Fertile Crescent

With a new year comes new expectations about our region. This may be U.S. President Barack Obama's last year in office, but the Middle East will be higher on the agendas of other leaders. French President François Hollande tops the list.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has hosted delegations from the Bay?rbucak Turkmens and the Syrian Turkmen Assembly in separate meetings, while the United Nations' special envoy for Syria also paid a brief visit to the Turkish capital.

Ankara would never take any step that would damage Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said in a letter to his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi, noting that Turkey would not deploy troops in the area until Baghdad's concerns are assuaged.

The Turkmens of the Bay?rbucak region in northwest Syria are subject to the attacks of Bashar al-Assad and Russian forces not only because they are Turkmens but also because their strategic location is extremely important. 

Russian jets struck 94 "terrorist" targets in war-torn Syria over the past 24 hours, the highest one-day tally since Moscow started its bombing campaign on September 30, the military said.

For two years, Syrian teenager Ibrahim scraped together a paltry living selling lottery tickets and tissues on the crowded streets of Beirut, but that seems like a lifetime ago now.

At least 11 migrants believed to be Syrians drowned as two boats sank after leaving southwest Turkey for the Greek island of Kos, Do?an News Agency reported on Sept. 2.

Syrian migrants in Turkey have begun establishing homes in Turkey, helping the home appliance sector to flourish during a downturn that traditionally accompanies an election period, said the head of a sector association. 

Turkish media are reporting that Turkish authorities have started building a 45-kilometer-long concrete wall on the border with Syria.

The Turkish Dogan news agency said on Friday a 12-kilometer stretch near Reyhanli in Hatay province has already been built.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has tried to ease Iraqi Kurds? concerns by stressing the Turkish military?s operations in northern Iraq were specifically targeting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) and not all Kurds.