Greater Middle East
Egypt: secularism and dictatorship?
A sweeping "anti-terrorism" decree and expanded crackdown on opposition come as Egypt's President al-Sisi is making overtures to the Copts and invoking pluralism.
Tag: Greater Middle East
Greater Middle East
Turkey: clashes between PKK, Islamists
Three were killed in southeastern Turkish town of Cizre in clashes between Islamist militants of the Huda-Par and followers of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Greater Middle East
Syria: new rebel alliance in besieged Aleppo
With regime bombardment intensifying, Syrian rebel factions in Aleppo announced a new "Shamiyya Front"—a further consolidation of "moderate" Islamist forces.
Greater Middle East
Toward Kurdish-Armenian reconciliation
The Kurdish mayor of the eastern Turkish city of Mardin, Ahmet Türk, apologized to Armenians, Assyrians and Yazidis for Kurdish collaboration in the genocide of 1915.
Greater Middle East
Jihadis declare open season on school children
The Taliban massacre of children at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, was shortly followed by a deadly Qaeda attack on a schoolbus stopped at a Houthi rebel checkpoint in Yemen.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: 439 refered to military tribunal
Egypt's top prosecutor referred 439 individuals to a military tribunal for the killing of three police officers last year. Rights groups protest the use of the tribunals for civilians.
Greater Middle East
Bahrain: protests against British base deal
Protests were held in the Bahraini island city of Sitra against an agreement signed between the kingdom and Great Britain to establish a new military base in the Persian Gulf state.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: Saudis suspend aid as Houthi power grows
A failed US commando raid on al-Qaeda in Yemen comes as Saudi Arabia has suspended aid to the country in response to the growing power of Shi'ite Houthi militants.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: court sentences 188 to death
An Egyptian court sentenced 188 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death for an August 2013 attack on a police station in Giza governate, widely known as the "Kerdasa massacre."
Greater Middle East
New Syrian rebel coalition: tilt to Turkey
Syrian rebels announced formation of a new Revolutionary Command Council at a meeting in Turkey—dominated by conservative Islamists but excluding Nusra Front and ISIS.
Greater Middle East
Nazi fugitive trained Syrian torturers: report
The Simon Wiesenthal Center says Alois Brunner, the world's most-wanted Nazi fugitive, died a free man in Syria, where he trained interrogators for sucessive regimes.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: court dismisses case against Mubarak
A Egyptian court dropped charges against former president Hosni Mubarak in his retrial for the deaths of more than 100 protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled his regime.