The Gateway to the East

At least four waves of arrests have decimated the leadership of the Istanbul municipality. In addition to the mayor and opposition leader, more than 200 people are in jail. The CHP accuses the government of weaponising the judiciary. In the background, the president's overtures to the PKK are an attempt to win over the Kurds in his plan to change the constitution.

Low turnout in some areas (a meagre 21% in the capital) and the absence of a national vision on decentralisation stand out as key challenges. These factors continue to hinder the emergence of a truly autonomous local authority. Nonetheless, the vote marks a positive step in view of the 2026 parliamentary elections.

The situation has not yet stabilised in the areas where fighting broke out recently between Druze militias and Islamist groups. The Christian village of Khabab was not directly involved, but faces an equally precarious situation due to drought and economic deprivation. The war “didn't end just because the regime was overthrown,” said Sister Mona of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Anthida Thouret, speaking to AsiaNews. For her, “our hope is in the Lord, not in men.”

The upcoming vote will be the sixth since the fall of Saddam Hussein. This will occur against a background of intra-Shia divisions while incumbent Prime Minister al-Sudani is looking for a strong coalition to win a second term. The election appears competitive in Kurdistan, with opposition parties trying to break the KDP-PUK stranglehold. The Christian vote remains an unknown factor while doubts linger over representativeness.

The Syrian community in Jordan (1.3 million) remains trapped between poverty and cuts in international aid, which have increased since the fall of the Assad regime. According to the UNHCR, few Syrians have returned home. "My house was destroyed,” one refugee told AsiaNews. He wonders how he can go back to a place without work. In Mafraq, near the Za'atari camp, people barely survive. Relations between Jordan and Syria rekindle hopes, but the future remains uncertain.

While the world's spotlight is on the tragedy in Myanmar, the rebirth of the Turkish region struck by an equally powerful quake on 6 February 2023 is still far away. “The earthquake is always with us, in the trauma we experienced, in the people we lost, in the destroyed buildings we walk through every day,” said one survivor. In the place where Jesus’s followers were first called "Christians," local Christians are forced to go back and forth from a nearby town.

At least seven deaths in a border area. The fragility of a frontier that has long been a free zone for trafficking and illicit trade. Fears of an escalation with the Jewish state and US manoeuvres for ‘normalisation’. In the spirit of the Abu Dhabi declaration, Christians and Muslims celebrate the feast of the Annunciation today.

The Israeli academic and scholar of “intractable conflicts” talked to AsiaNews about the way the Gaza war is going and its consequences for Israeli society. Talking about peace today is considered a threat. Seventeen-year-olds “don't know what the Green Line is”. The families of the hostages are “the most important voice”.

After days of violence and more than a thousand dead, including some Christians, the al-Sharaa government has declared the operation against the Alawites on the west coast of the country over. Damascus also signed a merger agreement with the Kurds. For the archbishop of Homs, peace requires an international presence and the end of sanctions. So far, the authorities have not fulfilled their promises.

A Likud bill wants to impose an 80% tax on donations from foreign organisations and limit their right to appeal in court. Speaking to AsiaNews, the Development and External Relations Director of the long-standing pacifist association, which is currently demonstrating with the families of the hostages, confirms his concerns about this law. The risk of distancing Israel from liberal democracies and strengthening authoritarian tendencies.

The archaeological site north of Nablus linked to the memory of John the Baptist targeted by settlers (and the Israeli army) attacks. The death of a 14-year-old boy hit by a soldier's bullets. Scholar Carla Benelli to AsiaNews: ‘Heritage to be preserved, handed down and shared. Respecting the identity of all: Jews, Christians and Muslims’.

Israel and Hamas are ready to sign a ceasefire and release some hostages, but the end of the war remains far away. Yonatan Zeigen, son of an Israeli pacifist killed on 7 October, speaks to AsiaNews about the question of “power and interests" behind the agreement, starting with the new US administration. The historical precedent between Israel and Egypt is an example of how to overcome the conflict with the Palestinians.