Syrian jihadi groups are increasing their attacks on Syrian army outposts, as tripartite meetings between Russia, Turkey and Syria hint at a potential rapprochement deal to end the decade-long war.
Jamaat al-Tawhid, an affiliate of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terrorist group by the US and United Nations, confirmed to have raided several Syrian army posts on Wednesday.
In an exclusive poll in five countries across the Middle East and North Africa, 68% majority of the population worried about their ability to access food.
It was soaring food prices that sparked the popular uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, but it is unprecedented increases in food and energy prices since the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine last February that now have a 68% majority of the population in Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tunisia and Iraq worried about their ability to access food in the coming months, according to an Al-Monitor/Premise poll.
The “strong partnership” between Saudi Arabia and the US in ensuring energy market stability will be a key factor in global economic recovery, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Kingdom’s foreign minister, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.
Muqtada al-Sadr organized a public prayer on Friday, making a comeback to politics after months of silence.
Following months of silence, Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for his supporters to hold a unified Friday prayer today in Baghdad and a number of other cities.
Syrians in Turkey are wary of losing refuge as the Turkish President eyes dialogue with Assad
Turkey’s bid to reconcile with the Syrian government has left many Syrian refugees in the country on tenterhooks as Ankara faces pressure to cut a deal with Damascus on the return of the Syrians amid rising anti-refugee sentiment in a critical election year.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Democratic Forces head Mazlum Kobane said he expects a Turkish attack in February, and warned Ankara should not punish Syria’s Kurds over its own failure to resolve its own domestic issues.
Iran has significantly stepped up its air defense systems deployment to Syria over the past two years, according to a 10 January report released by Newsweek citing an anonymous intelligence official from “a nation allied” with Washington.
As part of this boost in the supply of defense technology to Damascus, the report states that these deliveries include the latest generation of the locally produced Iranian Bavar-373 system and are aimed at helping Syria curb illegal Israeli airstrikes in its territory.
On 8 January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkiye is determined to send flour and grain to African states through the Black Sea corridor.
He added that the Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Ankara that Russia would be able to provide grain for free on the condition that it is delivered to underdeveloped countries in Africa.
As the prospect of a rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus becomes more imminent, the most extreme elements of Syria’s armed opposition have been feeling a sting of betrayal, accelerating a trend that, over the past year, has seen many jihadists relocate to Ukraine.
The newly-initiated Syrian-Turkish rapprochement talks are headed in Damascus’ favor and the “Turkish concessions” derided by opponents are just the start, insiders tell The Cradle.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already abandoned his dream of “praying in the Umayyad Mosque” in Damascus. But sources say this will be swiftly followed by further concessions that will throw a wrench into the ambitions of Syria’s opposition factions.