Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

During his speech in the United Nations General Assembly last week, King Salman of Saudi Arabia called for “coexistence among all the region’s peoples” and stated that “Peace in the Middle East is our strategic option.” We talked about the position of Saudi Arabia and recent developments in the region with Prof. Dr. F. Gregory Gause, III, professor of International Affairs and Head of the International Affairs Department at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University.   I would like to start with the one question which everyone has in mind. Will Saudi Arabia be next to normalize relations with Israel? No.  The king is opposed.  As long as he is alive, no formal and public normalization.   According to  The Wall Street Journal , the king and the crown prince have been at odds over whether to ease relations with Israel. So it is true… Yes. It was also evident in Saudi reactions to various stages of the Trump peace plan and in th...

The alliance between the U.S. and Europe is still of great importance for global security and stability and the two sides of the Atlantic face many common challenges. But while the post-Cold War order is undergoing fundamental changes, so are transatlantic relations Transatlantic ties between the United States and Europe have been strained recently. At the moment, it is not easy to hold on to the presumption that the ties are unshakable. Common security interests crowned by the establishment of NATO in addition to shared values and history have led to lasting partnerships; however, nowadays discussions are mainly about the future of the relationships and their relevance. The alliance between the U.S. and Europe is still of great importance for global security and stability and the two sides of the Atlantic face many common challenges. But while the post-Cold War order is undergoing fundamental changes, so are transatlantic relations. Since the end of World War II, the...

The U.S. imposed sanctions on the Chinese military over its purchase of Su-35 jet fighters and S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia. Accordingly, China's Equipment Development Department (EDD) and its Director Li Shangfu have been blacklisted for their transactions with Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms exporter. This means any assets they hold in the U.S. have been frozen; likewise, the EDD has been denied export licenses and excluded from the American financial system. An additional 33 names and entities were added to the blacklist; the majority indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller and his team for their involvement in the attempt to influence the American elections. These sanctions were levied in response to the breach of the U.S. sanctions law punishing Moscow for its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its cyber interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was pa...

Gun deaths are on the rise again in the United States. Just a few weeks ago,  a disturbed man pulled the trigger in Las Vegas  and rained bullets down from a hotel room window at an outdoor country music concert, killing 59 people and injuring more than 500 others. And this weekend, another deranged man entered a church in a small, rural town in Texas with a community of fewer than 400 people during Sunday services.

A  disturbed man pulled the trigger in Las Vegas last Sunday night. He rained bullets down from a hotel room window on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel into a country music concert killing at least 59 people and injuring 527 others. His name was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada. He opened fire on masses of people with no apparent reason. According to his brother Eric Paddock, he was an ordinary guy living in a quiet retirement community with no religious or political affiliations. However, he fired rounds of ammunition into the crowd and killed himself when the police located him.

Donald Trump’ın seçim kampanya vaatlerini yerine getirip getirmeyeceği üzerine herhangi bir şüphesi olan varsa, başkanlığının ilk haftasındaki söylem ve kararlarına bakıp bu düşüncesinden şimdiye kadar vazgeçmiş olmalı. Hatta ‘yok artık bunu da yapmaz’ diye tepki vereceği birçok karar ve uygulamaya hazırlıklı olmalı. Seçim kampanyası sırasında Trump öncelikle Amerikalıların terör bağlamlı güvenlik korkusunu kaşıyarak suçlu olarak başrole Müslümanları ve mültecileri yerleştirmişti. Amerikan vatandaşı Müslümanların kendi ülkelerinde bu söylemlerle ne hissedeceğini hesaba katmayıp neredeyse tüm seçim tartışmalarını Müslümanlar üzerinden geliştirmişti. Trump, bu durumdan güç alan ırkçılar ve içlerinde var olduğunu fark etmedikleri ırkçılığı bu sayede ortaya çıkaranların da desteğiyle daha  ‘Büyük Amerika’ için ayrıştırıcı ve ötekileştirici söylemlerle yola çıktı. 

During the Republican Party primaries, Trump argued he would be a more even-handed umpire in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians than previous US presidents. But despite garnering the support of known anti-Semites and evidence emerging that he or his campaign were  visiting  anti-Semitic websites, he managed to win the  implicit support  of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump and his surrogates have argued for Israeli  annexation  of the West Bank and recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, policies that would favor Israel far more than even past Republican administrations. With the presidency and majorities in Congress, Trump could easily push through such radical policy changes. Yet some wonder whether he would. For one thing, he and his advisers’ positions on Israel have been all over the map. For another, making such moves might be too costly. George W. Bush signed a bill recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel,...

We’ve talked with Mr. Soli Ozel, a faculty member at Kadir Has University and a columnist at Haberturk newspaper about West’s attitude following the failed coup attempt on July 15 th ; Turkey’s detente with Russia; and the issue of Gulen’s extradition which directly affects the relationship between Turkey and the U.S. Were you expecting a coup attempt? When you look back today, were there any indicators? When you look back, you find what you’re looking for. According to what I’ve learned afterwards, this was not such an unexpected incident for Ankara. But personally, I wasn’t expecting a coup. I didn’t think that the Gulenists were this strong within the army. How do you see the West’s approach to the coup attempt? Can we call it a lack of empathy? I personally think so. On October 10 th terrorist attack, the ambassadors got together and placed flowers at the scene of attack. That was the right thing to do. They acted similarly after the attack on the Ataturk Airport. On ...

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...

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.

Aaron Stein So  much happened since the ISIS attack to the Amara Cultural Center in Suruc near the Syrian border, to claim 32 lives. We dis cussed with Aaron Stein, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council´s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, the domestic consequences of this attack, its impact to the peace process, the shift in Turkey’s Incirlik policy, and the future of the Syrian civil conflict. Turkey  had  enjoyed a relative quiet up to now. The terrorist attack in Suruc is considered by most analysts as a spill over of Syrian  civil  conflict into Turkey. Do you agree? Yes, I think it is definitely a spill over from the Syrian civil conflict. But I will just say that it is the most recent spill over of the Syrian civil conflict. Refugees are the most obvious  sign of what has been the cost  of t he Syrian civil war for Turkey  since 2012 .   But in terms of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict, the spill over began in July 2...