Assad

'The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East' by Christopher Phillips (Yale University Press, $30, 320 pages)

U.S. President Barack Obama has praised a recent deal on migrants between the European Union and Turkey, saying the deal was a step toward fairer sharing of the job of housing migrants.

Turkey, as a country shaken through consecutive massive terror activities, is currently in the middle of a ring of fire, the Turkish prime minister has said, adding its security starts off its Syria-Iraqi borders and over a line passing through Syria's Latakia, Aleppo and Iraq's Mosul and Sulaymaniyah. 

Syrian forces recaptured Palmyra from ISIS on Sunday, months after the city fell to the Islamic State terrorists, state media reported.

Military sources said the Syrian army now has “full control” of the city. It had been gaining ground for several days, supported by Russian air strikes, BBC reported.

No foreign power should be permitted to interfere in the ongoing Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the lead government negotiator said, denying that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow will impact the process.

Putin's sudden announcement of partial withdrawal from Syria left us all stunned. Why would any leader withdraw his soldiers in the midst of a war? What is Putin after?

The United States warned it would be hard to hold the country together if the fighting did not stop after a cease-fire deal was reached to take effect as of Feb. 27.

The fall of the town of Azez in northern Aleppo province where the Turkish military is pushing ahead with its cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in Syria would mean emergence of a new refugee influx and security problem for Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an told his U.S. counterpart, President Barack Obama.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu has repeated accusations that the Turkish government has sent arms to jihadist groups in Syria. 

"Turkey should not lend armed support to jihadist groups in Syria such as [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] ISIL," K?l?çdaro?lu said during his Feb. 16 address to the CHP's parliamentary group.

A total failure: this is the current point we are at as far as the Syrian policy, based on the assumption that the Bashar al-Assad regime would be toppled in a matter of days when the turmoil started.

Let's recall: in those days, it was not enough for our rulers to be a regional power; we were about to take our place in the competition among global powers.