Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

The relationship between Turkey and Israel has gone through several ups and downs since ties between the two nations were formalized in 1949. After a recent period of turbulence, Turkey is eager to normalize ties; Israel, however, is unlikely to rush into a relationship.   Turkey’s growing isolation in its neighborhood and strained ties with the United States are driving a bid by Ankara to normalize relations with countries in the region, including Israel. A combination of economic, energy, intelligence, and political interests may have also persuaded Ankara to rethink its policy on Israel. Specifically, Turkey is feeling pressure as a result of the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states, and the reconciliation between its ally, Qatar, and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as Egypt. It is also concerned about the shift in regional alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean—Turkey, for example, was excluded from the  East Mediterranean Gas For...

The polls were right this time. The first round of the French presidential election ended as they predicted. Thirty-nine-year-old centrist Emmanuel Macron will be facing off against right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen on May 7. The French voters will head to the polls for the second round to choose between an ex-banker who is new to the political scene and Le Pen, the heir to the xenophobic National Front. Surveys show that voters will unite behind Macron, not because he has a major agenda but due to the "anyone but Le Pen" sentiment. France is facing a political divide that can be easily perceived through the geographical concentration of the votes. This divide is not the traditional right-left divide. It is about the image of France, the identity of the French people.

During her visit to Istanbul, we had the chance to discuss recent events with Professor Ofra Bengio. She shared her views on the terrorist attacks in Paris, developments in Syria, Iraq and KRG, the future of Turkey-Kurdish peace process and Turkish-Israeli relations for Salom readers. Ms. Bengio is a Senior Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and professor in the department of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University Russia’s military intervention in Syria has dramatically changed the calculations of all involved in Syria. Why Russia wanted to become involved in Syria now? Russia felt that there is a certain vacuum in Syria that needs to be filled. The U.S. was not fulfilling its task of fighting ISIS. Furthermore, Obama put certain redlines but did not act on them so this emboldened the Russians to take this move. Secondly, the Assad regime was in a very shaky situation, almost on the verge of collapse while ISIS was gaining...

The stunning victory of the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey does not pose a threat to Turkish Jewry, Turkish-Jewish columnist and blogger Karel Valansi told  The Algemeiner  on Thursday. Valansi, the political columnist for the Turkish-Jewish weekly,  Şalom , said the “public voted for security and against the instability that is perceived with governments formed by coalition.”

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...