Section: Middle East Monitor (Kuwait)
Russia’s strategy in the Mediterranean may boost US support for Turkey
The US has upped the stakes in response to the growing Russian influence in Libya, having sought to maintain a balance between the parties to the conflict and avoid siding with one at the expense of the other. For a full year Washington was content with demanding an end to the assault on the capital Tripoli by forces loyal to Field Marshal...
Turkey to gradually resume international flights to 40 countries
Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoglu, said yesterday that Ankara will gradually resume international flights to 40 countries from 10 June. In a statement, the minister said the first international flights will transport passengers to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Qatar and...
Russia’s rising dawn over Libya, or is it another Syria in the making?
Russia’s role in the Libyan crisis has been rather slow to develop, because Moscow was deeply busy with Syria’s civil war. Sometimes, Russia even appeared disinterested in Libya from the start. In 2011, as the West prepared to intervene militarily in the North African country, it needed a United Nations (UN) Security Council...
Will blurring the line between war and peace help Russia in Libya?
The ongoing war in Libya took a dramatic turn recently exposing the extent of foreign involvement in the conflict, notably by Russia. Hundreds of Russian “military contractors” — aka mercenaries —were evacuated from the country last Monday after retreating from the fighting on the front lines near Tripoli. Following the announcement of this...
Turkey: Baklava production falls 50% due to coronavirus epidemic
The novel coronavirus has hit Turkish baklava makers, who generally spend busy days making the world-famous Turkish dessert ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr, Anadolu Agency reports. Orders and sales in Baklava have significantly dropped during the epidemic, Mehmet Yildirim, head of the Association of Baklava and Dessert Producers in Turkey, told Anadolu...
Ukraine recognises Muslim Eid festivals as official holiday
Ukraine recognises Muslim Eid festivals as official holiday READ: Prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound to resume next week …read more Source:: Middle East...
UK, US urge Russia to stop sending mercenaries to Libya
Britain and the United States yesterday denounced Russia’s role in Libya’s war and urged Moscow to stop sending mercenaries to support Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar, AFP reported. “We remain particularly concerned by further reports that external parties continue to provide material, equipment, [and] mercenaries,” said Jonathan...
MENA Minister: UK will not back Israel annexation plans
UK Minister for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly said Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank are “contrary to international law”. When asked by Scottish National Party MP Tommy Sheppard if the UK government would consider the move “illegal under international law”, Cleverly said that attempting to annex the West Bank would make a...
Up to 1,200 deployed in Libya by Russian military group -UN report
Russian private military contractor Wagner Group has up to 1,200 people deployed in Libya, strengthening the forces of eastern-based military leader Khalifa Haftar, according to a confidential United Nations report seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The 57-page report by independent sanctions monitors, submitted to the UN Security Council Libya...
British MPs urge government to impose sanctions on Israel if it annexes West Bank
Almost 130 British members of parliament have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose economic sanctions on Israel should the country’s new coalition government carry out its plans to annex the Palestinian territories of the occupied West Bank. In a letter last week, signed by the Conservative Party’s former chairman Lord Chris...
