Ramadan

Yemen's exiled Vice President Khaled Bahah announced online July 17 the "liberation" of second city Aden after four months of devastating fighting between loyalist forces and Iran-backed rebels.

Before entering the three-day Ramadan Bayram, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan (Eid-al-Fitr in Arabic), Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has completed his ?exploratory? talks with the leaders of other three parties for the next stage of coalition talks.

Muslims in Turkey along with other Muslim populations around the world are preparing to celebrate the Ramadan Feast on July 17, as the day marks the beginning of a three-day holy period in Islam as well as the end of a 30-day fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar on July 15 hailed as "legitimate" peace talks aimed at ending Afghanistan's 13-year war, in his first comments on the nascent dialogue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has vowed to oppose any coalition talks that pledge to suspend ?major projects,? such Istanbul?s under-construction new airport and third bridge.

Former President Abdullah Gül has criticized Turkey's foreign policy, saying the country needs to revise its Middle East policy by adopting a more realistic point of view.

Many news reports on China?s alleged restrictions on Muslim Uighurs during the holy month of Ramadan do not reflect reality, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said, amid anti-Chinese demonstrations by Turkish nationalists over the treatment of the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim minority in China?s Xinjiang region.
 

Once in a while, the nationalists in Turkey show too much interest in a chronic problem. The latest such issue is the situation of Turkic Uighurs living in China?s Xinjiang region and the supposed restrictions on the Muslim minority to observe the holy month of Ramadan.

World Uighur Congress (WUC) head Rebiya Kadeer has criticized Chinese oppression of the Uighur Turks living in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, saying that massacres, extrajudicial executions and oppression against Uighurs was continuing, daily Hürriyet reported on July 8.

The first officially acknowledged peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul concluded with an agreement to meet again after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Pakistan said on July 8.