Middle Eastern countries

A total of 332 pilgrims have died so far while performing this year's Hajj pilgrimage, according to officials quoted Sept. 21 by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

While the news agency did not indicate the reasons for the deaths, it is believed that 107 of them were caused by last week's crane collapse inside Mecca's Grand Mosque.

Every few weeks, a journalist calls me up to talk about the economics of Syrian refugees. They all ask about their burden on Turkey?s budget, and I always refer them to Finance Minister Mehmet ?Nominal? ?im?ek?s remarks from last November that the financial cost of Syrian refugees on Turkey had reached $4.5 billion, including $2.3 billion from the central government.

It makes you win. And it makes you lose. It is the same ?principled? stance on foreign policy.

Unsurprisingly, the unimportant news went largely unnoticed, although it had messages at many wavelengths. A group of 67 top Turkish defense companies that come under the corporate identity of High-Tech Port will display their war toys at a private exhibition in Qatar on Oct. 6-8. 

Tzfat's 28th International Klezmer Festival on Aug. 18 and 20 saw 100,000 people from across the globe, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Circassians and Druze, pour into the town The summer of 2006 did not bring peace and quiet to northern Israel, including Tzfat, a town of about 30,000 people and the capital of Galilee, close to the border with Lebanon.

More than 100 Syrian refugees have been rescued from the Mediterranean after their boat ran into trouble off the southern coast of Greej Cyprus, authorities said on Sept. 6.

As an indication Turkey categorizes ties with the Arab League, Ankara has continued its economic relations with the organization, despite the political strain caused by a recent condemnation of the league and its secretary general, Egyptian Nabil al-Arabi, in particular. 

Israel and Cyprus agreed on July 28 to expand their cooperation on energy issues, including the use of pipelines and electricity grids to link to European markets, as both countries develop natural gas fields off their coasts.

Revisiting a country after a few years is a great experience. You notice the subtle changes, which may be indiscernible to locals, right away. Like Mark Twain?s own experience with New York, returning to Amman after an absence of four years, this time for the wedding of a Palestinian-Turkish friend?s sister, I found some, if not much, improvement in it.

Iran?s nuclear deal with world powers will have a significant effect on world trade for sure. Many countries have already started to develop commercial and economic plans about the country with the population of 75 million, around 60 percent of whom are under the age of 30. 

The nuclear deal with Iran is likely to re-energize the tired Turkish economy, but Ankara will only be able harness its potential long-term benefits if it can switch to a more flexible foreign policy. A coalition may be the only hope. Here is the reason in four points. 1. Trade volume set to increase