Latest Hakan Fidan News
EU ministers will consider easing sanctions on Syria at a meeting later in January
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria's new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last...
Middle East latest: Israel launches new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
Israel’s military says it carried out new airstrikes in Yemen against what it said were Houthi rebel targets. Its statement Friday said fighter jets struck “on the western coast and inland Yemen,” a day after the Houthis launched three drones at Israel. The U.S. military bombed Yemen earlier...
Turkey insists on two states for ethnically divided Cyprus as the UN looks to restart peace talks
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Turkey on Wednesday again insisted on a two-state peace accord in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of restarting formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. ...
Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill 17 people in Gaza, nearly all of them women or kids
Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people late Tuesday, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry and hospital officials said. Five kids were killed as they sheltered together in the same tent, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the...
Syria's embassy in Lebanon suspends services as Lebanon hands over former Syrian army officers
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services Saturday, a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports. Also on Saturday, Lebanese authorities handed over dozens of...
Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive
QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led SDF is...
Middle East latest: Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least 7 people, including 4 kids
An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in central Gaza killed at least seven Palestinians, including four children, and wounded 16 other people Friday afternoon, health officials said. Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian...
Middle East latest: Syrians celebrate Assad's fall as US seeks a peaceful political transition
Thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ main square and a historic mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown, a major symbolic moment for the country’s dramatic change of power. The rebels are now working to establish security and start a...
Syrians cheer end of 50 years of Assad rule at first Friday prayers since government fell
DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly...
Hundreds of Syrians line up at Turkish border crossings as Erdogan expects more to go home
CILVEGOZU BORDER CROSSING, Turkey (AP) — Hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at two border crossings in southern Turkey on Monday, eagerly anticipating their return home following the fall of Bashar Assad’s government. Many arrived at the Cilvegozu and Oncupinar gates at...
