Iran boosts Hamas rocket capacity

Congress is skeptical of extending of Iran talks; Iran has a hand in Gaza; acrimony between Egypt and Hamas is hindering a cease-fire agreement; and the Islamic State using the Turkish Consulate in Mosul as its headquarters.

Palestine

Turkey makes strides on deficit reduction

Turkey’s current account deficit, a long-standing economic hardship, has dropped to $52.5 billion, already beating the government's year-end target.

Turkey

Erdogan ignores market in crusade against interest rates

The Turkish prime minister and the minister of economy are pushing to dramatically cut interest rates, though Turkey's Central Bank has expressed reservations.

Turkey

Erdogan turns blind eye to online hate speech

Anti-Semitic tweets by the pop star Yildiz Tilbe have found support within some Justice and Development Party (AKP) quarters while the government maintains an official silence.

Palestine

With Iraqi roads blocked, demand for flights from Baghdad soars

The continued instability in Iraq is forcing residents to flee. With land borders blocked by fighting, people are forced to wait more than a month for plane tickets.

Iraq

Was Turkey’s corruption probe a 'coup attempt'?

The assertion that the December corruption probe in Turkey was an attempt to bring down the government is a Machiavellian notion that places political goals above the principle of justice.

Turkey

Turkey’s LGBT fight uphill but not hopeless battle

While Turkey’s LGBT community faces significant challenges, events such as this year’s Gay Pride Parade in Istanbul and Turkey’s first transsexual beauty pageant indicate small yet significant steps are being made to secure LGBT rights.

Turkey

Barzani: Iraqi Kurds keeping their options open

In an interview with Al-Monitor, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani speaks about the current crisis and doesn’t rule out the right to self-determination if unification efforts fail.

Iraq

Islamic State moves to capture another Turkish border crossing

The Islamic State is attacking Kobani canton, or Ain al-Arab, in an attempt to encircle the Kurdish autonomous region in Syria and capture a third crossing to Turkey.

Iraq

Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists

Having lost the proxy war it waged against Syria, Turkey now faces a potential threat to its own peace and stability by Turkish jihadists returning from Syria.

Iraq

Push for Kurdish independence divides Iraqi Kurds

Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani's call for independence from Iraq has drawn criticism from Iraqi Kurdish politicians who fear a Kurdish state would become a Turkish vassal state.

Iraq

Syrian refugees aggravate Turkey’s unemployment problem

Syrian refugees working illegally at low wages are exacerbating already severe unemployment in Turkey.

Syria