Japan and China agreed on Sunday to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers and hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year, a Japanese senior government spokesman said, as ties between Asia's two biggest economies warm.

• November 1, 2015

Turkey looked set to return to single-party rule after the Islamist-rooted AK Party swept to an unexpected victory in elections on Sunday, an outcome that will boost the power of President Tayyip Erdogan but may sharpen deep social divisions.

• November 1, 2015

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics
November – December 2015
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Guest Analyst

Key Points:

• Predictions of the AKP’s demise have been greatly exaggerated as the party is swept back into power in the November elections.
• Months of renewed violence between the state, the PKK and terrorist attacks by the Islamic State plunge Turkey into an increasingly dangerous security situation.
• Turkey and Russia relations deteriorate as the former downed an encroaching Russian fighter as it crossed into Turkish air space.
• The Middle East closes the year with no end to the violent upheavals that have roiled the region since the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Yet security and economic necessities appear to be drawing Turkey and Israel closer to an agreement on the renewal of relations following the fallout from the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.

• November 1, 2015

Moscow's intervention in the Syrian conflict will have the unintended consequences of drawing Russia into a quagmire and alienating Sunni Muslims across the region, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.

• October 31, 2015

A newly formed U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Saturday launched an offensive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the United States said it would send special forces to advise insurgents fighting the jihadists.

• October 31, 2015

Turkish jets on Saturday launched bombing raids against Islamic State targets in Syria, the day before Turks are due to vote in a parliamentary election, a senior government official said.

• October 31, 2015

A United Nations human rights investigator on Thursday raised concerns that North Korea has forced more than 50,000 people to work abroad and urged countries where they have been sent, mainly Russia and China, to grant him access to investigate.

• October 29, 2015

Washington stuck to its demand on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leave power, ahead of peace talks which will include Assad's main ally Iran for the first time, reflecting his stronger position since Russia joined the war on his side.

• October 29, 2015