Ankara needs to explain its turnaround in dealings with PKK

As confrontations persist between Turkish government forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party, the government has remained mum about the reasons for the breakdown of the Kurdish peace process.

Syria

Syrian Shiites take up arms in support of Assad's army

Syria's tiny Shiite community is taking greater steps toward arming itself as the civil war grinds on.

Syria

Syrian mortar shells sow fear in Jordan border town

Many residents of Ramtha, northern Jordan, are calling for military action to contain the violence in Syria that is spilling over onto their city, where mortars fall on houses and parents are afraid to send their children to school.

Palestine

Why did it take Saudi Arabia 20 years to catch Khobar Towers bomber?

Reports have emerged that Saudi Arabia is holding Ahmed Ibrahim al-Mughassil, a Saudi Shiite who masterminded the 1996 attack on US military housing in Khobar that left 19 servicemen dead.

Saudi Arabia

Has Syria's Arab-Kurdish rivalry reached a breaking point?

The establishment of a safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border is likely to further deepen the divide between the Arabs and Kurds in the area.

Syria

Is Erdogan afraid of poking the IS bear?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has done little to censor the latest Islamic State video criticizing his government; does this mean that the ruling AKP could stand to benefit from publicizing the threat posed by the group?

Syria

Is Nusra cooperating with Syrian opposition to support establishing safe zone on Syria-Turkey border?

While the establishment of a safe zone along the Syria-Turkey border promises better living conditions for Syrian refugees, the politics and security concerns involved portend thinning prospects.

Syria

Syrian official slams UN envoy's report

According to information a Syrian official shared with Al-Monitor, it doesn’t seem the report on Syria that UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura submitted to the Security Council recently will have long-lasting effects on the ground.

Saudi Arabia

Syria’s lords of war

Car dealer and amateur astronomer Hatim Ali Staiti became a warlord and now commands a notorious militia known for fighting for the regime.

Syria

Kidnapped Lebanese soldiers spared despite arrest of Salafist cleric

The Lebanese General Security’s arrest of Ahmad al-Assir raised concerns about the life of the kidnapped soldiers in the Bekaa, although a security official confirms that there are no apparent ties between Assir and Jabhat al-Nusra, which is holding the soldiers hostage.

Lebanon

Security Council: Syria 'largest humanitarian crisis in the world'

UN, Russia and Iran coordinate new diplomatic effort on Syria; what did Zarif tell Nasrallah?; Egyptian government rejects mediation with Muslim Brotherhood; did US-trained force coordinate with Jabhat al-Nusra?

Qatar

Will Jordan agree to set up a 'safe zone' on Syrian border?

Jordan is considering the option of establishing a safe zone along its border with Syria, amid lack of US support for Turkey’s attempts to do the same on its southern border.

Jordan