The Levant Files

President Donald Trump is considering a US Central Command plan for recurring limited strikes in the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported Monday, citing three US officials. The aim is to stop Iran rebuilding the radar, air-defence and anti-ship missile capacity it needs to hit vessels accurately. One official described the logic as "mow the lawn." Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth endorsed the plan and sent it to the White House several days ago. Trump had not signed off before the weekend. The weekend may have decided it for him. On 30 August, US forces destroyed two Revolutionary Guard rocket launchers on Larak Island that CENTCOM said were preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strait — the first American attack on Iranian soil in over a month. Before dawn, the IRGC answered with missiles and drones against the King Hussein and Al Azraq air bases in Jordan, in an operation it named "Punishment of the Aggressor." Jordan's army intercepted eight missile...

Tehran is no longer trying to match American firepower. It is trying to make the use of that firepower expensive. That is the argument advanced by Nournews, the outlet close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), in an analysis published after Sunday's US strike on Larak Island. The facts are established. US Central Command said it hit two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak, off Bandar Abbas, where forces were preparing to fire rockets carrying mines into the Strait of Hormuz. It was the first American military action in more than a month; the Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded Iranian fighters and civilians and vowed punishment. By Monday, Iran said it had struck bases used by US forces in Jordan and the UAE, and Trump told Fox News there would be a response.  Nournews reads the episode through personnel as much as ordnance. Mohsen Rezaei, who commanded the IRGC from 1981 to 1997, was named SNSC secretary on 10 August, replacing Mohammad Bagher...

Greece and Israel signed a roughly €3 billion agreement in Tel Aviv on Monday to build "Achilles Shield," a multilayered air and missile defence network that Israel's Defence Ministry called the largest defence export contract in the history of bilateral relations and one of the largest Israel has ever concluded. The contract was signed at the ministry's Tel Aviv headquarters by its director general, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, and his Greek counterpart, Ioannis Bouras. It covers Rafael's David's Sling, Israel Aerospace Industries' Barak MX, Rafael's short-range Spyder, ELTA multi-mission radars and a national command-and-control layer built by Rafael. A separate €26 million contract adds Drone Dome counter-UAV systems. Greek firms take about a quarter of the work — some €700 million across twelve companies — and Athens secured source-code transfer. The programme runs on a 35-month timetable inside a €28 billion modernisation plan extending to 2036. D...

Resmî düzeyde Lefkoşa iki dilde taziye ve yardım mesajı yayımlarken, dijital platformlarda tanıdık bir nefret dili gün yüzüne çıktı. Yazının orjinal, İngilizce versiyonu için tıklayınız . Pazar günü Girne açıklarında alabora olan FİLO JET katamaran faciasında 8 kişinin hayatını kaybetmesi ve yaklaşık 20 kişinin kaybolması, adanın Kıbrıs Rum tarafında iki tamamen zıt tepkiye yol açtı. Resmî kanallardan gelen yanıt anında ve netti; ancak sosyal medyadaki yansımalar çok farklı bir tablo çizdi. Resmî Kanallardan Hızlı Destek ve Taziye Mesajı Hükümet Sözcüsü Konstantinos Letimbiotis, insan hayatının her türlü siyasi mülahazanın üzerinde olduğunu vurgulayan Yunanca ve Türkçe bir mesaj yayımladı. Letimbiotis, kamu radyo yayın kurumu RİK'e yaptığı açıklamada, Kıbrıs Rum yönetiminin arama-kurtarma operasyonuna destek olmak için ilk andan itibaren hazır olduğunu ve gerekli tüm imkânların seferber edildiğini bildirdi. Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı Nikos Hristodulidis, Kıbrıs Türk lideri ve...

Condolences in two languages from official Nicosia, and a familiar hostile current running beneath them The capsizing of the catamaran FİLO JET off Keryneia on Sunday, which has left eight people dead and around twenty unaccounted for, produced two distinct responses on the Greek Cypriot side of the island. The official one was immediate and unambiguous. The online one was not. Government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis published a message in both Greek and Turkish, placing the protection of human life above all other considerations. He later told state broadcaster RIK that the Republic had declared full readiness from the first moment to assist in the search, location and rescue effort, and had made every necessary asset available. President Nikos Christodoulides instructed that contact be established with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. The Larnaca Joint Rescue Coordination Centre approached UNFICYP and offered aerial search-and-rescue capability, and later announced that t...

