Istanbul

2025-03-23

كتبت- سلمى سمير: تشهد تركيا موجة احتجاجات واسعة النطاق منذ أيام، بعد اعتقال رئيس بلدية إسطنبول، أكرم إمام أوغلو، بتهم تتعلق بالفساد، في خطوة اعتبرها معارضوه ذات دوافع سياسية تهدف إلى إقصائه من الساحة السياسية قبل الانتخابات الرئاسية المقبلة. Clashes in Istanbul between police and demonstrators demanding the release of Ekrem İmamoğlu.University students are participating massively in demonstrations across Turkish provinces demanding the release of Imamoglu. تم اقتياد إمام أوغلو، برفقة 90 متهماً آخر، إلى محكمة تشاجليان في إسطنبول، حيث أمر القاضي بسجنه بتهم فساد تشمل الرشوة والتلاعب في المناقصات. كما وُجهت إليه اتهامات تتعلق بالإرهاب، إذ تتهمه السلطات بالارتباط بحزب العمال الكردستاني المحظور. 🇹🇷 Erdogan is losing his popularity. Protest erupted after his main opposition, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been arrested. 3rd day of the protest, tens of thousands are on the streets وفي بيان أصدره الادعاء العام، أكد أن إمام أوغلو "يواجه اتهامات جدية بضلوعه في عمليات فساد ممنهجة، تضمنت التلاعب في عقود حكومية، واستغلال النفوذ لتحقيق مكاسب غير مشروعة". كما أشار البيان إلى أن "هناك أدلة قوية على تورطه في تمويل أنشطة مشبوهة مرتبطة بكيانات محظورة". وبناءً على ذلك، قررت المحكمة إيداعه السجن الاحتياطي لحين استكمال التحقيقات. من داخل محبسه، نشر إمام أوغلو تغريدة عبر منصة "إكس" دعا فيها الشعب التركي إلى عدم فقدان الأمل، قائلاً: "سنزيل هذا الهجوم على ديمقراطيتنا... سيحاسب الذين يديرون هذه العملية، سواء في هذه الدنيا أو في الآخرة أمام خالقنا العظيم". كما دعا المواطنين إلى المشاركة الكثيفة في الانتخابات، في إشارة إلى الانتخابات الداخلية لحزبه التي تجري لاختيار مرشح للرئاسة. وفيما تتسع رقعة الاحتجاجات، شددت السلطات التركية إجراءاتها الأمنية، وفرضت طوقاً أمنياً على عدة مدن، كما مددت حظر التجمعات في إسطنبول حتى مساء الأربعاء، في محاولة للحد من تصاعد التظاهرات. اندلعت الاحتجاجات منذ يوم الأربعاء، تزامناً مع اعتقال إمام أوغلو، وازدادت حدتها يوم السبت، حيث خرج عشرات الآلاف في إسطنبول وأنقرة وأزمير ومدن أخرى رغم الحظر الأمني. حيث تعد هذه التظاهرات الأكبر التي تشهدها تركيا منذ احتجاجات "جيزي بارك" عام 2013. ورغم محاولة قوات الأمن تفريق المحتجين باستخدام قنابل الغاز المسيل للدموع وخراطيم المياه، فإن المتظاهرين استمروا في التعبير عن غضبهم، مؤكدين أن القضية تتجاوز اعتقال إمام أوغلو وتمس مستقبل الديمقراطية في البلاد، بالإضافة إلى قضايا أخرى مثل الاقتصاد والتعليم والرعاية الصحية. من جانبه، وصف الرئيس التركي رجب طيب أردوغان الاحتجاجات بأنها "إرهاب في الشوارع"، مؤكداً أن الحكومة "لن تقبل الإخلال بالنظام العام". وأضاف في خطاب متلفز: "الإشارة إلى الشوارع بدلاً من اللجوء إلى المحاكم للدفاع عن السارقين والمخالفين للقانون هو تصرف غير مسؤول". أما وزير الداخلية، علي يرليكايا، فأكد اعتقال 323 شخصا على خلفية الاحتجاجات، مشدداً على أن "الدولة لن تتسامح مع من يحاولون تهديد الأمن والاستقرار وإثارة الفوضى والتحريض". يُنظر إلى إمام أوغلو على أنه أحد أبرز المرشحين المحتملين لمنافسة أردوغان في الانتخابات الرئاسية المقبلة، المقررة في 2028، إلا أن بعض التوقعات تشير إلى احتمال إجراء انتخابات مبكرة. وقد زاد الجدل حول اعتقال إمام أوغلو بعد أن ألغت جامعة إسطنبول درجته الأكاديمية، مما قد يمنعه من الترشح للانتخابات، حيث أرجعت الجامعة القرار إلى "مخالفات" في شهادته الجامعية الصادرة عن إحدى الجامعات الخاصة في شمال قبرص. ...قراءة المزيد

