Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

Over the last decade, the far western suburbs of İstanbul have begun to resemble a safe haven for diverse foreign communities, including a  new Afghan diaspora , long-time Syrian refugees and exiled members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Among them are also several  senior figures of Hamas , the Islamist militant party governing Gaza which the US, EU and Israel designate as a terrorist group, but Turkey does not. Following the group’s Oct. 7 surprise attack and amid Israel’s bombing campaign with prospects for a “ long and difficult war ” as stated by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, the presence of Hamas members in Turkey will likely come under increasing scrutiny. While the Israeli government is expected to press Ankara to stop hosting Hamas figures, Israel’s mounting military response and the images of human suffering it will produce, have already and will continue to stir Turkish public sentiments, which are by a large majority pro-Palestine. This trend, and a threatened gro...

Israel welcomed Saudi Arabia's isolation of Qatar and the recent appointment of Mohammad bin Salman as heir, but experts underline that the terror issue seems only to be a pretext and at the end Qatar may be pushed toward Iran, affecting Israel negatively As Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declared sanctions on Qatar, Israel welcomed the development. The main reasons behind Israel's positive stance towards the isolation can be understood as Qatar, along with Turkey, is the biggest donor for Gaza, hosts Hamas members, has established better ties with Iran due to the share of natural gas fields while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have wicked Israel to better ties, using their anti-Iran stance as a common ground. However, it should be questioned that to what extent these reasons, especially the allegations against Qatar financing terror groups in the region, are reasonable. It is also a known fact that several radical elements across the world are kn...

Israel appointed Mr. Eitan Na’eh, who served as a secretary at the embassy in Ankara back in 1993, as the new ambassador to Turkey. This is the first time that this post has been filled since 2010, marking the full restoration of ties between the two countries after six years of animosity. On an exclusive interview with Ambassador Na’eh, we discussed the future of Turkish-Israeli relations, the East Mediterranean energy corridor and the Middle East. Normalization between the two countries is continuing with high level visits. What is next in the program?  We are developing our relations. We put the roof after we put the foundation and the walls. We are setting up a schedule, renewing dialogues at different levels on different topics. We have to re-identify our common interests. We have to decide how we want to act upon it. We are at the very early stages. We have normalized our relationship, now we are re-building relations. That will take some time. We are looking into the...

Turkey's Main Opposition Party Slams Ankara's Legitimation of Gaza Blockade Turkey and Israel have reached an agreement on the normalization of relations. Sputnik spoke to Turkish journalists and politicians about the implications of the apparent political rapprochement.  Israel Sees ‘Immense’ Economic Gains by Making Friends With Turkey Over the weekend, following the announcement by Turkish and Israeli officials that the two countries had reached an agreement on the normalization of relations after six years of mutual estrangement, Israel also made clear that the sea blockade of Gaza would not be lifted; however, Turkey will be able to send supplies to the Palestinian territory through the Israeli port of Ashdod. In turn, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stressed that the agreement would allow Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Relations deteriorated following...

Erdogan, Davutoglu shed tears for Gaza, but do little else  by Zülfikar Doğan Al Monitor 25 April 2016 The closing session of the recent 13th summit of the  Organization for Islamic Cooperation  (OIC), held in Istanbul, experienced a diplomatic scandal, set in motion by the host's economic finger-pointing. The proverbial shoe would soon, however, be on the other foot. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chairing the summit April 15, referred to the widely discussed financial problems of the OIC as the cause of the organization's passivity and ineffectiveness. He went on to declare that Turkey would be donating  $2 million  to help make the OIC the influential organization suggestive of its name. Erdogan then began to read the names of member states that had not paid their dues. But Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Assaf stated that “Such issues are  solved inside  the organization. It is ...