Turkey’s defense industry suffers setback but future remains promising

The Turkish defense industry saw a significant decline in its revenues last year according to newly released data, but companies in the sector remain optimistic about their growth prospects.

Turkey’s defense industry has been a rising star in the country’s economy in recent years, attracting well-established entrepreneurs and novices alike. Pro-government business people — in particular those eager to draw close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — have vied fiercely for a place in a sector where political dividends are as high as economic ones.

Ankara calls on EU to help Afghanistan’s neighbors

Turkey’s president told German President Steinmeier that the EU member states should provide swift assistance to Afghanistan’s neighbors to cope with irregular migration.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a call to the European Union to help Afghanistan’s neighbors cope with the Afghan refugee influx, warning against reliving the 2015 Syrian refugee wave.

China’s Jiangxi Copper to develop Mes Aynak when situation allows

Members of the Islamic Emirate were seen on Monday touring the Mes Aynak copper mine, which two Chinese companies had been developing.

China’s Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd said that it and the Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) were monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and would push forward with the development of the Mes Aynak copper mine when they could.

Arab Journalists, Columnists: Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood And Hizbullah Share A Similar Ideology

Following the Taliban’s recent rise to power in Afghanistan, articles in the Arab press, especially the Saudi and Emirati press, claimed that the Taliban shares many similarities with other extremist organizations in the Arab and Muslim world, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Hamas and Hizbullah. The articles claimed that the MB’s ideology, shaped by its ideologue Sayyid Qutb and its founder Hassan Al-Banna, which involves directing accusations of heresy against all Muslims who are not MB members, gave rise to the ideologies of other extremist Islamist organizations that emerged in later periods. This includes Al-Qaeda, whose leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri were influenced by the writings of Sayyid Qutb.

Amid escalation in Idlib, residents fear renewed Russian-backed offensive

Syrian government forces have stepped up their attacks against Idlib, causing civilian casualties as Russian warplanes continue to raid different areas of northwestern Syria on an almost daily basis.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sept. 7 that “a woman succumbed to her wounds sustained in artillery shelling carried out by the Syrian regime forces on al-Dabbit neighborhood in Idlib city. One of the fired shells also targeted a swimming pool and park located on the outskirts of the eastern city of Idlib, killing two and wounding five others.”

How MSF is fighting COVID-19 in Yemen

The war in Yemen is fueling a massive humanitarian crisis

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is seeing a dramatic influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in Aden and many other parts of the country.

“We are urging all medical humanitarian organizations already present in Yemen to rapidly scale up their COVID-19 emergency response,” said Raphael Veicht, MSF head of mission in Yemen. “International donors who cut their humanitarian funding to Yemen must also act quickly. All aspects of the COVID-19 intervention are lacking and need greater international support, from public health messaging, to vaccinations, to oxygen therapy—support is needed across the board.”