Member states of the Arab League

The Arab Spring has turned out to be a massive failure.

It did not bring democracy to the Arab peoples.

It brought a new era of coup d’etats like in Egypt, chaos and division like in Libya, and civil war and the decomposition of existing borders in Syria and Iraq.

A Tunisian diplomat and an embassy worker kidnapped earlier this year by unknown gunmen in Libya arrived at dawn on Monday at a Tunis airport after being freed on June 29.
   

The West’s Syria policy could be best summarized in Sarah Palin’s words: “Let God sort it out.” That the U.S. forwarded the issue to God has not only helped Bashar al-Assad, but also the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to enhance their sphere of influence.

The Syrian air force carried out air strikes targeting militants on the Syrian side of the Iraq-Syria border this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the BBC on Thursday.
      

The Syrian air force carried out air strikes targeting militants along the Iraq-Syria border this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the BBC on June 26.

Maliki told the British broadcaster he "welcomed" any such strike against militants led by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but noted Baghdad did not request the aerial raids which took place on June 24.

ISIL militants seize a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, security sources say, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago.

The number of Syrians taking refuge in Turkey has reached 1.05 million with no peaceful end in sight to the civil war-torn country, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said on June 19.

Atalay said a total of 22 camps in Turkey were hosting 218,632 refugees, with some camps hosting as many as 35,000-40,000 individuals.

An Islamic charity organization based in an Istanbul suburb is using an insignia adopted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), daily HaberTürk has reported.

The report comes amid claims that some Turkish associations were recruiting militants for the jihadist group who have recently launched a wide-scale offensive in Iraq.

Asylum application in Greece have climbed to nearly 9,000 over the past 12 months, while 926 people were granted refugee status on their first application, authorities said on Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has dismissed claims that Turkey has supported the arming of fighters in Syria and Iraq.

“Turkey has not allowed arms support and border crossings to armed fighters in Syria, including the Free Syrian Army [FSA]. It has only allowed humanitarian aid,” Arınç told reporters on June 13.