Was Syria intervention worth it for Russia?

While Moscow's military involvement in the Syria crisis has led to an increasingly important role for Russia in regional and global politics, critics wonder whether or not the costs will outweigh the benefits.

Syria

Has Turkey’s regional power grab come to an end?

Turkey is forfeiting its claims for regional supremacy by joining the Saudi-led Sunni alliance and making friendly overtures toward Israel.

Saudi Arabia

Has Ankara abandoned Iraq’s Turkmens?

Shiite Turkmens of Iraq, feeling that Turkey has failed them, are fighting with Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units.

Iraq

Iraqis see fake Syrian passport as golden ticket to Europe

Iraqis are buying forged Syrian passports to try to increase their chances of winning asylum in European countries.

Iraq

First the Middle East, now Central Asia slipping away from Turkey

Having lost influence in the Middle East, Turkey finds itself increasingly isolated from Central Asia and the Caucasus after its dust-up with Russia in Syria.

Turkey

Saudi-Iranian crisis complicates Ankara’s regional plans

Islamists and secularists alike want Turkey to stay out of the Iranian-Saudi conflict.

Saudi Arabia

Three faiths, three commanders

The Popular Mobilization Units, initially identified as a Shiite militia, is changing the course of the battles in Iraq with participation of Sunnis and Christians.

Iraq

Is Turkey heading to partition?

Turkey is losing Kurdish minds and hearts at a dramatic pace — the first outcome of the war raging in the Kurdish movement’s urban strongholds amid unprecedented destruction and civilian deaths.

Turkey

HDP leader says Ankara has 'neither the power nor means' to eliminate Kurdish movement

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Selahattin Demirtas, Turkey’s top Kurdish politician, claims the Kurds in the Middle East are on an irreversible path “toward liberation and sovereignty building.”

Syria

Is Saudi Arabia next target of Islamic State?

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls for Saudi uprising against "apostate tyrants"; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan’s policies contribute to Turkey’s growing isolation in the region.

Saudi Arabia

Thousands of Turks stranded at Iraqi border

Thousands of people were left stranded in Iraq when Turkey closed the Habur crossing following the imposition of curfews in the nearby towns of Cizre and Silopi.

Iraq

Diyarbakir's Christians suffer in margins of Turkey-PKK war

Diyarbakir's Christians, many of them ethnic Armenians, have been caught up in the violence between the Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Turkey