Tunisia's descent into autocracy under President Cais Saied is continuing full throttle. The Islamist Ennahda which shared power in successive governments since Tunisia's 2011 Jasmine Revolution is the main target of Saied's ire. Dozens of its members including party leader Rached Ghannouchi are behind bars on flimsily documented charges. Many are being held in life threatening conditions.Their children are mobilizing across the globe to draw attention to their plight. 

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Several top US senators say Turkey's acquisition of US F-16 fighter jets hinges on its ratification of Sweden's membership in NATO. Turkey wants guarantees from Congress that it will sign off on the deal before securing parliamentary approval for Sweden's membership. However, Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, an influential body focusing on US-Greek relations, insists however that it will take more for Congress to approve the sale. 

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decided to tell the Turkish parliament to greenlight Sweden's NATO membership, prompting a flood of praise from alliance leaders. US President Joe Biden, who met with Erdogan for more than an hour, hailed him for what he termed Erdogan's courage. At the same time, Erdogan angered the Kremlin with a series of moves in support of Ukraine including backing its membership of NATO. Is Erdogan turning away from Russia in favor of America and Europe? Analyst Nicholas Danforth says such conclusions are premature.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's victory in the May presidential and parliamentary polls ushers in a new and irreversible era in Turkish politics, cementing one man rule

and reducing parliament to more of a rubber stamp. The sole threat to Erdogan's grip over power is Turkey's floundering economy but it looks like Turkey's longest serving ruler will muddle through — at least till nationwide local elections next spring. 

For more on Turkey's descent into autocracy read Yavuz Baydar's piece.

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The legacy of Qassem Soleimani, the legendary commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Quds Force, continues to reverberate across the region, says his biographer Arash Azizi. He has left a vacuum that has yet to be filled.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was just re-elected president even though pollsters predicted that his rival would win.

Turkey scholar Howard Eissenstat says that Erdogan, the country's most skilled politician in modern times, is a master at reading the nation's pulse. But can he sustain his rule in the midst of a failing economy and prevail in critical local elections that are to be held next year?

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The co-chair of the main party governing Kurdish-led northeast Syria believes Arab engagement with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria may help secure a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict, provided that there are conditions attached.

These include granting ethnic and religious minorities equal rights. However, Muslim says "the miserable" League has delivered little if anything on other Arab conflicts.

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Turkey's Kurds are poised to swing the outcome of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing the biggest challenge in his 20 years in uninterrupted power. Kurdish parliamentary candidate Ceylan Akca says that despite his government's attempts to intimidate Kurdish voters, the opposition will prevail.

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Turkey and Iraq have been mired in a legal dispute over the export of Iraqi Kurdish oil through Turkish export terminals. Baghdad says the deal struck between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds to sell oil is illegal. The International Chamber of Commerce's international arbitration fined Turkey for breach of contract. Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurds have since agreed to resume exports on new terms that gives the central government a greater say. However, Ankara has not allowed the exports to resume. Bilal Wahab, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, believes Turkey wants pledges from Baghdad that it won't seek further compensation for periods uncovered by the arbitration case. The standoff is leading to a huge loss of revenue for the Iraqi Kurds. 

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