Israel's reluctance to embrace lessons of the Holocaust

Against the backdrop of Holocaust Memorial Day, Israelis are debating whether the state should act to defend Syrian citizens from chemical attacks and how it has responded in the past toward genocides and ethnic cleansing.

Israel

Erdogan rebuffs Moscow’s call to hand Afrin to Syrian government

Russia wants Turkey to hand control of Afrin province to Damascus, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the territory will be returned to local residents at Ankara’s discretion.

Syria

Turkey to lower price of citizenship for foreign investors

Disappointed by the impact of a citizenship incentive offered to foreign homebuyers last year, Ankara is expected to lower the bar from $1 million to $300,000.

Turkey

Erdogan vows to continue global manhunt for Gulen affiliates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told supporters that his government will not stop pursuing those it claims are responsible for the 2016 failed coup attempt despite criticism and anger over unauthorized seizures of individuals and their forced repatriation to Turkey.

Turkey

How will Sinjar crisis end as tensions mount between Baghdad, Ankara?

Ankara's insistence on combating the Kurdistan Workers Party may push Baghdad to take the lead on cleansing northern Iraq of the Kurdish militia, a scenario that presents a new internal crisis in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

Iraq

Culture alert: Gaza conflict spills over to cinema festivals

Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival has invited Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi as its guest of honor, while, farther west, Palestinian artists are boycotting the Istanbul Film Festival for refusing to drop an Israeli-government-backed sponsor, Art Israel.

Palestine

Turkey’s economic woes open cracks in government ranks

Amid failing efforts to halt the slump of the Turkish lira, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior Cabinet members appear increasingly at loggerheads over how to keep the economy afloat.

Turkey

Russia sees benefit of nudging Turkey on to Manbij in Syria

Despite their divergent strategic goals, the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey have agreed to work together in Syria while further excluding the United States from the decision-making process.

Syria

Turkey’s top business body pushes for more gender equality in TV series

The top business body in Turkey finds gender bias in TV series that reproduces traditional stereotypes — and aims to help correct it.

Turkey

Turkish TV paints Kurds as villains

Turkish audiences watch TV series more regularly than they watch the news — and the habit seems to be making Turkey's divide worse.

Turkey

Ankara summit focuses on Syria's fate once war ends

The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey reassured each other that they are the "big three" of the Syrian peace talks and discussed their mission to resolve the civil war.

Syria

Rumors of Turkish deputy PM's departure spook markets

The Turkish lira took a tumble amid reports that Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister in charge of Turkey's economy, had resigned.

Turkey