Newsletter: City Pulse Istanbul Nisantasi beyond the shop windows Also this week: Hopdaddy burgers, Ara Guler’s photographs and Istanbul’s apartment stories. By Nazlan Ertan In Izmir and Istanbul, reporting on culture
Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth The Costa Rican candidate received 12 encourage votes in Thursday's UN Security Council straw poll. United Arab Emirates
Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Turkey
Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift? A dispute over religious dress in schools has exposed deeper tensions between the two allies, with energy, arms sales, Israel and financial interests adding to the strain. Turkey
Banished Erdogan critics find new home at opposition paper The Sozcu daily, a relative newcomer in the Turkish press, has climbed to the top of the circulation ladder, taking on board senior journalists dumped from other papers for criticizing the government. Turkey
Turkish villages smuggle IS oil through makeshift pipelines In the village of Hacipasa, almost every house is connected to an illegal oil pipeline smuggling IS oil into Turkey. Syria
Moderate Muslims' quandary about IS Both Turkey and other Muslim societies need more voices that will take extremism seriously and discredit it with serious arguments. Turkey
Turkey rows against the tide Ideological assumptions based on Islamist and Sunni sympathies, as well as a series of bad judgments, leave Turkey with diminished influence in a region where it once hoped to play a leadership role. Iraq
Turks turn to EU with renewed enthusiasm Public support for EU membership in Turkey has shot up from 45% to 53% in just one year, a new survey says. Turkey
Turkish workers face perilous conditions Turkey's workplace is the most dangerous in Europe, and critics blame the Justice and Development Party's brand of crony capitalism. Turkey
Obama asks Erdogan to combat anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism has reached alarming levels in Turkey, where public figures are calling out Jewish Turks over Israel's actions in Gaza. Turkey
Is Turkey the weakest link in anti-IS coalition? Held back by political weaknesses and ideological constraints, Ankara is likely to be the weakest and most reluctant member of the planned coalition against the Islamic State. Iraq
Turkey faces dilemma in fight against Islamic State Turkey is not keen to have the Kurds, Shiites and the Damascus regime be bolstered in the fight against the Islamic State. Iraq
Islamic State becoming ‘dominant voice’ among global jihadists The United States intensifies military planning against the Islamic State; Syria’s new Cabinet; Israel faces "highly complex reality" in Syria; IS-linked group threatens more terror, beheadings in the Sinai Peninsula; what Egypt lost in the Al Jazeera trial. Egypt
Will Turkey’s CHP reconcile with Islam? Turkey’s main opposition leader is seeking to reconcile his party with the pious masses, but faces both their deep-rooted suspicions and the resistance of his own hard-core secularists. Turkey
Is the Islamic State holding Turkey hostage? Prolonged hostage negotiations with the Islamic State are creating serious headaches for the Turkish leadership. Iraq