On December 10th 2017, the president of Russian Vladimir Putin made an unexpected geopolitical trip in the Middle East. On that day, he managed to visit the Russian airbase Hmeimim in Syria, then he met his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, and the trip finished with negotiations in Ankara, Turkey. In Cairo, the…
Over the last couple of days, Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted a series of visits back-to-back, visiting Syria, Egypt and Turkey in less than 48 hours. In spite of the brief nature of these visits, Russia’s leader managed to hold extensive discussions with the heads of the above mentioned states, while Egypt and Turkey saw…
When a fortnight ago the Kremlin publicly ordered the Foreign Ministry to negotiate a deal for Russia’s air force to use Egyptian military bases, I conceded I did not know what this was about. I entertained the possibility it was a prelude to Russia’s military involvement in Libya, but then I said I don’t see…
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held one of his increasingly frequent phone calls with his Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russia said the following of the phone call in an official statement, “Both sides expressed serious concern about the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and plans to move the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv. Such steps can thwart…
It looks like affiliates of the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda could go to war with each other in the Sinai Peninsula, though at this point the battle would be lopsided. In an audio recording released Nov. 11, al-Qaeda adherent Jund al-Islam declared war on much larger Wilayat Sinai, which is associated with IS, and claimed responsibility for the…
235 people have been killed, according to a statement by the Egyptian Attorney General. The massacre was carried out at al-Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of Arish city. According to eyewitnesses, there was a huge explosion, and then the terrorists opened fire on the worshippers as they prayed the Friday prayers on Nov. 24, 2017. Afterwards,…