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2025-03-20

كتبت- سلمى سمير: اندلعت احتجاجات واسعة في عدد من المدن التركية، وذلك تنديدًا بتوقيف عمدة إسطنبول، أكرم إمام أوغلو، في خطوة أثارت غضب المعارضة خاصة أنها جاءت قبل أسابيع من إعلان عمدة إسطنبول ترشحه للانتخابات الرئاسية المرتقبة. Live update via Protests continue in Turkey Protests have also now started in Ankara as well.METU students who wanted to carry their rebellion from the campus to Kızılay were subjected to a pepper gas attack by the police! وتحدى المتظاهرون قرارات حظر التجمعات، حيث خرج الآلاف إلى الشوارع مطالبين بالإفراج عن عمدة إسطنبول واستقالة الرئيس رجب طيب أردوغان. The people of Istanbul are rising! Mass protests against Erdogan’s policies and the unjust imprisonment of the city's mayor fill the streets. The voice of the people cannot be silenced! وفي إسطنبول، تجمع الآلاف أمام مبنى البلدية وسط انتشار أمني كثيف، في حين خرجت مظاهرات أخرى أمام جامعة إسطنبول. كما شهدت العاصمة أنقرة اشتباكات بين الشرطة والطلاب المحتجين في جامعة الشرق الأوسط التقنية، ما أسفر عن اعتقال عدد من المتظاهرين، وفق ما نقلته قناة "هالك تي في". Live update from telegram Students Protests continues in Turkey وأثار اعتقال إمام أوغلو جدلًا إضافيًا بعد أن قررت جامعة إسطنبول سحب شهادته الجامعية بزعم حصوله عليها بطرق غير قانونية، ما اعتبره معارضوه محاولة لعرقلة مستقبله السياسي. في المقابل، نفى حزب العدالة والتنمية الحاكم الاتهامات بتسييس القضاء، مؤكدًا أن التحقيقات ضد إمام أوغلو "قانونية بحتة" ولا تحمل دوافع سياسية. Protests in Turkey – Live updates via telegram 👇Our social media accounts were suspended by the Erdogan regime before mass arrests began (except Telegram). All other platforms are cooperating with the Erdogan regime وحقق عمدة إسطنبول، أكرم إمام أوغلو، العام الماضي فوزًا بولاية ثانية في رئاسة بلدية المدينة، في انتخابات محلية شهدت تقدمًا كبيرًا لحزب الشعب الجمهوري المعارض، الذي تمكن من السيطرة على إسطنبول وأنقرة. كانت هذه النتيجة محطة مهمة في المشهد السياسي التركي، إذ إنها المرة الأولى منذ وصول الرئيس رجب طيب أردوغان إلى السلطة التي يتلقى فيها حزب العدالة والتنمية هزيمة على نطاق واسع عبر صناديق الاقتراع. حيث تم عزز حزب الشعب الجمهوري مكانته، مسجلًا أفضل نتائج انتخابية له منذ عام 1977. ...قراءة المزيد

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2025-02-22

أعلنت ، اليوم السبت، إلغاء بعض الرحلات الجوية المغادرة من مطار إسطنبول والقادمة إليه يوم 23 فبراير 2025، وذلك بسبب الأحوال الجوية المتوقعة والتى تشمل تساقط الثلوج، حسبما ذكرت وسائل إعلام تركية. وجاء هذا الإعلان عبر منشور على حسابات الشركة الرسمية على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي، حيث أشارت الشركة إلى منح حقوق إضافية للركاب المتأثرين بإلغاء الرحلات. Istanbul blanketed by heavy snow as Arctic storm hits Türkiye, bringing freezing temperatures — Türkiye Today (@turkiyetodaycom) وأضافت الشركة أن الركاب يمكنهم الاطلاع على حالة رحلاتهم عبر صفحة "حالة رحلات الطيران" الخاصة بالشركة أو الاستفسار عبر تطبيق واتساب. كما يمكن للركاب الحصول على معلومات مفصلة حول طلبات تغيير التذاكر واسترداد الأموال. كذلك، استمرت الاضطرابات في الرحلات الجوية في منطقة البحر الأسود بسبب تساقط الثلوج الذي بدأ منذ 3 أيام بشكل متقطع. ووفقا لوسائل إعلام تركية، أُلغيت 7 رحلات من مطار أوردو-غيرسون إلى إسطنبول، و6 رحلات من مطار ريزه-أرتفين إلى إسطنبول وأنقرة بشكل متبادل. ومن المتوقع تشغيل الرحلات الملغاة فور عودة الأحوال الجوية إلى طبيعتها. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-05

