Islamism

An American journalist held hostage in Syria by a militant group linked to al-Qaida was released on Sunday.

The release of Peter Theo Curtis, 45, had been facilitated by the Gulf emirate of Qatar. It came just days after the barbaric execution of American reporter James Foley by Islamic militants.

If you are an observer of Turkish foreign policy, do yourself a favor and read the long interview in yesterday’s Hürriyet Daily News with Ambassador Murat Özçelik. He was Turkey’s special representative in Iraq from 2007 to 2011 and then served as an ambassador to Baghdad.

By Angelos Stangos

Albanian citizen Idajet Balliu, 24, was reported killed in fighting near the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday - the latest of ethnic Albanians who have died fighting as part of various Islamic militant organisations since the Syrian conflict started.

The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing "monster" that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
   

Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have taken control of a string of villages in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
      

By Nikos Konstandaras

The leaders of the Arab world's most populous state and its richest state met on Sunday to talk over joint efforts to counter Islamist militancy across the Middle East, including the turmoil now shaking Iraq.
   

An Egyptian court on August 9 ordered the dissolution of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the already banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.
 
The decision comes after the authorities designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation" in December following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the military.
 

Presidential hopeful Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu has said the president is not a political leader, but the leader of the people at an interview with Greek newspaper Elefteros Tipos.