Meeting Between Syrian and Turkish Intelligence Chiefs Yields Unsatisfactory Results

Intelligence Online reported that Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk have met again under Russian auspices, according to al-Modon.

Intelligence Online reported that the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, has held a new meeting with the head of the Syrian regime’s intelligence service, Ali Mamlouk. The meeting occurred under Russia’s auspices.

Recap: Israel Intensifies Attacks on Syria

For the second time in just a week, Israel targeted the Aleppo International Airport last Tuesday. A message to Bashar al-Assad?

For the second time in just a week, Israel targeted the Aleppo International Airport last Tuesday. This second attack comes amid an intensification of Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria. Already on August 31st, Israeli strikes targeted the Damascus countryside only two hours after an attack on the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport, resulting in material damage. The strikes are believed to have targeted Iranian warehouses and supply lines. Recently, Ram Ben-Barak, the chairman of the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign affairs and defence committee, told Israeli media that the strikes had been a signal to al-Assad. “The attack meant that certain planes would not be able to land, and that a message was relayed to Assad: If planes whose purpose is to encourage terrorism land, Syria’s transport capacity will be harmed,” he said, according to al-Jazeera.

Erdogan: ‘Without Turkiye, NATO is weak’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Friday that “without Turkiye, NATO is weak,” Turkish media reported.

As Erdogan spoke to journalists following Friday prayer in Istanbul, he commented on NATO’s removal of a tweet about Turkish Victory Day (marked on 30 August) following a Greek complaint.

Russia demands Iran remove its militias from Western Syria, amid increasing Israel airstrikes

Russia has demanded that Iran remove its forces and militias from areas in western Syria in order to avoid further airstrikes from neighbouring Israel, according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Citing a source reportedly close to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the outlet reported that in a meeting on Wednesday between three Russian officials and their Iranian counterparts at the Hama military airport, Moscow “demanded that the Iranians evacuate” their military positions near Hama and the coastal city of Tartous.

Saudi Arabia’s power and global influence are wasted on one man

It takes just a few seconds to post a tweet, but for one woman in Saudi Arabia it has resulted in a 45-year prison sentence which has shocked ordinary citizens across the kingdom. Nourah Bint Saeed Al-Qahtani was convicted in the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court on charges of using the internet to violate public order by sending out tweets critical of the regime.

Insiders reveal how Erdogan tamed Turkey’s newsrooms

From an office tower in Ankara, Turkish officials shape the nation’s news, media insiders say – always to President Tayyip Erdogan’s advantage.

When President Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law suddenly quit as finance minister in late 2020, four staff in Turkey’s leading newsrooms said they received a clear direction from their managers: don’t report this until the government says so.