The Syrian Presidency announced in August 2018 that Asma had breast cancer, after which she was treated for an early stage of a malignant tumour, according to official Syrian statements. Asma took advantage of her illness to carry out a series of activities on social media and make various appearances wearing a scarf on her head as one way to demonstrate that she underwent chemotherapy. She participated in World Breast Cancer Awareness Day in a way that was described as spontaneous, engaging in chats with women undergoing cancer treatment at the hospital.

The airport is expected to boost Turkey’s economy by 5%, further cementing Istanbul’s – and Turkey’s – place as a hub in the global economy. The construction of the project has obviously been an enhancement to the city’s economy, providing vital economic boosts in a period of broad commercial belt-tightening and economic strain. But at the same time, this economic boom has been shadowed by dark clouds around the conditions of labour on the airport’s construction.

With the constant fear of Ankara releasing the tapes and sabotaging Riyadh’s attempts to deny or conceal their involvement, Saudi Arabia has been caught in a very public tight spot. Forced to repeatedly offer feasible explanations that would then be torn apart by subsequent Turkish leaks, Saudi Arabia’s credibility and reputation have been damaged. For Saudi Arabia, a country currently obsessed with its international image, this must have surely been a uniquely painful experience at the hands of its rival.

With the constant fear of Ankara releasing the tapes and sabotaging Riyadh’s attempts to deny or conceal their involvement, Saudi Arabia has been caught in a very public tight spot. Forced to repeatedly offer feasible explanations that would then be torn apart by subsequent Turkish leaks, Saudi Arabia’s credibility and reputation have been damaged. For Saudi Arabia, a country currently obsessed with its international image, this must have surely been a uniquely painful experience at the hands of its rival.

If Albayrak cannot inspire confidence at a time when Turkey is staring down the barrel of a currency crisis and increased US sanctions, then there seems little chance that he will ever be able to do so.

Turkey may theoretically choose to take an even higher dose of the drug that got it into trouble, credit-financed spending accommodated by an overly loose monetary policy. That may delay the pain for a while, but it would exacerbate the underlying problem. The correction afterwards could then feel even more like a “cold Turkey” shock.

Thus, almost 35 years after the start of the conflict, south-east Turkey and northern Iraq, remain war zones. And the blood of soldiers, guerrillas and civilians will continue to flow. To end the bloodshed, a political deal will have to be made. Currently, no one in Turkey is even willing to consider a political deal with the PKK: they are terrorists and have to be destroyed.

This spat coincides with growing trade tensions between Ankara and Washington. The US is now reviewing Turkey’s duty-free access to US markets via the Generalized System of Preferences programme, pushing the Turkish lira to a new low. Turkey also fielded retaliatory tariffs following the import taxes announced by the US in recent months. In an attempt to up the pressure on Ankara, the US doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium in August. Trump announced the tariffs in a tweet, adding that bilateral relations are ‘not good at this time’.

Madrasas generally taught calculation, grammar, poetry, history and above all the Qur’an and sacred law. At a higher level they taught literary subjects and arithmetic. While memorization of texts was emphasized, personal instruction, lectures and imitation of the teacher by students were also held to be crucial to minimize errors in religious understanding.

In late July, Turkey’s central bank refused to raise interest rates, despite pressure from the international community to do so to alleviate rising inflation. Prior to the election, Erdoğan repeatedly promised to take over greater control of central bank policy, so the failure to raise rates sparked fears that Erdoğan was following through on this promise. He has called interest rates the “mother and father of all evil”. The Turkish lira promptly lost 3% off the dollar, a reaction from the markets similar to the one they had when his re-election was announced. The Turkish economy is dependent on foreign investors and moves such as this one, which may hold a certain domestic nationalist appeal, are driving away foreign money and sparking fears for the future health of the Turkish economy.