Middle East & North Africa

3 October 2022; MEMO: Stressing the strong ties between Turkiye and Libya, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced in Tripoli on Monday the signing of Memorandums of Understanding on hydrocarbon and gas between the two countries.

Saying that Turkiye has always stood with Libya and its people in times of need, Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his Libyan counterpart, Najla El Mangoush that his country will continue to support Libya without any hesitation.

3 October 2022; MEMO: Lebanon will send its comments on a US proposal to delineate its maritime border with long-time foe, Israel, to the American official mediating talks by Tuesday, a top Lebanese official said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Deputy Parliament Speaker, Elias Bou Saab, said the Lebanese government would not respond to the proposal officially until US Envoy, Amos Hochstein, responded to its concerns, which it expected him to do by the end of the week.

3 October 2022; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has reiterated his vow that a million Syrian refugees will soon return to their country on a voluntary basis, as their continued presence in Turkiye continues to be subject to contentious social and political debate.

In a speech to the Turkish Parliament on Saturday, Erdogan stated that "Since the start of our cross-border operations in Syria [in 2016], around 526,000 volunteers have returned to the safe zones that we established."

3 October 2022; MEMO: Iranian airliner, Mahan Air's Tehran to Guangzhou flight arrived safely and on time at its Chinese destination, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency said on Monday, after a report of a bomb scare on board, Reuters reports.

India's Air Force (IAF) said it had scrambled fighter jets after receiving information of a bomb scare on an airline bearing Iranian registration passing through Indian airspace.

4 October 2022; MEMO: Tunisia's powerful UGTT Labour Union has no deal with the government on reforming subsidies and publicly owned companies and will lead street protests over any "painful" changes, it said on Monday, potentially complicating foreign bailout talks, Reuters reports.

The government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue package that could unlock further bilateral aid for Tunisia to help it avert a looming crisis in public finances.

4 October 2022; MEMO: Iran believes it is still possible to revive the nuclear deal, despite weeks of stalled talks and Western countries' belief that Tehran's position on the draft settlement proposal is "unconstructive", an Iranian official said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters yesterday "there is still possibility and a chance to resume the implementation of the nuclear deal."

ADEN, Oct 2 (NNN-YPA) – An updated UN proposal, calling for an extension of the existing truce, set to expire today, has been received by both sides of Yemen’s warring parties, but its fate remains unclear.

According to a government statement, released by Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency, yesterday, “the government has just received an updated proposal from the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to expand the truce starting from today.”

SANAA, Oct 3 (NNN-YPA) – UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced yesterday no agreement has been reached to renew the expired truce between the Yemeni warring parties.

“The UN Special Envoy regrets that an agreement has not been reached today (yesterday), as an extended and expanded truce would provide additional critical benefits to the population,” his office said in a statement.

RAMALLAH, Oct 3 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine yesterday urged the European countries, to tie their relations with Israel, to its adherence to international law, UN resolutions, and human rights principles.

The international community “is required to hold Israel directly responsible for the escalation in the West Bank, against the Palestinians, and to put real pressure on it to stop it immediately,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

ISTANBUL, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Turkish annual inflation climbed to a new 24-year high of 83.45% in September, data showed on Monday, still lower than forecast, after the central bank surprised markets by cutting rates twice in the last two months.

Despite soaring prices, the central bank was seen cutting its policy rate again this month, after President Tayyip Erdogan called for single-digit interest rates by the end of the year.