Some would say that have never been as complex as they are currently. This past Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced that his country has decided to join South Africa's lawsuit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which accuses Israel of genocide. Also, the current chairman of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, left Qatar and has been staying in Turkey for the past 12 days. Some believe that the leaders of Hamas are interested in establishing their new home base in Turkey. Further, on Tuesday, an attack was carried out in Jerusalem in which a security guard was injured by a Turkish tourist and later that day Esra Erdogan, the daughter of the President of Turkey, posted a tweet in which she welcomed the attack. There is no longer any doubt that Turkey has a hand in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, born and raised in Turkey, is an expert in politics and foreign relations of Turkey and Turkey-Israel relations and a researcher and activist at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University and explained this complicated situation in depth.  He explained that since the beginning of the war, we have seen unprecedented incitement in Turkey against the State of Israel. It has gone beyond any scale we have known to date and it has crossed the boundaries of legitimate criticism against any country. Unfortunately, it has also reached Dr. Yanarocak draws attention to the fact that the Turkish terrorist who arrived in Jerusalem is not "just a tourist", but came here on a religious mission. He points out that this is a person who served as an imam, a prayer leader of a mosque, in a settlement in the Turkish periphery. "Thanks to this delegation, he arrived here and obtained an entry visa from the Israeli embassy, probably in Ankara or from the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. I saw the photo of his passport, it was an ordinary tourist's passport," Dr. Yanarocak stated. Haniyeh and Erdogan (credit: Arab networks) In his eyes, this means that the terrorist enjoys the patronage of the Turkish Religious Affairs Authority which sent the delegation to Israel. Dr. Yanarocak explains that "they do it every year, they call it 'Umrah', the visit of the holy places outside of the Hajj season. They first arrive in Jerusalem, they continue to several other countries, including Mecca."  Additional information about the terrorist gathered from Turkish media sources reveals that he is an introvert, unlikable, and married with children. According to Dr. Yanarocak, the Turkish media apparently reported the incident in a balanced way. He explained, "At first they wrote that the Israeli police killed a Turkish citizen in Jerusalem. Then, as soon as the security camera footage was revealed, they simply changed the narrative and reported that the Turkish attacker was hit and killed by police officers." Erdogan's speech against Israel and the war in Gaza (credit: REUTERS) Dr. Yanarocak further explains that there were those on the Turkish streets who handed out sweets after the attack and that the Islamic media tried to make the terrorist a martyr. However, , he was criticized for attacking from behind and not trying to challenge the Israeli policeman properly, and that he therefore does not deserve to be considered a martyr. In response, Dr. Yanarocak stated that Israel is in the process of deterioration, because "for the first time, a Turkish tourist in the State of Israel is stabbed". Dr. Yanarocak clarifies that the group that received an entry visa is a group of clerics, civil servants on behalf of the Turkish state. "Ultimately, they are not considered problematic people. If Israel prevents clerics from entering Jerusalem, a new diplomatic crisis may occur. Turkey is in such a gray area. It's not the friendliest country in the world to Israel, nor is it openly hostile. The gray area, something in between, causes a headache for Israel." ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-05

