This is Beirut

Negotiations Under Way on Hamas Fighters Trapped in Gaza Tunnels: Sources Close to Talks

This is Beirut, 19:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Negotiations are under way to ensure safe passage for dozens of Hamas fighters holed up in tunnels in southern Gaza, multiple sources close to the talks told AFP on Thursday. Israeli media has reported that for weeks, between 100 and 200 Hamas militants have remained trapped in a network of tunnels under the city of Rafah, in an area of the Gaza ...

Pope Urges Turkey to Embrace Mediator Role on First Overseas Trip

This is Beirut, 18:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Turkey Lebanon Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV began a four-day visit to Turkey on Thursday, urging Ankara to embrace its role as a mediator in a world gripped by conflict, he said after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Mr President, may Turkey be a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples, in service of a just and lasting peace," he said in the capital as ...

Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Turkey on First Foreign Mission of His Papacy

This is Beirut, 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Pope Leo XIV Turkey Vatican

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey on Thursday for a four-day visit, where he will hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and meet Christian leaders on the first overseas trip of his papacy. The trip, which includes a second leg to Lebanon, begins in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where the first American pope landed shortly after ...

Lebanon–Cyprus Agreement: Strategic Breakthrough or Maritime Concession?

This is Beirut, 26/11 08:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Cyprus Turkey Israel Parliament

As the debate over border demarcation in Lebanon reopened widely following the maritime agreement with Israel and ongoing efforts to define both land and sea borders with Syria, Lebanon has reached a final agreement with Cyprus on the maritime boundary. The move comes after the government approved the draft agreement and referred it to the ...

Turkish Lawmakers Meet Kurdish Leader Öcalan

This is Beirut, 24/11 20:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Turkey Abdullah Öcalan PKK

Turkish lawmakers who are members of a parliamentary commission overseeing the peace process with the Kurdish guerrilla visited Abdullah Öcalan, the historic leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in prison for the first time on Monday. The meeting between the parliamentary delegation and the imprisoned Kurdish leader on Imrali Island, ...

Iznik: The Sunken Basilica Rising Again

This is Beirut, 24/11 16:35 - Reading : less than a minute

Pope Leo XIV Turkey Council of Nicaea

At the bottom of Lake Iznik, the basilica lay hidden like a buried secret. Rediscovered in 2014, it now reveals one of the most sacred sites in Christianity, where Pope Leo XIV is preparing to speak for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

In Turkey, a Patchwork of Christian Communities

This is Beirut, 24/11 08:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Turkey Religion Pope Christianity

Turkey's Christian community, which hosts Pope Leo XIV this week, was a minority under the Ottoman Empire whose numbers have dwindled due to forced exiles and massacres. Today, it counts around 100,000 members spread across five denominations -- just a fraction of Turkey's population of 86 million, the vast majority of whom are Sunni ...

Australia Yields to Turkey in Standoff Over Next Climate Summit

This is Beirut, 20/11 09:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Turkey Australia COP31

Australia has conceded defeat in a bruising diplomatic struggle over hosting rights to next year's UN climate summit, with Turkey prevailing despite holding a much weaker hand. Exactly who presides over the blockbuster global event is still in play, but Australia's long-running campaign to bring COP31 to Adelaide is over. "Obviously, it would be ...

U.S. Envoy Witkoff Not to Attend Zelensky-Erdogan Talks in Turkey

This is Beirut, 19/11 16:50 - Reading : less than a minute

Steve Witkoff Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine Turkey United States

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will not attend talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, a U.S. official said Wednesday. Zelensky will meet Erdogan in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Wednesday afternoon, where he said they would "discuss the best ways to ensure Ukraine achieves a just ...

Revolution, Power, and Repression: The Political Downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Malo Pinatel, 19/11 16:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Turkey United Kingdom United States

From the 2012 electoral victory to the upheavals that followed, the trajectory of the Muslim Brotherhood in contemporary Egypt reflects a decade of tensions, divisions, and radical transformation. On January 25, 2011, millions of Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, and other major cities, demanding an end to Hosni Mubarak’s ...

Zelensky's Trip to Turkey Aims to 'Re-engage' U.S. in Peace Efforts

This is Beirut, 18/11 21:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Steve Witkoff

President Volodymyr Zelensky will head to Turkey on Wednesday seeking to revive the United States' involvement in diplomatic efforts to end the Russian invasion, a Ukrainian official told AFP. Zelensky said he wanted to reinvigorate frozen peace talks, which have faltered after several rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul this year ...

Zelensky Trip to Turkey Aims to 'Re-Engage' US in Peace Efforts

This is Beirut, 18/11 13:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Turkey Russia Ukraine

Turkey