Türkiye’s defence and aerospace exports surged by 44 percent year on year in January 2026, hitting a record monthly high of more than $555 million as overseas demand for Turkish-built military technology continued to grow, the Turkish Defence Industries Secretariat said on Monday (2 February).
Kazakhstan has approved plans for a second nuclear power plant in a significant scaling up of the country's nuclear ambitions. It comes a year after a referendum, which suggested more than 71 per cent support for the project, but which was also accompanied by allegations of irregularities.
Kazakhstan sharply increased oil shipments to Europe in January, exporting 310,000 tonnes to Germany and sending a further 106,000 tonnes via the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
Armed boats tried to intercept a vessel north of Oman on Tuesday in waters near the Strait of Hormuz, where heightened military activity and U.S.–Iran tensions are fuelling maritime security concerns.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has begun a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, seeking to deepen political and economic cooperation as regional tensions over Gaza, Iran and wider Middle East stability dominate the agenda.
Talks with the U.S. should be pursued to secure national interests as long as "threats and unreasonable expectations" are avoided, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X on Tuesday (3 February).
Israel reopened the Rafah crossing on Monday (2 February) to a trickle of Palestinians for the first time in months, a major step in a U.S.-backed plan to end the war, though strict Israeli security checks slowed the process.
10 people were killed and 26 others injured when a passenger bus rolled off a road and plunged into a ravine in southern Türkiye’s Antalya province on Sunday (1 February), local officials said. In a separate incident, at least seven people were killed in a collision in a tunnel.
Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates have signed a Letter of Intent on defence cooperation during President Ilham Aliyev’s working visit to Abu Dhabi, marking a new step in expanding military ties between the two strategic partners.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday for renewed discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme, according to reporting by Axios.
Limited crossings took place at Rafah on Monday, as patients and families moved through the gates for the first time in months. Photographers captured the tension, relief, and emotional toll of separation at a crossing long marked by both isolation and hope.
Kazakhstan’s Reform Commission has published a draft of a new Constitution that would mark the most extensive revision of the country’s law since independence, including an absolute ban on the death penalty and more rights and freedoms for citizens.
Any U.S. military strike on Iran would almost certainly trigger cross-border retaliation and could ignite a wider regional war, according to political analyst James M. Dorsey.
Iran's leadership warned of a regional conflict on Sunday (1 February) if the U.S. were to attack it, stoking the tension between Washington and Tehran, and it designated EU armies as "terrorist groups" in a retaliatory move.
Iranian media outlets have backtracked on claims President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a return to nuclear talks with the United States, fuelling fresh uncertainty over the state of diplomacy between the two rivals.
Uzbekistan has suspended mandarin and pineapple imports from China following the discovery of dangerous plant pests in multiple shipments, according to the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection.
Tensions flared on X this week after German MEP Michael Gahler called leaders of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party “Moscow creatures”, criticising recent legislation he says threatens the country’s democratic path.
Repeated violations of international law are casting doubts over the effectiveness of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, one political analyst told AnewZ.
The European Union’s decision to approve a new 20 million euro military assistance package for Armenia has raised concerns among regional experts, who warn the move could undermine peace efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Iran’s foreign minister says a return to nuclear diplomacy with the United States remains possible, provided mutual trust can be restored, warning that any military confrontation would trigger a wider regional conflict.
