Eurotopics.net

A Russian MP who took the seat designated for the President of the General Assembly during the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy triggered anti-Russian protests in Georgia which have now turned into anti-government protests. Commentators ask above all why Russia has reacted so harshly to the developments by suspending all commercial flights to this popular holiday destination.

The Council of Europe has restored the Russian delegation's voting rights at its Parliamentary Assembly. Russia's rights were removed following its annexation of Crimean in 2014. Ukraine fiercely opposed the decision, as did some Baltic states. Was the resolution a good move?

At a conference in Bahrain Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has presented a 50-billion-dollar plan to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The programme is to be financed by rich Gulf states, among others. Representatives of the Palestinians stayed away from the conference and called for a political solution to the Middle East conflict. For this and other reasons observers are sceptical that the plan can succeed.

Opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu has won the repeat mayoral election in Istanbul, beating out AKP candidate Binali Yıldırım by a substantial margin. His victory is all the more remarkable given that it was Erdoğan's conservative AKP which had pushed for a rerun of the vote. Observers discuss what can be expected of rivals İmamoğlu and Erdoğan.