
Latest Articles about Middle East

Tehran on the Brink of Procuring S-300 Missiles
The Russian-Iranian deal on advanced S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missiles may go ahead despite U.S. and Israeli objections. This week the Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed government source confirming that the deal to sell Iran S-300 missiles had been “frozen” for several years, but Russia... MORE

China’s Persian Gulf Strategy: Israel and a Nuclearizing Iran 2009
On September 15, a task force co-chaired by Senator Charles Robb (D-VA) and Senator Daniel Coats (R-IN) at the Bipartisan Policy Center released a report [1], calling on President Barack Obama to devise a tougher strategy to prevent a nuclear Iran. The subtitle of the... MORE

Television Drama Strains Turkish-Israeli Ties
The strains in Turkish-Israeli relations have increased over the past week, raising questions about the durability of the strategic relationship between the two countries.Earlier last week, Ankara’s decision to cancel the international dimension of the multinational Anatolian Eagle air defense exercise dealt a serious blow... MORE
Turkey Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreements with Syria and Iraq
As Turkish-Israeli relations reveal fresh signs of tension, Ankara appears to be moving closer to its two Arab neighbors, Syria and Iraq. On October 13, the first ministerial meeting of the Turkey-Syria High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council began in the Syrian city of Aleppo, and then... MORE

Postponed Military Exercise Tests Turkish-Israeli Cooperation
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

Moscow Rejects Accusations of Assisting Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program
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

Attempt on the Life of Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Marks the Return of Salafi-Jihadi Operations to Lebanon
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

Turkey Pursues an Intermediary Role Between Iran and the West
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

Exclusive Interview with the Head of the Militant Arm of the Separatist Group PKK
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 Pursues Economic Integration with Iraq
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