Middle Orient

Hundreds of displaced families are returning to—and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters are withdrawing from—the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, after a US-mediated cease-fire there ended a week of violent clashes with government forces. Damascus has now taken control of the city, after a week that highlighted foundational …

Since December 28, protests have erupted across all thirty-one of Iran’s provinces, as the Iranian people have once again demonstrated their courage and desire for change from the regime. The demonstrations were initially sparked by currency devaluation and economic hardship, but quickly morphed into a broader cause calling for systemic …

Toplines The Iranian regime views the protests as a proto-revolution that it must crush completely and immediately. Some Iranians are resisting the regime, in some cases violently, which reinforces the regime’s view that the protests retain the potential to transform into a revolution. The regime will likely succeed in quelling …

La ruse favorite des partisans d’un changement de régime est de faire croire que la population du pays ciblé forme un bloc idéologique monolithique. Tous les Iraniens détestent leur gouvernement, tous les Vénézuéliens voulaient se libérer de Maduro, etc. Ils utilisent constamment cette tactique. Le problème, c’est que cela les …

In Gaza, lethal hostilities continued to subside, while Israel consolidated and expanded its control; protests rocked Iran; and Gulf proxy rivalries fuelled a political storm in southern Yemen. Gaza: Lethal hostilities continue to subside, while Israel consolidates and expands control Since taking effect on 10 October, the ceasefire in Gaza …

Turkish president says security and diplomatic channels with Israel and historical ties to the Palestinians put Turkey in unique position Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that an international force in Gaza would not gain the trust of the Palestinian people without Turkey’s participation. In a Bloomberg interview published on …

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan  Fidan says Ukraine’s allies have made progress towards handing Black Sea naval security mission to Turkey Turkey is likely to assume the naval mission for Black Sea security as part of the security guarantees given to Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists following the …

Ibrahim Kalin says intelligence diplomacy delivering results from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa as Ankara deepens its trade and military ties with the continent Turkey is prioritising Africa, where strategic competition is accelerating, the director of its National Intelligence Organisation Ibrahim Kalin declared on Tuesday, saying that Ankara …

Geopolitics is most dangerous not when it erupts, but when it reorganises quietly — when the ground shifts beneath familiar alliances while elites continue to speak the language of yesterday. The Gulf today is in precisely such a moment. What once masqueraded as a coherent bloc has fractured into rival …

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Sunday that it has issued instructions for all government bodies and institutions in the Gaza Strip to prepare for a full handover of authority to an independent Palestinian technocratic body. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a televised statement that the decision followed …