The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday appointed Rasha Atamny, 31, to represent the Jewish state in Ankara, Turkey, making her Israel’s first female Muslim diplomat [...] “This time I listened to the speeches from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt condemning Israel’s ‘systematic violations of women’s rights’ while I, an Arab-Muslim woman of Palestinian origin represent Israel at the UN General Assembly,” she said.

Brexit finally gets underway this week. So now is the time for the United Kingdom to make equal haste with rejuvenating its diplomatic and trade ties in the world, beginning with Turkey. For years the potential of the UK’s ties with Turkey has been smothered by the sweaty, asphyxiating blanket of the EU’s accession talks with Ankara. No one in their right mind, on either side of the Bosphorus, believed in earnest that Turkey would join the EU in their lifetime. ​

The cooperation plan includes the establishment of a joint Tunisia-Turkey university, promotion of collaboration among Turkish and Tunisian universities, and the enhancement of student and faculty exchanges. [...] The partnership with Turkey has also paved the way for the establishment of North African cross-border institutes or campuses in Turkey as part of a wider bid to position Turkey as a higher education hub for Arab students. 

Ankara and Moscow are doing a diplomatic two step together. Conspicuously left out in the cold in this dancing duo, are two major power blocks which traditionally Turkey considers vital to its security needs: The United States and the European Union. The meetings between the Russian President Putin and his Turkish counterpart indicates a willingness on both sides to further consolidate economic, diplomatic and most importantly, and no doubt, also military ties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday confirmed that his country had launched an aid campaign to help four East African countries currently hit by an acute drought. According to Erdogan, Turkey’s effort was aimed at helping Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, all of who are "at risk of suffering a major humanitarian crisis." "We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to requests for help from those countries where the drought-related hunger has reached critical levels," he said in a tweet.