Newsletter: City Pulse Istanbul Nisantasi beyond the shop windows Also this week: Hopdaddy burgers, Ara Guler’s photographs and Istanbul’s apartment stories. By Nazlan Ertan In Izmir and Istanbul, reporting on culture
Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth The Costa Rican candidate received 12 encourage votes in Thursday's UN Security Council straw poll. United Arab Emirates
Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Turkey
Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift? A dispute over religious dress in schools has exposed deeper tensions between the two allies, with energy, arms sales, Israel and financial interests adding to the strain. Turkey
Christians In the Levant Grow Fearful Over US Syria Strike Christians in Syria and Lebanon congregate to discuss the implications for their community should the United States follow through with its plans to carry out military strikes on Syria. Lebanon
Five Lessons From Turkey’s 1998 Standoff With Syria Revisiting the 1998 confrontation with Syria over Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan could help decision makers in Ankara avoid the pitfalls of intervention. Syria
Military Strike on Syria May Put Turkey at Risk Turkey may become the target of Syrian retaliation and face domestic unrest in the case of a US strike on Syria. Syria
Syrian Kurdish Party Struggles With Dissent, Exodus In Amuda, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has imposed a resolution banning Syrian Kurdish emigration after last month's mass exodus in pursuit of autonomy. Iraq
Egypt's Journalists Face Violence In Wake of Army Takeover Following the coup that toppled former President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s journalists have faced abuse at the hands of state security. Egypt
The Master’s Saga: Erdogan’s Documentary A documentary dedicated to the life of Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan reveals the fault lines in Turkish politics and society. Turkey
Turkey Calls for Help Receiving Syrian Refugees Turkey's foreign minister is concerned that another chemical weapons attack could increase the number of refugees from neighboring countries. Syria
Welcome to Post-Gezi Turkey Developments in the aftermath of mass anti-government protests in Turkey stoke misgivings over the future of Turkish democracy. Turkey
Turkey’s Kurdish Strategy Muddled By Talk of US Syria Strike A slowdown in the peace process with the PKK and anticipation of a US military strike has pushed the Rojava, or Western Kurdistan, opening to the back burner. Syria
US Strike in Syria Won't Affect Stalled Turkey-PKK Peace Talks Turkey-PKK negotiations are already stalled. Syria
Israel's Checkpoint Princesses The Israeli women of Machsom Watch mediate between Palestinians traveling through checkpoints and the Israeli soldiers who operate them. Palestine
Egypt's Buffer-Zone Move Shocks Hamas Egypt's decision to establish a buffer zone on the Gaza border has raised Palestinian fears of a possible armed confrontation. Palestine