Syria

The European Union on Tuesday announced 10 million euros ($12.3 million) in new humanitarian aid for Syrian civilians in Turkey and Syria.
      

The U.N. peace envoy to Syria on Dec. 9 rejected suggestions that a proposed truce in the northern city of Aleppo would play into President Bashar al-Assad's hands, saying it was a stepping stone in a political process and vital to allowing in aid.
   

A group of around 200 refugees from war-torn Syria who have been camped out in front of Parliament at Syntagma Square for some 20 days as they seek asylum in northern Europe, on Tuesday resisted efforts by the City of Athens to transfer the women and children from the group to a municipal shelter.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appealed to U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on Dec. 9 for more air raids from Western warplanes and more arms to take on the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Baghdad on Dec. 9 as the United States expands its presence in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants four months after starting a campaign of air strikes in Iraq.
   

Turkey has been under criticism for some time for becoming too involved in Middle Eastern affairs, thus distancing itself from the European Union and generally the Western world.

The United Nations peace envoy to Syria is holding talks with the Syrian opposition in Turkey to promote a cease-fire proposal for the northern city of Aleppo, opposition sources said on Dec. 8.

Staffan de Mistura hopes the plan will establish truces in Aleppo, once Syria's commercial center and second-most-populous city, and allow aid into rebel districts.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will travel to Turkey on Dec. 9 to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss how to stop Britons crossing into Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters via the Turkish border, his spokesman said.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is due to meet Turkish leaders an an attempt to secure Ankara's support for the fight against Islamic State (IS) and sanctions against Russia.

According to her own Twitter account Mogherini is also to touch the issue of Turkey's EU accession which has been blocked for years now by the stalled negotiation process.

New European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was to meet Turkish leaders Dec. 8 for talks expected to focus partly on the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in neighboring Syria.

"The Syrian crisis is going to be one of the key issues on her agenda," an EU official told AFP on Dec. 8. Turkey's EU membership ambitions were also up for discussion.