was completed, running along the Hungary’s border with Croatia.

US hails close partnership with Libyan prime minister

US embassy urges cooperation to provide good governance to Libyan people.

The United States on Saturday expressed appreciation to its close partnership with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and his Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha.

Spreading a “Moderate Islam”? Morocco’s New African Religious Diplomacy

Between 22 May and 15 June 2015, King Mohammed VI travelled consecutively to Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon with a view to accelerating an African development and cooperation policy in which Morocco wished to position itself. By 2020, the palace aims to at least double its trade that showed a surplus of MAD 9.1 billion (about € 837 million) in 2012 [1]. But, of all the Moroccan initiatives to make this complete u-turn towards the South, it is the religious aspect of its diplomacy which appears to be the most important, the one in which Morocco has its best hand to play, in these times of rising jihadist violence south of the Sahara (Benkirane, 2016).

Cu ochii către Libia

Aproape 90.000 de migranţi au ajuns în Italia numai în prima jumătate a acestui an, după ce au traversat Mediterana, pornind de pe malul libian. După anul 2011, respectiv după începutul Primăverii Arabe în Orientul Mijlociu şi Africa de Nord, cifrele care arată dimensiunea valului de migraţii către Europa fluctuează ameţitor de la an la an şi chiar de la lună la lună, de la câteva mii de oameni la sute de mii. Nu vorbim acum despre refugiaţii care vin din zonele afectate de aceste revoluţii, cum sunt sirienii, ci de migranţii din Africa care au profitat de haosul instalat după căderea dictatorului libian Muammar Gaddafi pentru a găsi o rută către Europa, în special cu destinaţia Italia, Spania, Malta.

Mapping the Turkish Military’s Expanding Footprint

Turkish soldiers hold their position on a tank as they watch the town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 13, 2014. The strategic border town of Kobani has been beseiged by Islamic State militants since mid-September forcing more than 200,000 people to flee into Turkey.

Spectre of Bashagha coup haunts Sarraj amid protest – Arab Weekly

The popular movement rejecting the Libyan Presidency Council, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, continues to expand to include most cities in western Libya. The movement threatens to evolve into a widespread social explosion amid a sharp escalation of the internal conflicts between the pillars of the Sarraj government, as the GNA’s prime minister is reportedly wary of an approaching coup by his rival, Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha.