Western Asia

A dismembered body, found in a sports bag left in the middle of a street in Istanbul’s Tarlabaşı district, has been identified as belonging to a Syrian woman.

The 24-year-old woman, Musaybe al-Mousa, was reportedly killed by her brother when she refused to return to war-torn Syria.

Shall we sneak a look at the Cyprus negotiating table?

European court's ruling impacts Cyprus-Turkey relations

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has congratulated the formation of the unity government between Fatah and Hamas and expressed Turkey’s solidarity with Palestine to President Mahmoud Abbas over the phone.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation is to appeal to the UN Security Council over Israel's settlement construction, after it invited tenders for another 1,500 settler homes, a senior official said Thursday.
      
"The executive committee of the PLO views this latest escalation with the utmost of seriousness," Hanan Ashrawi said in an English-language statement.
      

A meeting between Cypriot leaders in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone on June 2 has been overshadowed by a list of offers by the Greek side that would only bestow a minority status on Turks in any unified Cyprus, a non-starter for the island’s northern community.

Turkish Cypriot President Dr. Derviş Eroğlu was lamenting the incredible lack of “awareness” of some of his visitors on the “fundamentals” of the Cyprus problem.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot chambers of commerce, along with those of Turkey and Greece, met June 2 in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone in a bid to boost the negotiation process with both sides pledging support to the reunification of the divided island.

Ankara has voiced support for the new unified government between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hamas and has urged the international community to also support the move.

Ankara believes the newly formed government will eventually help build sustainable peace in the Middle East.

Language Transfer boosts community ties