  Contradictory passenger counts, a rising missing list and a fleet with a 23-year record have turned a maritime disaster into a crisis of accountability in the Turkish Cypriot side Thirty-six hours after the high-speed catamaran FİLO JET capsized off Keryneia, the authorities of the unrecognised “TRNC” still cannot say with confidence how many people were on board when it sailed. The official figure is 267: 259 passengers and eight crew. That number was given by the “minister” of public works and transport, Erhan Arıklı, and it is the figure repeated in court, in ministry statements and across the Turkish press. It is also the figure that has been quietly contradicted from the first hour of the disaster. “Prime minister” Ünal Üstel put the breakdown at 258 passengers and nine crew. Özgür Gazete Kıbrıs reported 279 people aboard as the rescue was under way. The maritime trade outlet Haber Denizde reported 270 and noted that no official body had confirmed it. The distance from shore...

Eight people have died and 18 remain unaccounted for after a passenger catamaran capsized off Kyrenia on Sunday afternoon, President of the internationally unrecognized "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)" Tufan Erhürman said after a meeting of the crisis coordination centre. Erhürman said rescuers had reached 249 of the 267 people on board, eight of whom did not survive. Identification work was still under way on four of the dead. Search-and-rescue operations will continue through the night with four ships, two night-vision helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft, Erhürman said. He added that equipment capable of operating at depth had set out from Turkey and would join the effort — the first indication that the operation is moving from a surface search toward the wreck itself, which Erhürman said earlier in the day was lying in more than 500 metres of water. Erhürman said he had spent several hours at the crisis coordination centre alongside "prime m...

Τραγικός είναι ο απολογισμός της βύθισης επιβατικού καταμαράν ανοιχτά της Κερύνειας το μεσημέρι της Κυριακής. Σύμφωνα με τα επικαιροποιημένα στοιχεία των αρχών, οκτώ άνθρωποι έχασαν τη ζωή τους, 242 διασώθηκαν και 17 αγνοούνται. Το ταχύπλοο σκάφος «FİLO JET», που εκτελούσε το δρομολόγιο προς το Τάσουτζου της Μερσίνης, μετέφερε συνολικά 267 άτομα. Ο «πρωθυπουργός» Ουνάλ Ουστέλ έκανε λόγο για τη χειρότερη ναυτική καταστροφή στην ιστορία της Κύπρου. Το πλοίο απέπλευσε στις 11:50, παρότι το «λιμεναρχείο» είχε αρχικά αρνηθεί τον απόπλου λόγω των δυσμενών καιρικών συνθηκών και του υπολειπόμενου κυματισμού από την κακοκαιρία της προηγούμενης ημέρας. Περίπου 35 λεπτά αργότερα, το στίγμα του χάθηκε. Σύμφωνα με μαρτυρίες επιζώντων, επιβάτες είχαν προειδοποιήσει εγκαίρως το πλήρωμα για εισροή υδάτων, εισπράττοντας όμως καθησυχαστικές απαντήσεις. Λίγα λεπτά μετά, η πλώρη υπέστη ρήγμα, τα τζάμια έσπασαν και το σκάφος ανέτρεψε. Επιβάτες κατήγγειλαν ότι δεν τους διανεμήθηκαν εγκαίρως σωσίβια και ότι ...

Update 20:35 Eight people are confirmed dead, 242 have been rescued and 17 remain unaccounted for, according to statements by "prime minister" Ünal Üstel and "public works and transport minister" Erhan Arıklı from around 18:25 onwards. The revised figures replace the 237 rescued / 7 dead / 23 missing breakdown carried through the afternoon and are internally consistent with the 267 people aboard (242+8+17=267). Üstel announced that the captain and seven other crew — the vessel's entire eight-member complement — have been detained under an investigation opened while the search was still under way. He called the sinking the worst maritime disaster in Cyprus's history and said every aspect would be examined: if there was even the smallest negligence, it would be uncovered, and no one found at fault would be spared. Kıbrıs Postası headlined the development as an arrest; Üstel's own wording was detention. The vessel has been identified as the FİLO JET, operat...

