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Pope Leo visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Saturday, removing his shoes in a sign of respect but not appearing to pray in his first visit as leader of the Catholic Church to a Muslim place of worship during his four-day visit to Turkey. The first U.S. pope bowed slightly before entering the mosque and was led on a tour of the expansive complex, able to hold 10,000 worshippers, by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul. Leo, walking in white socks, smiled during the 20-minute visit and joked with one of his guides, the mosque's lead muezzin - the official...

The potential for a military clash between Turkey and Israel is growing. There are several colliding points, and each one of them has the potential to become a full-scale war, despite mechanisms designed to avoid conflict. The most obvious is the Syrian front. Reports indicate that Turkey plans to help Syria’s transitional government develop a military force of approximately 200,000 personnel (approximately 10–15 divisions). Turkey has assumed the role of protector of Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Jolani, his nom de guerre). Israel, for its part, has assumed the role of protector of the Druze minority in southwestern Syria, an area...

Back in February, a Turkish refugee named Hamit Coskun decided to protest Islam by burning a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London. Coskun is an atheist who left Turkey in 2022 to flee government persecution. As he stood outside the embassy, a crazed Muslim named Moussa Kadri, attacked him with a knife while shouting "I'm going to kill you." The entire incident was captured on video. [Warning: The Religion of Peace] https://x.com/i/status/1970548029024543034 Months later, the judge in the case has allowed Kadri to go free. That's right, the psycho knife-wielder who tried to kill a guy for insulting his...

The very fighters Beijing cites as justification for its hardline policies in Xinjiang – the Uyghurs of the Turkestan Islamic Party – have now been folded into Syria’s military establishment.Syrian Free Army soldiers and Coalition Forces assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, Task Force Armadillo provide security after departing a CH-47 Chinook during cold and hot load air assault training at Al-Tanf Garrison, Syria, on Feb. 23, 2025. When Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorial regime collapsed in late 2024, Beijing lost a familiar ally in Damascus. For more than a decade, China had backed Assad under the banner of sovereignty and...

Taiwan has a “far more robust” claim to statehood than Palestine does, former British prime minister Boris Johnson said during a conference in Taipei, Taiwan, according to a Tuesday report by British outlet The Telegraph…. “Never in the wildest dreams of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, can he have believed – when he and his colleagues instigated the horror of October 7, 2023 – that only 22 months later the United Kingdom itself would be so craven and pathetic as to fall for Hamas propaganda and to turn against Israel,” Johnson wrote in his column in the UK outlet Daily...

Donald Trump is hosting the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington this week for a summit which could advance a much-anticipated peace agreement between the two. The meeting would send a strong signal to Moscow regarding the two countries' commitment to finding a solution without Russia. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia are set to meet US President Donald Trump for a peace summit in Washington on Thursday and Friday, which could advance a much-anticipated peace deal between the two countries. After almost four decades of bitter conflict, Baku and Yerevan might finally settle for peace in the region...

Turkish authorities have released footage showing a man attempting to set fire to the interior of Hagia Sophia, the 1,500-year-old Byzantine landmark in Turkey. Security guards at the historic site quickly intervened and stopped the arson attempt, preventing any major damage. The incident took place on July 11 but the video was only made public now, drawing renewed attention to Hagia Sophia’s Byzantine heritage The man tried to ignite the Bible behind the lectern According to a police statement, the suspect wore a red cap and partially covered his face as he ignited a Bible near a column behind several...

Latest DevelopmentsSDF Clashes With Troops: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claimed on August 4 to have repelled an “attack” by “factions affiliated with the Syrian Transitional Government” on four of its positions in the village of al-Imam. The incident occurred days after the Syrian Defense Ministry accused the SDF of launching a rocket barrage against an army outpost on August 2, which the SDF claimed was retaliation for an unprovoked government artillery attack on civilian-populated areas. Separately, the SDF announced on August 3 that five of its fighters had been killed during an Islamic State attack on a checkpoint...

The delegations of Russia and Ukraine have concluded the third round of talks in Istanbul. "It’s over," he said, News.Az reports citing TASS. The talks between the two countries’ delegations kicked off at 8:37 p.m. local time (5:37 p.m. GMT) and lasted for about 40 minutes.

The latest round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has started at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, RT reported on Wednesday. According to the report, heads of the two countries' delegations are currently holding bilateral talks at the venue. The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, while National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is leading the Ukrainian delegation.

