Panorama 2020, World's people between political deals, natural and humanitarian disasters

The most prominent event for 2020 was the killing of the Iranian Quds Force Commander, Qassem Soleimani, and the ensuing atmosphere of escalation, along with the Turkish intervention in Libya and Karabakh, the agreements reached by Russia and Turkey, in addition to the political crises in Lebanon, Iraq and the U.S. elections.

'The atmosphere of a third world war ... the killing of Soleimani and a Turkish incursion into Libya'

This year began with an escalation in Iraq:

On January 1^st: The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad suspended all general consular operations until further notice.

On January 2^nd:  The Turkish Parliament approved the request submitted by the Turkish Presidency to authorize the government to send military forces to Libya in support of the Government of National Accord, which provoked condemnation reactions, the most prominent of which was from the Arab League which considered this "to fuel the ongoing conflict there," while the U.S. President Donald Trump informed Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the danger of foreign intervention in Libya.

On January 3^rd: Iraqi state television confirmed the killing of the Deputy Head of the Popular Mobilization Committee Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes and the Commander of the Quds Force Qassem Soleimani in a bombardment targeting their convoy near Baghdad Airport, while the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened revenge for the killing of Soleimani, and the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed her concern about heightened tension, and the U.S. administration demanded that Congress be immediately informed of the situation.

On January 4^th: The international coalition against "ISIS" announced the reduction of its operations in Iraq for security reasons, according to an American official, while a NATO spokesman announced that the Alliance had suspended training missions in Iraq after the killing of Qassem Soleimani. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced  the start of the Turkish army's move to Libya.

On January 6^th: The Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced that it had entered the city of Sirte and imposed its control over some areas there.

On January 7^th: Iraqi media said that the Ain al-Assad base which included the American forces in the Iraqi Anbar province in the west of the country was attacked with 6 ballistic missiles, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attack, in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani, and an American official admitted falling the rockets on the base.

On January 8^th: Iran's Fars Agency announced the downing of a Boeing 737 passenger plane belonging to Ukraine International Airlines, and hours later, Iranian television announced that all 180 passengers and crew of the Ukrainian plane had been killed.

'Russia and Turkey ... a year between escalation and consensus'

On January 8^th: The Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially inaugurated the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline from the capital Istanbul, and the two parties agreed, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, to cease firing in Libya.

On January 9^th: The U.S. House of Representatives acknowledged a bill that limited President Donald Trump's ability to enter a military conflict with Iran.

On January 10^th: The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that Moscow and Ankara had reached a ceasefire agreement in Idlib, Syria, starting Sunday, January 12^th..

On January 11^th: Iran announced that the Ukrainian plane crashed "unintentionally due to human error" as a result of American threats to hit 52 points in Iran.

'The deadly epidemic ... the first death from the Corona virus'

On January 11^th: The announcement of the first death from the "Corona virus" in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

On January 12^th: The Head of the Libyan Parliament, Counselor Aguila Saleh, confirmed that the Head of the Libyan Government of Accord Fayez al-Sarraj opened the way for Turkey to turn Libya into an Ottoman state, following a meeting between Erdogan and al-Sarraj at Dolmabahçe Palace.

On January 13^th: A tripartite meeting (Syrian, Russian, Turkish) was held in Moscow.

On January 14^th: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that extremists are moving from Syria to Libya.

France, Britain and Germany confirmed that they had activated the conflict resolution mechanism provided for in the nuclear agreement with Iran.

'The widening gap between Europe and Turkey'

On January 18^th: The European Union announced a reduction in aid to Turkey due to its actions in the region.

A march was launched in more than one region in Lebanon under the slogan "We Will Not Pay the Price", while the Lebanese President Aoun asked the army and security chiefs to restore calm in downtown Beirut.

On January 19^th: The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that Russia and Turkey "decisively" completed the deal specialized to the S-400 air defense missile system despite external pressure, in an indication to Washington's rejection of the deal and the threat to delay or even cancel the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara.

The European Union warned Turkey against any illegal operations to explore for oil in the eastern Mediterranean, especially in Cypriot waters, before the start of the international conference in Berlin to bring peace to Libya.

On January 20^th: The Tunisian presidency announced that President Kais Saied assigned Elias Fakhfakh to form a new government.

  On January 21^st: The Lebanese Presidency announced that President Michel Aoun had signed a ceremony to form the new government presided over by Hassan Diab.

On January 23^rd: The World Health Organization called on the international community to prepare for a possible development of the new Coronavirus into a pandemic.

On January 24^th: The Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman announced that 34 U.S. soldiers were injured during the shelling of U.S. bases in Iraq by Iran.

Europe recorded the first infection with the Coronavirus.

  On January 26^th: The United Nations revealed weapons cargo planes landing at Libyan airports.

China announced that the Coronavirus outbreak entered a dangerous stage.

'Deal of the Century'

On January 28^th: Trump announced the Deal of the Century, sparking various reactions.

On January 31^st: The United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union, three and a half years after the referendum.

'Successive protests and governments in Lebanon and Iraq'

On February 1^st: The Iraqi President Barham Salih assigned Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as prime minister.

On February 3^rd: The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 4 Turkish soldiers and wounding of 9 others in the Syrian government forces' shelling in Idlib, northern Syria, followed by a major tension and escalation.

The Libyan Joint Military Committee meetings were launched in the 5 + 5 format under the auspices of the United Nations at its headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the latter met Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council in Sudan, in Uganda, and they agreed to normalize relations.

On February 5^th: The U.S. Senate acquitted President Donald Trump of the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Four American officials said that the United States had stopped a secret program of cooperation with Turkey in the field of military intelligence, after it had helped Ankara for years against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) due to its incursion into Syria.

