Orientul Mijlociu

On June 29th, Syria formally recognized Russia’s proxy states, known as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic as sovereign nations, becoming the second country outside of Russia to do so. The unilateral decision by Bashir al Assad drew swift international condemnation and a formal split in diplomatic ties between Syria and Ukraine. Assad has become one of the most comfortable men in the world being shielded by the Kremlin, but his actions regarding Ukraine can very much backfire on his government in Syria.

The Crown Prince and de-facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), visited key regional countries ahead of the planned July 16 regional summit with President Biden.

MBS’s visit to Egypt and Jordan, both key allies of the Kingdom, as well as to rival Turkey (Türkiye), sought to coordinate regional stances ahead of the Biden visit.

President Joe Biden also downplayed his expected meetings with Saudi leaders, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

President Joe Biden said Thursday the purpose of his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia is not persuading the kingdom to boost oil output, but he has encouraged the Gulf region more broadly to help calm energy markets roiled by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

İsveç Başbakanı Magdalena Andersson, Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’ın açıkladığı gibi Türkiye’ye 73 kişiyi iade edip etmeyeceklerine dair soruları yanıtsız bıraktı.

Reuters’ın haberine göre Andersson “Sekiz yıldır bakanlık yapıyorum ve bugüne kadar pazarlık masasında konuşulanları hiç açıklamadım” dedi ve ekledi:

After a three-month-long suspension of the nuclear talks in Vienna, the U.S. and Iran appear set to resume diplomatic negotiations on June 28 in Doha, Qatar.

The Europeans will continue to act as messengers in Doha as they did during the talks in Vienna. In fact, this relaunch comes thanks to the shuttle diplomacy of the EU’s top foreign policy official, High Representative Josep Borrell.

On the eve of the NATO summit focusing on war against Russia in Ukraine as well as confronting China, top officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland agreed on Tuesday in Madrid to a trilateral memorandum of understanding allowing Stockholm’s and Helsinki’s entry into the military alliance.

JUST IN
The door is back open. After weeks of tension, Turkey finally dropped its objection to Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO as the Alliance kicked off its summit in Madrid on Tuesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan scored a face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden and spurred Stockholm and Helsinki to address his concerns about the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate, the People’s Defense Units (YPG), while NATO moved toward securing two new members. Our experts, weighing in from the summit in Spain and around the globe, dissect the deal.

Turkey lifted its opposition to allowing Sweden and Finland to join the NATO Western alliance. Turkey’s agreement came on Tuesday, less than a day before the opening of the NATO summit in Madrid, following talks between leaders of the three countries. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called it a “historic decision.” The two countries agreed to lift restrictions on selling weapons to Turkey, and Sweden agreed to respond to Turkish extradition requests of suspected militants.

Israel’s covert campaign to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program has rattled the Iranian leadership, resulting in a significant housecleaning in the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the armed forces. Ebrahim Jabbari, the head of the unit in charge of protecting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family, was replaced on June 27.

Ο σκληρός εκβιασμός Ερντογάν έπιασε, οδηγώντας σε μια ταπεινωτική, σε ορισμένα σημεία της, Συμφωνία με τη Σουηδία και τη Φινλανδία, που επιτρέπει στις δυο χώρες να ξεκινήσουν την ενταξιακή διαδικασία στο ΝΑΤO και προσφέρει στον Τούρκο ηγέτη την ευκαιρία να εμφανισθεί σήμερα στη Σύνοδο Κορυφής του ΝΑΤΟ ως ο «σωτήρας» από το αδιέξοδο στο οποίο ο ίδιος είχε οδηγήσει τη Συμμαχία.