The 9th September Geneva agreement between the US and Russia on establishing a ceasefire in Syria, naturally raised expectations for fresh negotiations with the aim of launching political transition in the troubled West Asian country. Instead, in the couple of months since the promising Geneva accord on Syria we have…
Read MoreThe struggle in Syria against the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS or ISIS) has reached a new level. According to a recent agreement between Moscow and Tehran, Air and Space Forces of Russia are given the opportunity to use the Iranian Air Base Hamadan for strikes on positions and targets…
Read More“Today Turkey is – and this is not just a political, formal assessment, it is also my very private personal feeling also after our today visit – today Turkey is the best example for the whole world how we should treat refugees. No one has the right to lecture Turkey…
Read MoreThe first five days of November 2013 saw the Nobel Laureate (1995) Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. As a guest participant in this 60th biennial world class conference on global security concerns, I was assigned to the Working Group ‘Turkey and its Neighbours’. Central…
Read MoreThe White House has repeatedly stated that Russia undermined U.S. efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria, supporting the Government of President Bashar al-Assad. The American administration further claims that Moscow continues to hinder opportunities to engage the moderate Syrian opposition in the discussion of political change, in which,…
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