It is now estimated that 60,000 people have lost their lives in Syria’s 22-month, three-way proxy war between Bashar al-Assad’s regime, West-backed rebel forces, and Kurdish troops. This figure is the result of a cross-checking of the names of the dead by the United Nations and suggests that previous numbers...

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Turkey has reportedly lifted long-standing objections that have kept Israel from participating as a partner in NATO activities, albeit non-military ones. Ankara has prevented Israel from participating in NATO activities since May 2010, and has reportedly been under extreme pressure from other NATO members, especially the United States, to reduce...

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Jordanian officials are lashing out at Turkey over Ankara’s role in funding and arming the increasingly hardline Islamist rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Suggesting that Syria may devolve into a “black hole that sucks Jihadists from around the world,” the Jordanian officials blasted Ankara for...

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Washington, December 21 — Turkey is trying to coerce Israel by essentially holding the country’s Jewish community hostage, according to foreign policy experts and Turkish Jews living beyond the country’s borders. The warnings come in the aftermath this week of an announcement that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) was opening...

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Newly discovered natural gas reserves off Israel’s coast will contribute to greater-than-expected economic growth in 2013, according to statements issued by Israel’s Finance Ministry. A joint U.S.-Israel consortium is expected to start drilling for the gas in 2013, extracting some of the estimated 274 billion cubic meters of reserves from...

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Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi declared on Saturday that the presence of NATO anti-missile assets in Turkey was “very dangerous for the future of mankind,” particularly singling out Europe as threatened. A planned visit to Turkey by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was subsequently canceled, and increasingly pitched...

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Turkey’s Minister of Economy Mehmet Zafer Caglayan has issued defiant statement, conveyed by Iranian mediato the effect that his country will continue trading with Iran despite international efforts to isolate the regime. Turkey’s economy is increasingly reliant on trading gold for Iranian energy, both to ensure growth and for balancing...

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A U.S.-based human rights organization is blasting Turkey for topping the list of countries where journalists are persecuted and imprisoned. The Committee to Protect Journalists also identified Iran and China as among those keeping behind bars a global total of 232 writers, editors, and photojournalists. The group reserved specific disapprobation...

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NATO looks ready to deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries to Turkey, as dangerous signs are emerging that Syria is preparing to utilize chemical weapons. If confirmed the Patriot deployment may complicate ties between Turkey and Russia, which have already been strained by Russia’s backing of the Damascus regime and its allies against...

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Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that he plans to visit Gaza next week. The move comes as foreign policy analysts and journalists are pointing to the negative effect that Erdogan’s “bombast” toward Israel has had on Ankara’s prestige and influence. Erdogan’s criticism of Israel’s Operation Pillar of...

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