Ankara believes it has reaped strategic benefits from military involvement in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Yet it has paid a price as well, discomfiting both allies and adversaries. Now, Turkey hopes to rebuild ties so as to consolidate its new gains.
Relations between Brussels and Ankara – already strained by earlier crises over refugees – face an even bigger test as the number of Afghans fleeing westwards rapidly increases.
Thousands of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan and some other Asian countries, passing the Turkish-Iranian border, make regular new headlines in Turkey.
At least 76 people have been detained in connection with the rampage.
Millions of Syrians who found shelter in Turkey from the violence that has raged in their country since the start of the civil war there in 2011 are now facing growing hostility from their Turkish hosts amid a sharp economic downturn exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The brewing resentment toward an estimated 3.7 million Syrian refugees turned violent in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday night as hundreds of locals chanting slurs swarmed to the working-class suburb of Altindag and embarked on a vandalism spree, overturning cars, shattering windows and looting shops said to be owned by Syrians.
We believe that the principles of impartiality and neutrality are not synonymous with silence. When Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams witness extreme acts of violence against individuals or groups, or when access to lifesaving medical care is hindered, we may speak out publicly. Our decision to do so is always guided by our mission to alleviate suffering, protect life and health, and to restore respect for human beings and their fundamental human rights.
An explosion at the Latakia port in Syria on Tuesday left an unidentified ship on fire, according to local reports, with some suggesting that the affected vessel had been used to transfer Iranian oil to Syria in the past.
Smoke was seen billowing from a ship moored at Latakia port and identified by the TankerTrackers.com monitoring website as the Wisdom, a Panama-flagged, Beirut-registered vessel, which was previously targeted by a mysterious explosion this year.
Security forces affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forced gas stations to close in areas controlled by Turkish-backed factions and set up a temporary checkpoint there.
Well-informed sources told Al-Monitor that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s security apparatus has shut down several gas stations near the Ghazawiya crossing in the western countryside of Aleppo. The crossing separates the HTS-controlled areas in Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo from and the areas controlled by the Sham Legion, a faction affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.
CIA Director William Burns met with the new Israeli prime minister on Wednesday as talks to revive the landmark nuclear deal remained deadlocked.
CIA Director William Burns and Israeli Prime Naftali Bennett met in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to discuss Iran amid increased tensions over the faltering nuclear deal talks and a series of maritime incidents blamed on the Islamic Republic.
Regime shelling has killed four children in Syria’s last major rebel bastion in the northwest of the country, a Britain-based war monitor said Sunday.
The artillery fire late on Saturday hit a residential area in the south of the jihadist-dominated bastion of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leaders in Idlib are investing their money in various economic sectors, as part of money laundering operations to control resources and economic activity in their areas of control.
Prominent leaders in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Idlib and its surroundings in northwestern Syria, are seeking to invest their money in various economic sectors in the area. It seems that these efforts, which could amount to money laundering operations, are encouraged by the HTS leadership, which wants to have various sources of support to help it survive and increase its power and influence.
Executive Summary
The subject of Western sanctions on Syria is a divisive one among analysts and policymakers interested in ending the misery of the country’s citizens. The division comes at a time when, more than ever, the country needs a comprehensive policy that ends the agony of most Syrians. This study assesses the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed on the regime of Bashar al-Assad by conducting a comprehensive review of their history, evaluating shortcomings in the current setup, and recommending ways to move forward.