Newsletter: Daily Briefing Syria, Israel hold US-mediated talks Pakistan’s Munir arrives in Tehran; major UAE economic delegation to visit Beirut; and more. By Ezgi Akin In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO
Analysis Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact Ankara views Israel’s latest strikes in Syria as part of a broader effort to curb Turkey’s military influence in Damascus and a challenge to its regional defense partnerships. By Barin Kayaoglu In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security
Analysis Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines As Washington pushes a new deconfliction mechanism between Turkey and Israel, the Jewish state shows little incentive to accept tighter constraints on its freedom of action in Syria, experts say. By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist
Newsletter: Turkey Turkey's Mecca Pact strategy By Amberin Zaman Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture
Analysis Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
Newsletter: Daily Briefing Iran dismisses Trump’s ‘Economic D-Day’ threat By Ezgi Akin In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO
Erdogan in NATO: Russia’s ‘Trojan horse’? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from London to Ankara as a “loser” who failed to achieve anything at the NATO summit. Turkey
Turkey’s taxpayers in dark over bill of big investment projects Multibillion-dollar investment projects, built as public-private partnerships, have begun to put major burdens on Turkey’s budget, but taxpayers, the parliament and even auditing authorities remain in the dark on financial risks that might haunt the country for years. Turkey
White House whips Senate allies to block Armenian genocide resolution The White House has so far succeeded in keeping the Senate from passing a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, but the Trump administration is slowly running out of options. Turkey
US pushes to reintegrate militants after Islamic State fight A senior State Department official told Al-Monitor the administration is working to help Middle Eastern and African countries reintegrate thousands of fighters who joined the Islamic State and its affiliates. Saudi Arabia
Womens' groups welcome conviction for student's murder The rape and murder of university student Sule Cet in Ankara last year spurred activists to demand justice. Some say even harsh sentencing will not stem the rising murder rate of women. Turkey
Why is delivery of S-400 missiles to Turkey delayed? The testing of the battle management and multimode engagement for the Russian-built S-400 air defense missile system in Ankara was both a technical necessity as well as an expression of diplomatic determination for full activation of the S-400s. Turkey
Syrian activist’s rooftop lessons to kids interrupted by Turkey's operation Salman Ibrahim's Bread Ways drama lessons take Syrian children to the rooftops of repurposed buildings the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib to teach them critical thinking. Syria
Middle East lobbyists pay op-ed writers to sell their message A Kuwaiti firm and an armed Iranian opposition group are some of the latest examples of lobbyists paying for positive press coverage. Kuwait
SDF woos Syrian Kurdish rivals in wake of Turkish assault Could the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Iraqi Kurdish-backed Kurdish National Council, long at loggerheads, come to an accord in the wake of Turkey's invasion of Kurdish-administered areas of Syria? Iraq
Erdogan drops block on NATO defense plan as trust issues linger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his threat to block a defense plan for the Baltic states and Poland, though disagreements persist among NATO allies. Turkey
Istanbul's Arnavutkoy embracing change for centuries Arnavutkoy, Istanbul's chic district, struggles to keep its multiculturalism and serenity through the 21st century. Turkey
Turkey seeks to refresh NATO ties to balance Russia Turkey seems to have failed to get all it wanted from the NATO summit in London, but even an incomplete outcome meets its purpose of balancing ties with Russia by refreshing ties with NATO. Syria