John Le Carré, a legendary author of espionage novels, described Lesbos as “a Greek island in the Aegean wholly surrounded by monstrous memories” in his bestselling thriller “A Perfect Spy.” The line between fiction and truth becomes murkier as tensions between Turkey and Greece over Lesbos, Samos, other Greek islands and other issues show no sign of abating and are likely to escalate.
Proponents of a moderate Islam that embraces tolerance, diversity, and pluralism may be betting on the wrong horse by supporting Muslim scholars on autocrats’ payroll.
Polling in the Middle East seems to confirm that state-sponsored clerics lack credibility.
Germany on Wednesday said it had resolved “almost all known cases” of its citizens stuck in Syrian jihadist camps, after announcing the repatriation of 12 people.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock released a statement announcing that seven children and four women returned to Germany on Wednesday night from the Roj camp in northeastern Syria.
Libya’s Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has defended a deal signed earlier this week with Turkey over oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean, which angered European nations.
The memorandum of understanding, three years after a controversial maritime border deal, sparked a sharp reaction from Greece as well as from Dbeibah’s rivals in Libya, where two administrations are grappling for power.
Saudi Arabia has been pushing for production cuts due to fluctuations in global oil prices.
Oil prices are at a three-week high following the decision by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers to cut production.
The price of Brent crude oil topped $94 a barrel today, the highest price since Sept. 14, according to market data.
Iraq’s oil reduction per the recent OPEC+ agreement will not affect the country’s revenues, according to Iraq’s oil minister.
During the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, which was held Oct. 5 at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the 23 member states decided to decrease oil production.
As Syrian and Russian attacks escalate in Idlib, the FSA-affiliated Jaysh al-Izza denied Russian reports that an airstrike at one of their sites in a displaced camp in the north killed some of their commanders.
Syrian government forces and Russia have recently renewed their ground and airstrikes on Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
Iraq’s political deadlock continues amid fear of a new wave of violence erupting in the streets.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with Kurdish leaders Monday as part of his campaign for a national dialogue to end the political deadlock.
The Caucasian community in Turkey is treading carefully in an initiative to help kinsmen fleeing Moscow’s military call-up, wary of coming off as encouraging draft evasion and angering Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal to Russia’s ethnic peoples to resist the Kremlin’s military call-up has reverberated beyond Russia’s borders, including in Turkey where a vibrant Caucasian diaspora has joined forces to help those fleeing conscription for the war in Ukraine.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHRO) announced that the number of people killed in the on-going protests in Iran reached “at least 154 people”. Among this number of deaths 9 were probably “children” and 63 are citizens of Zahedan.