Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

Israel and Turkey have reached an understanding on the outlines of an agreement to begin restoring full diplomatic relations after five years since Mavi Marmara raid during which Israeli marines killed 10 passengers on board. It was from the international press that the Turkish public learned about bilateral talks in Zurich. According to the understanding, Turkey and Israel will restore full diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors. Israel would pay $20 million as compensation to the families of the victims of Mavi Marmara and Turkey would drop criminal charges it has filed against Israeli officers. The agreement is boosted with the possibility of building the long desired pipeline to bring natural gas from Israel to Turkey. What was astonishing in the deal was the absence of the issue of the Gaza blockade which was one of the three conditions of the Turkish side besides apology and compensation and the new condition from Israel; to expel Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri who is bel...

Israel’s former ambassador to the United States Michael B. Oren has written a new book; Ally , in which he gives details on his time in Washington. In one of his op-eds about his book, published in Wall Street Journal on June 16 th , 2015 he criticizes the U.S. President Obama over the damage caused to U.S. – Israel relations. As hinted from the beginning by the title “How Obama Abandoned Israel,” he accuses Obama administration for the deterioration of the relations between the two countries. “Nobody has a monopoly on making mistakes. Netanyahu and the president both made mistakes, but only one purposely damaged U.S.- Israel relations,” he wrote. However, he does not forget to give Obama credit by underlining that he was never anti-Israel and that he significantly strengthened the security cooperation between the U.S. and Israel.

BEYOND ISLAMOPHOBIA  On January 07th, the world was shocked by the attack on the offices of the famous French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The attack which left 12 people dead saddened the world and the attack brought with it many debates. Undoubtedly the attack is a blow to freedom of the press and of expression. It will leave an enduring scar in the history of France as well as the world at large. The three perpetrators, two of whom were brothers were of Arab ethnic origin and spoke perfect French according to witnesses.

For the newly re-elected US President Barack Obama the plan was clear; to be the president that ended all the wars, withdrawing most of the American soldiers from the Middle East. Like in his first presidency, he targeted to expand America's military in the Asia Pacific as a top priority, and he declared the intention to shift America’s focus from the Middle East. To achieve this, he needed to solve the one problem that according to him is the mother of all problems; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama wanted to focus on the peace process between Israel and Palestinians, and Secretary of State John Kerry was eager to take full responsibility for the job. At the time, Obama’s tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became a known fact. Analysis on the future of American-Israeli relations had started circulating already. Obama preferred to be in the shadow in this matter and he left the spotlight to his secretary of state. Kerry was determined to resolve the c...

On stage we are witnessing the realization of Iranian precise and detailed plan of reintegrating themselves into the international community while continuing on with their much-discussed nuclear program. After an alienated period during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Iran is returning step by step to the international system with the new President Hassan Rouhani. His campaign slogan was moderation and wisdom. Working to ease the sanctions and bringing back dignity to the Iranian nation was his promise. 'Is he moderate or not?' was the main topic of discussion for Rouhani till the beginning of his term. But one thing is for sure, he managed to improve the image of Iran in the eyes of the international community. That has been enough to persuade the world powers to ease some sanctions and continue with the nuclear negotiations.