The sound of battles echoes from the outskirts of the capital as Christians in Damascus celebrated the Easter weekend, briefly ignoring the conflict for the yearly ritual.

• April 19, 2014

In September 2001, as the U.S. reeled from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Vladimir Putin supported Washington's imminent invasion of Afghanistan in ways that would have been inconceivable during the Cold War.

• April 19, 2014

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during March 16th- - April 15th 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• The AKP emerges victorious in the country’s municipal elections, capturing nearly 43 percent of all votes.
• Opposition parties fare better than in previous contests, but their split gives the AKP the upper hand at the ballot box.
• His party’s success means that Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan will likely run for the presidency in August’s first ever election by popular vote.
• Erdogan’s government blocks social media sites, referring to critics as “enemies” and further degrading political discourse in the Republic.
• Recordings of high-level military and political meetings continue to leak to the public, and are used by the AKP as justification to push for bans of many social media platforms.
• The presence of hundreds of thousands of mainly Sunni Syrian refugees in southern Turkey continues to concern Turkey’s Alevi communities.
• The situation in Syria remains static, but a large-scale military escalation has the potential to severely destabilize Turkey’s southern provinces.

• April 18, 2014

The United States, Russia, Ukraine and European Union together called on Thursday for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine, where Western powers believe Russia is fomenting a pro-Russian separatist movement.

• April 17, 2014

Unprecedented talks across the European Union on Tuesday showed it scrambling for solutions on the ground to break its dependence on Russian gas and help supply Ukraine.

• April 16, 2014

Russia and China aim to wrap up a 10-year series of talks about Russian gas supplies before President Vladimir Putin visits China in May, media quoted the deputy prime minister as saying on Monday.

• April 14, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia's actions in Ukraine were not conducive to a diplomatic solution of the crisis in that country, and the White House warned that Moscow would suffer further costs for its behavior.

• April 14, 2014

The European Union agreed on Monday to step up sanctions against Russia over Ukraine by expanding a list of people targeted with asset freezes and visa bans, and said the bloc could hold an emergency summit next week to adopt further measures.

• April 14, 2014