On 8 April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Around this same time in Ankara, the opposition candidate for mayor of the capital city was sworn in| The Soufan Center
In the 11 years since an armed conflict broke out in 2011 against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, external assistance from Russian, Iranian, and Iran-allied forces have helped Syrian forces regain control of two-thirds of Syria’s territory, which includes 12 million people out of an estimated population of 17 million| The Soufan Center
The Syrian government and its allies, Russia and Iran, are making moves to retake Idlib from the last remaining pocket of rebel fighters holed up in the province| The Soufan Center
Following a week where Israel launched attacks in three different countries across the Middle East, Lebanese Hezbollah responded by firing several anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military base and vehicles located near the border| The Soufan Center