Orientul Mijlociu

Turkey’s Pragmatic Policy In The Balkans Has Its Limits – OpEd

The recent crisis in Bosnia has highlighted the adaptability – and limitations – of Turkish policy in the Balkans.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hosted in Ankara Milorad Dodik, the Serbian member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, to discuss the political crisis in Bosnia triggered by Dodik’s threat to abandon state institutions. At the beginning of November, Bosnia’s Bosniak leader, Bakir Izetbegovic, visited Erdogan in Istanbul to address the same issue.

Second murder in 24 hours | Female Iraqi refugee killed in “al-Hawl mini-state”

Al-Hasakah province: SOHR sources have reported a new assassination in al-Hawl camp in the far south-eastern region of al-Hasakah countryside, as gunmen of ISIS cells shot a female Iraqi refugee from Mosul dead in the camp’s fifth section.

It is worth noting that the number of murders committed in al-Hawl camp since the end of the first phase of the large-scale security campaign has reached 33, which indicates to alarming escalation of killings in the camp.

Erdogan Again Hints at Offensive Against Kurdish Forces in Syria

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to consolidate security lines on Turkey’s southern border with Syria, his latest hint of a potential offensive against American-backed Kurdish forces there.

“Turkey will defend its rights in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, will build the Istanbul Canal, and will merge its security lines across border,” Erdogan said Saturday in the western province of Canakkale.

In a changing Middle East, Hezbollah is losing relevance

Regional realignment is storming ahead in the run-up to November 29, the date set for the resumption of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the global powers in Vienna. This is being driven by sudden, major regional developments. This includes the alleged actions by Iran’s proxies in Iraq, such as an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi as well as Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon.

With previous power sharing arrangements likely to be replicated in Iraq and an exodus of NGOs, the future for Iraq looks depressingly similar.

On 7 November, outgoing Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt, casting a shadow over the country’s recent elections. While the attack remains unclaimed, pro-Iranian Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) groups are suspected of being involved following their party’s (the Fatah Alliance) rejection of the election results. The attack occurred only days after large demonstrations, held by Fatah supporters, turned violent last week in Baghdad. The protestors are claiming election fraud after the party lost a significant chunk of its parliamentary seats in the October 10 elections.

SOHR: 900 Syrian fighters return from Nagorno-Karabakh

More than 900 pro-Turkish Syrian fighters have returned to Syria after the end of fighting in the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, a British-based Syrian war monitor said Wednesday.

A November 9 truce ended more than a month of fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Baku’s control in a war in the 1990s.

SDF separatist forces between Turkey and Russia

On the evening of Tuesday 9 November, Turkish warplanes targeted separatist elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian city of Qamishli. The drone attack is not the first of its kind in the city, as it was preceded by similar attacks in the city and Ain Al-Arab (Kobani) before it.

Assassination in Idlib | Iranian jihadist killed by unknown

Idlib province: SOHR activists have reported new assassination took place in the past few hours in Idlib city against an Iranian jihadist by unknow gunmen in al-Sheikh Thols neighborhood in middle of Idlib city while he was leaving his house for praying al-Fajr.

Later, HTS security forces have cordoned off the scene of crime and told the body to unknown place.

Secret Document for Normalization of Ties with Damascus Includes Exit of Foreign Forces

Jordan’s document and its confidential addendum for normalizing ties with Damascus display that the final goal for Arab countries restoring their relationship with the Syrian capital is that foreign forces and fighters exit Syria.

According to the document, which Asharq Al-Awsat reviewed, US and International Coalition forces in northeastern Syria and Al-Tanf military base near borders with Jordan and Iraq would also need to withdraw from the war-torn country.