A Ukrainian delegation, which arrived in Türkiye for talks with Russia, is holding a meeting with the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The meeting in Ankara has already commenced, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainska Pravda. No further details have been provided. To recall, Ukrainian and Russian officials are set to meet in Istanbul on July 23, for the third round of peace talks, their first meeting in over seven weeks amid ongoing U.S. efforts to secure a cease-fire. The talks will be held at the Çırağan Palace. Ukraine's delegation will be led by former Defence Minister and...

Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after being exposed to methane gas while searching a cave in northern Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said. At least 19 personnel were exposed to the gas during the search and clear operation on Sunday, and immediately taken to hospital. By Monday, 12 had died, the ministry said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he received the news with "great sorrow" and extended his condolences to the soldiers' families and to the Turkish Armed Forces. Methane gas is not directly toxic, but can be deadly as it can become suffocating, especially in tight, enclosed...

The mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested Saturday, state-run media reported, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March. Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP. The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested with two other suspects in a separate bribery investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Anadolu reported. CHP officials have faced waves of...

The leader of a Swedish criminal network accused of assisting Tehran in attacks on Israeli-linked targets in Europe is currently living in Iran under the protection of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), sources told Iran International. Rawa Majid received funds from Iran’s embassy in Denmark to help coordinate attacks against Israeli diplomatic facilities in Copenhagen and Stockholm, according to a source familiar with the matter inside the IRGC. The source also said the gang leader travels between Iran and Afghanistan for operations overseen by the IRGC. Majid leads a criminal group, Foxtrot, recently sanctioned by the UK and the...

WASHINGTON — Today, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization (TCO) primarily based in Sweden that has trafficked illicit drugs and that carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe, along with its fugitive leader Rawa Majid. In January 2024, the Foxtrot Network orchestrated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on behalf of the Government of Iran. “Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe,”...

A notorious Kurdish gangster has fled Turkey to avoid extradition on drug-trafficking charges, a Swedish prosecutor has told The National. Rawa Majid, 39, known as the Kurdish Fox, had been living in Turkey, where his citizenship protected him from being extradited to Sweden, and was widely accused of playing a major part in gang violence. Authorities had hoped Majid’s prosecution on forgery charges would result in his citizenship being revoked, allowing his return to Sweden. But Henrik Soderman, who submitted the first extradition request to Turkey, has now confirmed that Majid, who leads the Foxtrot Network of criminals, is no...

The head of one of Sweden's biggest crime organizations, accused of instigating a surge in violent crime, has been arrested more than 1,600 miles away in Turkey, Swedish police said on Friday. Police did not identify the man by name but Swedish media named him as 35-year-old Ismail Abdo, head of the Rumba crime organization and alleged to have been orchestrating operations from abroad. Abdo is one of Sweden's most wanted criminals and the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2024. The Scandinavian country, once known for its low crime rates, has struggled for years to rein in organized...

The government of Turkey offered a warm welcome to a delegation representing the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas on Wednesday, expressing support for its cause and accusing the government of Israel of “genocide” for engaging in self-defense operations against the group. Muhammad Ismail Darwish, the head of the Hamas Islamic “shura council,” met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara to “discuss developments in ceasefire negotiations and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. Darwish is one of the few remaining high-ranking leaders within Hamas after several Israeli operations targeting both the “political” and “military”...

The former mayor of Izmir, a stronghold of opposition to President Erdogan, along with 109 municipal officials from the Republican People's Party (CHP), were arrested on Tuesday on charges of corruption and misconduct. The party has rejected the accusations. There is a feeling of déjà vu in Turkey. After the publication of a political cartoon, which Turkish authorities said depicted the Prophet Muhammad, led to the arrest of four journalists on Monday, June 30, in Istanbul, authorities carried out a large-scale sweep in Izmir at dawn on Tuesday. Izmir, the country's third-largest city, is a bastion of the Republican People's...

Turkish authorities on Monday detained three cartoonists associated with the weekly magazine Leman following the publication of a satirical drawing that has ignited controversy and drawn condemnation from government officials and religious conservatives, Reuters reported. The illustration, widely seen as depicting Prophets Moses and Muhammad shaking hands above a scene of conflict, has been interpreted by many as a commentary on religious harmony amidst earthly strife. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya publicly announced the apprehension of cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan, sharing a video on X showing Pehlevan being taken into custody. "I once again curse those who try to sow discord by...