This is Beirut, 22/07 11:50 - Reading : less than a minute
In the mountains of Hakkari, at the border between Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, Kurdish herders are returning to their lands. For decades, this region was emptied by conflict between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants. Today, despite the scars left by war, families are trying to rebuild a rural life. This return marks a fragile revival: traditions ...
This is Beirut, 20/07 10:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Turkey Culture Art Roman History Statue
Turkey has repatriated an ancient statue believed to depict Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius from the United States as part of efforts to recover antiquities illegally removed from the country, the government announced on Saturday. The bronze statue, smuggled from the ancient city of Boubon—now the province of Burdur in southwest Turkey—in the ...
Liliane Mokbel, 19/07 18:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Turkey United Arab Emirates United States economy trade industry exports
According to data from the Higher Council of Customs, Lebanese exports rose by 21% between January and May 2025, reaching 1.5 billion dollars compared to 1.2 billion a year earlier. This increase reflects renewed competitiveness for “Made in Lebanon” products, which are seen as better suited to local purchasing power and more reliable in ...
This is Beirut, 18/07 12:00 - Reading : less than a minute
Turkey has arrested 153 presumed members of the Islamic State group (IS) in nationwide raids, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday. The arrests took place from Izmir and Mugla in the west and southwest, to Hatay and Mardin in the southeast and Samsun on the northern Black Sea coast. "In the course of operations in 28 provinces over the ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 16:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Pope Leo XIV confirmed Thursday he hoped to visit Turkey in the coming months for a Christian religious commemoration, in what could be his first overseas trip as pontiff. "I hope to be able to meet you again in a few months to take part in the ecumenical commemoration of the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea," Leo said at a meeting with ...
Christiane Tager, 17/07 12:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Since relative calm returned to Lebanon, one might have expected fares to drop. Not quite. Between high taxes, risk premiums, soaring operational costs, and a limited number of flights - not to mention the complete absence of low-cost carriers - travelers are still paying a steep price to fly into Beirut. “Demand hasn’t dipped, driven by ...
This is Beirut, 17/07 09:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Israel Saudi Arabia Turkey
The Syrian government announced Thursday that local leaders would assume control over security in the city of Sweida in an attempt to end violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and prompted Israel's military intervention in support of the Druze minority. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and eyewitnesses told AFP on Thursday ...
This is Beirut, 16/07 14:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Turkey Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu Erdogan
Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's leading opposition figure, got a 20-month prison sentence for insulting and threatening the city's public prosecutor Wednesday, according to a court document obtained by AFP. The case is one of a number lined up against Imamoglu, the main rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is already ...
Christiane Tager, 15/07 21:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Europe European Union Gulf Saudi Arabia Turkey
Lebanon’s land still gives, but the market no longer answers. At a recent Cabinet meeting, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani issued a stark warning: Lebanese agriculture is at a breaking point. With distribution in crisis, export routes to the Gulf shut down and a stifling economic climate, the sector is being pushed to the edge. “Maritime ...
This is Beirut, 12/07 12:00 - Reading : less than a minute
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country had achieved victory after Kurdish rebels destroyed their weapons, ending their decades-long armed struggle against Ankara. Friday's symbolic weapons destruction ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan marked a major step in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from ...
This is Beirut, 11/07 18:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Kurdish PKK militants want to return to Turkey and enter democratic politics, one of the group's joint leaders told AFP on Friday after the fighters began destroying their arms at a ceremony in Iraq. In an interview with AFP, Bese Hozat, one of the Kurdish militant group's two top leaders, also warned the fragile peace process risked being ...
This is Beirut, 11/07 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will start laying down their arms at a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, two months after the militant group ended its armed struggle against the Turkish state. The move comes in response to a historic call by jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan in February, urging them to end their decades-long ...