Middle Orient

“I want to thank the Kingdom of Bhutan and praise the decision to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel,” Ashkenazi said. Israel established full diplomatic relations with Bhutan for the first time on Saturday night.

An Assad regime-allied militia has bombed a regime headquarters in Daraa in revenge for the arrest of three militiamen, while two regime soldiers were killed in separate incidents reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara said it will “retaliate” for the sanctions on four top officials of Turkey’s defense procurement agency. The Trump administration on Monday unveiled limited sanctions on Turkey in response to the NATO ally’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system last year.

Iran is stirring up a diplomatic quarrel over a poem recited by Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his recent visit to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Tensions between Turkey and its historic regional frenemy Iran are rising over Azerbaijan, the arrests of several Turkish citizens accused of links to an Iranian drug baron …

The man arrested is suspected of transferring intelligence on sea operations to the second man, who worked at the Turkish consulate in Rhodes. Two men from Rhodes were arrested Saturday night, accused of being Turkish spies, as reported by Ynet and AFP.

Ankara hopes to play ‘good cop’ for incoming Biden administration. After a year of invasions, attacks, aggression, ethnic-cleansing, using Syrian refugees as mercenaries, buying Russian defense technology and working with Iran to oppose the US role in Syria, Turkey’s regime is trying to change its tune to sabotage Israel’s growing …

The report named Maj.-Gen. Ramadan Ramadan as incoming commander of the 1st Corps, replacing Lua’a Ali Ahmad Asa’ad. The Syrian Arab Army has made changes to the leadership of the 1st Corps and its operations center in the southern part of the country, following threats to its leadership by the …

Through a historical analysis of Turkey’s military intervention in Libya, this essay identifies the various motivations, reasonings, and threat perceptions underlying Ankara’s current Libya strategy.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: SOHR activists have monitored Turkish-backed factions amassing their affiliated members, this evening, in Jendires district in the western countryside of Afrin, after Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement had arrested a person from Rif Dimashq following a conflict over possession of a house he living in. it …