Turkey’s two key appointments are new foreign minister and former intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan; and the newly-appointed intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalın, also an Erdoğan confidant.
Both men have interesting and impressive careers. How both of them have become the only two people who make policy and share power with Erdoğan is illuminating, especially where their careers intersected under the president.
Despite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad being welcomed back onto the international stage, all is not well at home.
His country is broken into three parts, which, at best, are in a state of uneasy coexistence and at worst are stuck in a low-intensity active conflict.
In the country’s northwestern Idlib province, Assad’s forces are engaged in near-daily shelling along the frontlines and Russia has recently resumed airstrikes after a long lull.
Syrians who fled President Bashar al-Assad’s rule fear he may soon be able to choke off badly needed aid as his regime acts to establish sway over UN assistance into the rebel-held northwest, the last major bastion of the Syrian opposition.
A tussle at the UN Security Council over the aid operation has played to Assad’s advantage, with his ally Russia vetoing an extension of its mandate this week and paving the way for the regime to approve one itself – but on its terms.
The resolution to establish an Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria, adopted by the UN General Assembly at the end of June, marks a first, promising step to uncover the fate of over 130,000 people who have disappeared since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.
Most of them are believed to be detained or disappeared by the regime of Bashar al-Assad; according to human rights organisations, this is estimated to be about 85% of those unaccounted for. Others were kidnapped by opposition groups and extremist groups like the Islamic State (IS).
Many Syrians were incensed last week at the appearance of Bashar al-Assad at the Arab League, twelve years after he was suspended due to his brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.
On the day of the Arab League meeting, thousands of Syrians took to the streets in over 15 towns across northern Syria in mass protests against the decision. One protest in Idlib was held under a large banner that read: “Syria is not represented by Assad the criminal”.
After weeks of haranguing Russian military commanders, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on 24 June ordered his fighters to take over the garrison city of Rostov-on-Don and head for Moscow, sparking fears of civil war in Russia.
Almost as quickly as it began the mutiny was quelled, with Prigozhin and his fighters given the option of an uncertain Belarusian exile or signing up to the Russian military, although the outcome of this ultimatum remains unclear.
According to a recent report, the Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad has deliberately attacked makeshift camps housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in north-west Syria. Additionally, on Saturday, Iraqi authorities reportedly deported three Syrian Kurdish refugees back to Syria after arresting them due to residency issues. This action was taken despite concerns about the safety and security of these individuals in their home country.
Millions of lives at stake. Families in dire need of international aid. Russia plays games with them all at the UN Security Council. Repeat every six months until further notice. Welcome to the Syria debate at the UN.
This has been the case ever since 2014. The UNSC authorizes the UN to use one Turkish-Syria border crossing to deliver aid — just one, at Bab Al-Hawa — while rejecting attempts to open others, as was the case previously. The Ya’roubia border crossing from Iraq into northeast Syria has been closed since January 2020. As a result of the earthquakes that hit southern Turkiye and northwest Syria in February, the Syrian government did make the rare move to allow an extra two border crossings with Turkiye to be used. This approval runs out on Aug. 13.
Benghazi Update:
In a dramatic turn of events on June 11th, 2023, the notorious terrorist Ziad Balaam, a key figure in the infamous 2012 Benghazi attacks on the U.S. Mission and CIA Annex, was detained and subsequently deported from Istanbul Airport in Turkey back to Libya. Ziad is now barred from returning to Turkey. This shocking development comes after years of Ziad enjoying freedom of movement in Turkey, adding a surprising twist to the long-standing pursuit of justice for the lives lost.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection against the Russian Ministry of Defence (MOD) last month created massive confusion. The rebellion raised many questions about what might come next for the war in Ukraine and the future of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.