Why Obama shouldn’t expect much from the G20

Behind the forced smiles and obligatory handshakes that mark what could be President Barack Obama's final encounters with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin this Sunday at the G20 lurks one undeniably inconvenient reality: These days, more divides Russia and Turkey from the United States than unites them. Where you stand in life and politics has everything to do with where you sit.

Obama, China ratify climate agreements

President Barack Obama is embarking on a final bout of delicate overseas diplomacy before his successor is elected in November, arriving in Asia on Saturday for meetings with some of his most nettlesome counterparts. Obama used his first appearance in China to herald newly ratified climate agreements, an area of cooperation with China amid persistent differences.

A Changing Landscape in the Syrian War

A Turkish boy waves to Turkish tank convoy driving into Syria from the Turkish Syrian border city of Karkamis in the southern region of Gaziantep, on August 26, 2016. On Friday, after four years of conflict, buses evacuated about 8,000 of the remaining residents of the Syrian town of Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, something that brought cheers from pro-government fighters.

A weakening of the U.S.-Turkish alliance is a concern for the United States

Turkish soldiers seat in a tank driving to Syria from the Turkish Syrian border city of Karkamis in the southern region of Gaziantep, on August 27, 2016. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia fighters in Syria on August 26 on the second day of a major military operation inside the country, saying they were failing to observe a deal with the US to stop advancing in jihadist-held territory.

Turkey sends more tanks to Syria, insists on Kurdish retreat

In this Feb. 22, 2015 file photo, Syrian Kurdish militia members of the YPG make a V-sign next to a drawing of Abdullah Ocalan, jailed Kurdish rebel leader, in Esme village in Aleppo province, Syria. A Turkish military expedition into Syria has threatened a Kurdish political project just as Kurdish forces seemed on the verge of connecting their northern Syrian zones.

Turkish tanks cross into Syria to join U.S.-backed forces in fight…

Turkish and Syrian rebel forces, aided by U.S. aircraft and Special Operations advisers, have launched a major cross-border offensive aimed at capturing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's last stronghold on Syria's border with Turkey. The operation, Turkey's largest direct involvement yet against the militants in Syria, includes Turkish planes, tanks, artillery and special operations units, along with 500 to 700 rebel fighters.

Biden calls on Turkey to be patient in Gulen case

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Turkish authorities on Wednesday to be patient with the U.S. legal system as Turkey seeks the return of a cleric accused of masterminding last month's failed military coup. Biden, who met with Turkish officials in Ankara, said that the extradition process would take time as he reaffirmed Washington's cooperation in the case of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

After failed coup, Turkey settles into a rare period of unity

ISTANBUL>> President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is normally a divisive figure, loved by his base of religious conservatives and loathed by the rest of society. But there he was recently, sipping tea and making easy chitchat with his political rivals, just before joining them in a rally this month on Istanbul's waterfront to celebrate the failure of an attempted military coup.

The Latest: Erdogan: Syria action against IS, Kurdish group

Turkey's state-run news agency says that police teams have mounted simultaneous raids at multiple locations in Istanbul to detain several suspected members of the Islamic State group. The Anadolu Agency reports the operations took place early on Wednesday in two Istanbul districts and were coordinated by a helicopter flying overhead.

Turkey launches operation to free IS-held Syrian town

Turkey's military and the U.S.-backed coalition forces on Wednesday launched an operation to clear a Syrian border town from Islamic State militants, Turkey's prime minister's office said. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the operation, which began hours after Turkey indicated it would step up its engagement in Syria, began at 4 a.m. with Turkish artillery launching intense fire on Jarablus from the Turkish town of Karkamis, followed by Turkish warplanes bombing IS targets in the town.

Mark Lowen: What will US vice-president find in Turkey?

Turkey's biggest cities have witnessed a spate of deadly bombings and a bloody attempted coup this year. As US Vice-President Joe Biden arrives in the Turkish capital, Ankara, how do relations between the two countries stand? When Barack Obama chose Turkey as the first Muslim country he visited as President, in 2009, the praise here was gushing.

Turkey says operation launched to free IS-held Syrian town

A Turkish army tank and an armored vehicle are stationed near the border with Syria, in Karkamis, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Turkish media reports say Turkish artillery on Tuesday launched new strikes at Islamic State targets across the border in Syria, after two mortar rounds, believed to have been fired by the militants, hit the town of Karkamis, in Turkey's Gaziantep province.

U.S. to send delegation to Turkey for Gulen probe: official

FILE PHOTO: U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Mostoller/File photo U.S. Justice and State Department officials will fly to Ankara to discuss government accusations against Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric Turkey accuses of masterminding a failed military coup, according to a Justice Department official.

25 illegal Pakistani immigrants caught in Turkey

Ankara, Aug 5 - Twenty-five Pakistani illegal immigrants were caught in Turkey's Aegean province inside a minibus draped with a Turkish flag, which recently has become a symbol to show solidarity against the July 15 failed coup attempt. Police teams stopped the minibus during a road check at the entrance of the Izmir highway on Thursday night, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Friday.