Turkish-Israeli relations face a new test over Ankara's decision to change the format of a joint international military exercise to a national exercise. Following some Israeli officials' charges that the move was based on political motivations, the Turkish side called on Tel Aviv to behave... MORE

The Russian press has picked up a story first report in the Sunday Times from October 4, quoting Russian and Israeli sources, that the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had secretly visited Moscow last month to present President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin... MORE

Reports emerged on September 21 that Lebanon’s Forces de Sécurité Intérieure (FSI) had been placed on high alert in Beirut following the discovery of an alleged plot to assassinate Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni cleric, Grand Mufti Shaykh Muhammad Rashid Qabbani (al-Anba’a [Kuwait], September 21).  According... MORE

Ankara will intensify its diplomatic efforts this month in order to extend Turkey's foreign policy preferences into regions that it considers as its primary interest zone. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that he expects October to be a "month of peace," while Turkey facilitates... MORE

Murat Karayilan is the acting commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan - PKK) and chairman of the executive council of the Kurdish Democratic Confederation  (Koma Civaken Kurdistan - KCK). Karayilan, whose surname means “black snake,” joined the PKK in 1979, just a... MORE

Turkey and Iraq held the first ministerial meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Istanbul on September 17-18. To give substance to the HLSCC (EDM, August 12), eight Turkish and ten Iraqi ministers with responsibility for various portfolios gathered at a joint... MORE

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Turkey on September 16-17 as the special guest of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which the two countries signed landmark agreements to deepen their bilateral relations. Assad attended a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner on September 16, held in his... MORE

Multiple bombings targeting Iraq’s governmental ministries just outside central Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on August 19 left 95 people killed and over 600 others wounded, marking the single deadliest day in 18 months. The event forced the Iraqi government to reevaluate the country’s security sector,... MORE

Al-Qaeda’s recent attempt on the life of a Saudi royal suggests a change in tactics for an organization which has suffered substantial losses in the past few years. 23-year-old Abdullah Hassan Tali Asiri, a would-be suicide bomber listed on Saudi security’s list of most-wanted jihadis,... MORE