Επτά άνθρωποι έχασαν τη ζωή τους και 23 εξακολουθούν να αγνοούνται μετά την ανατροπή επιβατικού καταμαράν με 267 επιβαίνοντες και μέλη πληρώματος το απόγευμα της Κυριακής ανοικτά της Κερύνειας, σύμφωνα με τις νεότερες πληροφορίες από τα κατεχόμενα. Νωρίτερα, ο «πρωθυπουργός» Ουνάλ Ουστέλ είχε επιβεβαιώσει, σύμφωνα με το τουρκικό τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο NTV, ότι υπάρχουν νεκροί από το ναυτικό δυστύχημα, χωρίς ωστόσο να αναφέρει τον αριθμό τους. Το καταμαράν είχε αναχωρήσει από την Κερύνεια με προορισμό το Τάσουτζου, στην περιοχή της Μερσίνας, όταν άρχισε να μπάζει νερά και τελικά ανατράπηκε σε απόσταση μερικών μιλίων από τις ακτές. Νεότερη Ενημέρωση Επιβατικό καταμαράν με 267 επιβαίνοντες και μέλη του πληρώματος ανατράπηκε το απόγευμα της Κυριακής ανοικτά της Κερύνειας, ενώ εκτελούσε δρομολόγιο προς το Τασουτζού, στην περιοχή της Μερσίνας. Ο Ουνάλ Ουστέλ ανέφερε, σύμφωνα με το τουρκικό NTV, ότι υπάρχουν νεκροί από το ναυτικό δυστύχημα, χωρίς στην πρώτη αυτή ενημέρωση να διευκρινίσει τον αριθμ...

Girne açıklarında yaşanan deniz otobüsü faciasının acısı hepimizin ortak acısıdır. Kaybettiğimiz her can, bu adanın ve bölgemizin ortak kaybıdır. The Levant Files olarak hayatını kaybedenlerin ailelerine ve yakınlarına en içten taziyelerimizi iletiyor, yaralılara âcil şifalar diliyoruz. Acının sınırı, dili ve kimliği yoktur. Bugün yasımız da dayanışmamız da ortaktır. Bu vesileyle bu facianın sorumluları ile sermaye-kâr-güvenlik eksenindeki gediklerin en kısa zamanda aydınlatılması temennisini takipçilerimizle paylaşıyoruz.  — The Levant Files 

انقلبت بعد ظهر الأحد عبّارة ركاب من طراز «كاتاماران» قبالة سواحل كيرينيا، وعلى متنها 267 شخصاً، بمن فيهم أفراد الطاقم، أثناء إبحارها باتجاه طاشوجو في منطقة مرسين بتركيا. وتتواصل في المنطقة عملية واسعة للبحث والإنقاذ، فيما تشير معلومات غير مؤكدة إلى إنقاذ ما لا يقل عن 159 شخصاً حتى الآن. وبحسب معلومات أوردتها وسائل إعلام قبرصية تركية وتركية، لاحظ قبطان السفينة، بعد وقت قصير من مغادرتها ميناء كيرينيا، تسرّب المياه إلى داخلها، فأطلق نداء استغاثة وحاول العودة إلى الميناء، إلا أن محاولته لم تنجح. وقال إرهان أريكلي، المسؤول عن ملف الأشغال العامة والنقل في الإدارة القبرصية التركية في شمال الجزيرة، في تصريحات لقناة TRT Haber، إن السفينة بدأت تستقبل المياه على مسافة نحو أربعة أميال من الساحل. وأضاف أن زوارق خفر السواحل وفرق الدفاع المدني وصلت إلى موقع الحادث في غضون 15 إلى 20 دقيقة من تلقي نداء الاستغاثة. وأكد أريكلي أن العبّارة انقلبت، مشيراً إلى أن عمليات إجلاء الركاب لا تزال متواصلة. وتشارك في عملية الإنقاذ زوارق لخفر السواحل ومروحية، إلى جانب قوارب مدنية وسفن كانت موجودة في المنطقة، بينما و...

How Moscow's commentators frame the US–Iran confrontation matters for the region, and one of the clearest recent statements of the Russian view comes from the daily Kommersant. Writing there, Farhad Ibrahimov, an expert at the Financial University under the Russian Government and a lecturer at the People's Friendship University, argues that the war has entered a phase that is neither peace nor war. His first target is Donald Trump's messaging. The US president told Al Jazeera that Washington is in no hurry to negotiate, told Glenn Beck's programme that the war would end soon, and posted on Truth Social that the navy had cleared the mines from the Strait of Hormuz — the same announcement he had already made on 18 August. Ibrahimov reads the contradictions as evidence of a missing plan rather than of an approaching settlement. In Tehran, he argues, the security bloc has drawn its own conclusion. Around the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, IRGC veterans and intelligen...

