Tehran takes a hard stand as Xi Jinping discovers the Persian Gulf can be a diplomatic minefield.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the first Chinese Consulate-General in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on 21 December, Ambassador Chang Hua affirmed China’s support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
On 12 December, under the pretext of environmentalism, dozens of state-backed “eco-activists” from Azerbaijan blocked the only land corridor connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The blockade created a humanitarian crisis for the 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, cutting them off from the outside world. This is not the first time Baku has taken such a provocative action. Azerbaijan has long been pushing for the creation of the “Zangezur corridor” to connect itself to close ally Turkiye through southern Armenia, thereby cutting off the strategic Armenia-Iran border.
This report will review some of the history and ideology of the Turkish organization Ülkü Ocakları (“Idealist Hearths”) also known as the Bozkurtlar (“Grey Wolves”) before examining the actions of its leadership and members as recorded in open sources. These activities include: fighting in Syria and Azerbaijan outside of conventional Turkish military forces; praising those killed from official organization outlets; shipments of supplies to armed groups in Syria; and praise from official outlets for Shamil Basayev, a chechen terrorist leader who directed dozens of attacks in Russia that killed hundreds of civilians. The Ülkü Ocakları is an arm of the Milliyetçi Halk Partisi (MHP), which is the smaller of two parties in a coalition governing the country, the other being President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves round the world. As our look ahead to 2023 shows, several other crises loom as well.
Will he or won’t he? This time last year, that was the question. Russian President Vladimir Putin had massed almost two hundred thousand troops on Ukraine’s borders. U.S. intelligence warned that Russia was preparing for all-out war. All the signs pointed to an assault, bar one: it seemed unthinkable.
SDF Commander tells Asharq Al-Awsat he won’t visit Damascus before conditions for political solution are available.
Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said the American administration of former President Donald Trump “betrayed” its allies in the SDF when it did not oppose the Turkish infiltration in Syria in late 2019. In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, he revealed that the current administration has prevented Türkiye from carrying out a new operation in Syria.
U.S. forces have received from an opposition military faction the body of ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, according to al-Modon.
U.S. forces have received from an opposition military faction the body of ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, who was killed in a military operation by opposition factions in the city of Jassem, north of Daraa, in mid-October.
Washington hopes to be able to deploy along direct lines of contact with Turkish forces in northern Raqqa governorate, according to Athr Press.
The United States has been seeking to start implementing a plan based on the reformation of the Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade faction, which has been dissolved since June 2018. Under the plan, Washington hopes to be able to deploy along direct lines of contact with Turkish forces in northern Raqqa governorate, which would satisfy Ankara’s desire to push back Kurdish units 30 kilometers into Syrian territory from the border.
The Syrian regime has sent military reinforcements to areas under the control of the SDF, according to al-Souria Net.
The Syrian regime has sent military reinforcements to areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, where Turkey is threatening to carry out a ground military operation.
The UN Security Council has condemned terrorist attacks in Iraq that have left 17 dead amid a surge in violence in the country.
ISIS terrorists killed nine federal police officers in an ambush on Sunday in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province.
Dozens of Iranian people arrested at recent protests either have been sentenced to death or have faced charges such as “armed insurrection against the regime (Baghi)”, “enmity against God (Moharebeh)”, or “spreading corruption on the earth”. Charges which may result in death penalty. At the time of this writing, 2 protestors have been executed, 11 others have been sentenced to death and 47 others are facing charges that could lead to death sentences. This report provides the legal case details of 58 of these individuals.