On February 10^th: Turkey announced the killing of 5 soldiers and the wounding of 5 others by the Syrian army's fire.

On February 25^th: The Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak died at the age of 92.

On March 26^th:The G20 affirmed in its closing statement its determination to do everything necessary to overcome the Corona pandemic.

On March 29^th: The Houthis announced the implementation of the "largest military operation" in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the Yemen war, followed by the implementation of the Arab coalition raids on Houthis' zones.

On March 31^st: The European Union agreed to launch a new operation called "IRENI" to monitor compliance with the arms embargo on Libya.

On April 9^th: The Iraqi President Barham Salih tasked Mustafa Al-Kazemi, Head of intelligence with forming a government.

On May 25^th: The American citizen George Floyd died after an officer pressed his neck for seven minutes until his death, followed by protests and chaos in the United States.

North Korea blasted the inter-Korean liaison office in the Gaeseong border region.

On July 4^th: The number of coronavirus infections crossed 11,000,000 people around the world, including more than 523,000 deaths.

On July 10^th: The Supreme Administrative Court in Turkey annulled an earlier decision regarding Hagia Sophie's status as a museum and its re-functioning as a mosque, which sparked international condemnation.

On July 13^th: The Libyan House of Representatives headed by Counselor Agila Saleh, held in the eastern city of Tobruk, called on the state of Egypt to intervene militarily to protect Libyan and Egyptian national security if it saw an imminent risk threatening the security of the two countries.

On July 14^th: The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalil Zada, reported that the U.S. forces had withdrawn from five military bases in Afghanistan, as part of the implementation of an agreement reached last February between the Taliban and the United States.

On July 19^th: The Hope Probe was launched to Mars from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, in the first Arab and Emirati mission of its kind to explore the Red Planet.

On July 21^st: Ethiopia announced the completion of the first phase of filling the reservoir of al-Nahda Dam without reaching an agreement with Egypt and Sudan, while the Sudanese government revealed that the water level of the Blue Nile had decreased by 90 million cubic meters.

A huge explosion in the Beirut port, causing severe damage throughout the Lebanese capital, was heard in neighboring countries, leaving dozens dead and thousands injured.

On August 10^th: The Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced the resignation of his government in the wake of the Beirut Port explosion, following protests accompanied with major confrontations.

'Starting the path of normalization'

On September 13^th: Greece decided to conclude huge arms deals to strengthen its military forces in addition to a comprehensive reform of the army due to the escalation of tension between Athens and Ankara.

On September 15^th: Israel officially signed two peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House in the American capital, Washington, in the presence of the U.S. President Donald Trump.

On September 16^th: Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, warns Turkey against "terrorizing" its neighbors, in the context of the dispute over gas resources that Turkey is facing with Greece in the eastern Mediterranean.

On September 22^nd: The countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum signed an agreement in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

On September 26^th: The Designated Lebanese Prime Minister Mustafa Adib apologized for the task of forming the government.

On September 27^th: The Armenian Ministry of Defense announced that 16 soldiers were killed and more than a hundred others were injured in the clashes in the Karabakh border region with Azerbaijan, and the Armenian government announced, in its decision, the state of war and general mobilization in the country, and in turn Turkey announced its support for Azerbaijan.

On September 28^th: The Armenian ambassador to Russia, Vardan Taghanyan, revealed that the gunmen transferred from Syria by Turkey were taking part in the hostilities in the Karabakh region.

The Kuwaiti Emiri Court announced the death of the Emir of the country, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at the age of 91.

Two Iraqi officials and two Western diplomats said that Washington had made preparations to withdraw diplomats from Iraq, and warned Baghdad that it may close its embassy in a move that the Iraqis fear would turn their country into a battlefield.

On October 3^rd: The Sudanese government signed a peace agreement with several Sudanese rebel groups, with the aim of ending years of armed conflicts in the Darfur region, southern Kordofan and Southern Blue Nile.

'Bloody events in France and Biden wins U.S. elections'

On October 16^th: The French police announced that they had shot dead a man who had slaughtered a teacher minutes earlier in a preparatory school on a street in the suburbs of the capital Paris, and a police source said that this teacher had shown his students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

On October 23^rd: The Head of the United Nations mission to Libya, Stephanie Williams, announced that the members of the Libyan Joint Military Committee had reached a ceasefire agreement during the talks in Geneva, and the signing ceremony took place in the disarmament conference room at the United Nations headquarter in Geneva.

Tensions have returned once again between Morocco and the "Polisario" front, which Rabat describes as "separatist" at the "Guerguerat" crossing on the Moroccan-Mauritanian border.

On October 29^th: An attack took place inside Notre Dame Church in Nice, France, killing three and wounding several. Some media outlets reported that the attacker beheaded a woman, and security personnel arrested the attacker, as he was wounded during arrest.

On November 6^th: The U.S. Treasury Department issued a statement announcing the issuance of sanctions against the prominent Lebanese politician, Gebran Bassil.

On November 7^th: U.S. media announced that Democratic candidate Joe Biden had won the U.S. presidential election.

'Russia sponsors "painful" deal for Armenian'

On November 10^th: Armenia and Azerbaijan announced an agreement to stop the war between the two countries in Karabakh under Russian auspices to hand over Armenia supported by Russia regions to Azerbaijan supported by Turkey, as the Armenian president described it as a painful agreement.

On November 11^th:  The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Support in Libya, Stephanie Williams, confirmed that the participants in the Libyan Dialogue Forum in Tunisia reached an agreement on holding parliamentary and presidential elections in the country within a period not exceeding 18 months.

On November 27^th: The Iranian Ministry of Defense confirmed the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh after targeting him near Tehran.   

D.H