Well-informed sources in the Cypriot capital fear Turkey is preparing to provoke an incident at sea once cable-laying begins on the Cypriot leg of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the Greece–Cyprus–Israel electricity link, according to the Athens daily Estia. The logic they describe is one of elimination. If Ankara holds back off Kasos, where Greece retreated two years ago, the pressure moves east. The Republic of Cyprus, those sources say, is the weak link: a state Turkey does not recognise, and one that would have to look to Athens for cover. Ankara's stated position has not moved. No energy project proceeds in the region without its consent. It presses for co-management, demanding notification of any activity in waters it unilaterally designates as its own and claiming "special sovereign rights" — precisely the rights the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea reserves for coastal states beyond their territorial waters. A Turkish defence ministry document dated 10 Augu...

Greece recorded 75 new locally acquired West Nile virus infections in a single week, bringing the national total to 232 cases and 19 deaths since the start of the 2026 transmission season, according to the weekly surveillance report published by the National Public Health Organisation (EODY) on 27 August. The rise of roughly 48 per cent over the previous week's 157 cases makes this Greece's heaviest season since 2018, when 317 infections and 51 deaths were recorded. All of 2025 produced 96 cases and nine deaths. Of the 232 patients, 165 developed central nervous system disease — encephalitis, meningitis or acute flaccid paralysis. All 19 deaths were in patients over 65, with a median age of 85. Seventy-three people remain hospitalised, 26 of them in intensive care, while 124 have been discharged. Attica is the epicentre. EODY has investigated cases in 61 municipalities across 18 regional units, with Eastern Attica worst affected: 17 cases in Spata-Artemida and 13 in Markopoulo ...

  The dissolution of the SDF prompted claims that Damascus now governs nearly all of Syria. One southern governorate, and Israel’s stake in it, says otherwise. Two commanders of the Druze “National Guard” were wounded by gunfire in Suwayda city on 29 August, four days after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces dissolved itself and international coverage concluded that Damascus now controls almost all of Syria. The southern governorate is the standing exception, and the fighting there is not what that conclusion assumes. Local sources identified them as Rami Ishti and Ghaith Qantar, both from the National Guard’s security office. Reinforcements from Areeqa were trying to break a siege imposed by rival factions. This was intra-Druze fighting, not a clash with the state. So was the storming of government buildings on 26 August, which followed the killing of a young man, Mazen Ismail al-Asrawi. The province is not contested between two authorities. It is governed by neither. What T...

Squeezed by inflation and thin job prospects, young Turks are spending more of their social lives on dating apps — and running into risks the platforms cannot manage. The economic backdrop is stark. The Turkish Statistical Institute put youth unemployment at 15.8 percent in February 2026, and joblessness among young women at 21.8 percent in May. Some 6.5 million of the 24.1 million people aged 15–34 were neither working nor studying in late 2025. Annual inflation stood at 32.61 percent in May, against a net minimum wage of 28,075 lira. The apps absorb some of that pressure. Tinder alone counted roughly 306,000 active iOS users in Turkey in the third quarter of 2025, alongside Bumble, Badoo, Happn and local platforms such as Pembe Panjur and Siberalem. For LGBTI+ users, the ground is giving way. Tinder's Traveler Alert — built for countries that criminalise LGBTQIA+ status — has been appearing to users inside Turkey, journalist Nevşin Mengü reported. Same-sex relations have never be...

Orange alerts in Cyprus and northern Turkey; Israel faces what forecasters call an unprecedented August An unseasonal upper-level low crossed the Eastern Mediterranean on Saturday, bringing thunderstorms, hail and flash-flood warnings from the Black Sea coast to the Levant and breaking a week of extreme heat across the region. Cyprus was placed under an orange warning by the Department of Meteorology, in force from 10am to 7pm. Forecasters put rainfall at 55 to 70 millimetres, with hail possible and winds liable to strengthen sharply in gusts during storms. Senior meteorological officer Michalis Mouskos told the Cyprus News Agency that temperatures of about 39°C inland on Friday would fall to roughly 30°C, a drop of some nine degrees, before climbing back to seasonal norms by Tuesday. Private forecaster Kitasweather warned of multicell storms carrying hail up to three centimetres, localised flash flooding and near-gale gusts, beginning in the north and spreading over the Troodos range ...