Painter Lea Gul’s first solo exhibition in Israel – opening the evening of May 15 at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv – marks a new chapter in the fascinating life story of a religious Jewish Jerusalemite raised as a secular Muslim in Istanbul. A mother of four who looks like a fashion model even though she just turned 51, Lea overcame many obstacles to get where she is today.  Though many students in her Istanbul high school were Jewish, she says, and all her boyfriends were Jewish, her pull to Judaism was precipitated by nearly dying in a car crash in 2000. “I should have died, and I started wondering why I didn’t,” she says. That question led her on a spiritual search, and in 2002 she told her parents that she wanted to move to India. ‘THE SERAPH’ (Angel), 165x165, oil on canvas. (credit: Sadan Pro Art) Her mother suggested that first she should read three holy books “to see if I could find the source of the power that protected me from death.” She was very taken by the Torah’s philosophy and started to research Judaism. Two years later, while visiting , she made her decision to convert. “That’s what I wrote in the guest book on the way out,” she recalls. At home in Istanbul, she had two passions: competitive horseback riding and painting. She had a painting studio where she taught adults and children, and hosted evening discussions with art historians and philosophers. She had four solo and two group exhibitions between 1999 and 2005. Gradually, her mother took over the classes so that Lea (then named Konca, Turkish for “rosebud”) could delve into Jewish learning. Her mother was fully supportive, happy that her daughter had found something to believe in. But she couldn’t convert in Turkey because Ottoman law forbids Jews from converting Muslims. In 2005, she decided to live in the Amsterdam Jewish community and convert there, but first she had an exhibition of her horse paintings. During the exhibition, she met Leon, her future husband. Leon was Jewish and had been recommended to her as someone who could help find out about the artistic symbol of almond blossoms in , a topic that intrigued her.  When they met on May 5, it was love at first sight. Immediately, they began studying together. He invited her to Shabbat dinner at his family’s home a week later, and that night they got engaged. In the summer, Orthodox author and educator Dr. Joel Wolowelsky from New York visited Istanbul. He and the Chabad rabbi in Istanbul, , who had been assisting her in her Jewish studies, arranged for Konca to complete her conversion in Atlanta, Georgia. She went in September and returned three and a half months later as a Jew named Lea.  She chose that name, she explains, because the biblical character of Lea “is powerful and sees beyond the reality.” After marrying Leon in June, Lea soon became pregnant with twin girls. Continuing to leave both art and dressage to the side, she started teaching Torah classes. “We opened our house to everyone on Shabbat. I had another daughter 13 months later, and yet we never stopped opening our house, to serve God,” she says.  Three years after her third daughter was born, Lea gave birth to a son. She continued teaching Torah and hosting Shabbat guests, but gradually “I began to see that people were not immersing themselves in the knowledge; they were only learning intellectually. I felt it should not be like this.” In 2017, she opened an aliyah file at the Israeli Embassy, but her husband was not willing to go. The marriage had become troubled by this point, and the couple divorced in 2020. The only stipulation Lea made in the negotiations was that she must be able to take her children to live in Israel. “I had to make aliyah,” she explains, “because Istanbul is a very secular society. If I wanted to raise my children in an Orthodox way, I had to go to Israel. They had never even been to a birthday party in Istanbul because all the parties are held on Shabbat.” With an intermarriage rate of about 80%, she knew when the time came she would not be able to find her children appropriate spouses. Although many Turkish immigrants have settled in Ra’anana and Haifa, she chose Jerusalem when she arrived in Israel in August 2021. “The first time I saw the golden stones, I knew had to live here.” HER FATHER passed away in 2019 and her mother in March 2021. Needing to support herself, she put her full energy into painting, a passion she had returned to in 2015, using a style she learned from surrealist Turkish painter Erol Denec, a protégé of Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs, co-founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. “I felt if Hashem gave me this talent, I should use it,” she says. “My work now is an unlimited way of seeing beyond reality. With Torah, I was able to express what is inside of me.” One day, a real estate agent who had come to show Lea’s apartment to a prospective client saw Lea’s paintings and told her friend Vered Daya, from the ZOA Gallery, about Lea’s talent. Veteran art world publicist Michal Sadan, a former curator, was brought in to help make arrangements for a show. Excited about Lea’s potential, Sidan engaged Galit Zimbalist to curate the ZOA exhibition, which runs through the end of June.  “I know that she will find her standing in the Israeli world of art because her work has powerful energy, her paintings are fascinating, and the spectators are deeply moved,” Zimbalist writes in her text for the “Unmasked before the Forces of Creation” show. “Lea paints her pure emotions, using an intense multicolored palette, layers of color, and the precision of the boundaries that create the sense of virtual reality in the story.  “From inner listening and an intuitive connection, she develops a personal and unique style, she investigates her past and contemplates her future as a creative woman in a new and challenging place.”  Indeed, the road Lea has followed has been challenging, but she and her children – now 16, 16, 15, and 12 – believe they’ve found their destination. ■ LEA GUL, 51 FROM ISTANBUL TO JERUSALEM, 2021 ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-02

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stayed longer than usual in Turkey when he visited in mid-April along with a large Hamas delegation. It’s not the first time Hamas leaders have been greeted in Turkey with fanfare by Turkey’s president. Ankara has long backed Hamas and hosted its delegations over the years. Hamas has been hosted by US major non-NATO ally Qatar since 2012, and the West has supported its allies hosting Hamas, which is an inconvenient aspect of the H. Hamas is backed by two Western allies and carried out the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas is unlikely to move completely from one Western ally to another because it receives more protection by being hosted for high-level meetings by both Ankara and Doha. However, there is now speculation in Israeli media about whether the Haniyeh meetings and his subsequent stay in Turkey for several days symbolize more to come. This comes amid months of rumors that from Qatar, where it has been hosted since 2012. The rumors about Hamas seeking to extend its stay in Turkey came from a report at Asharq al-Awsat. The report was then re-reported in Maariv and other media. “Sources close to Hamas told the newspaper that the purpose of the visit to Istanbul is to discuss Turkey's role as a debating country and Ankara's role after the war. According to the sources, Hamas does not want to cause further embarrassment to Qatar, and its officials would prefer to leave and reduce the pressure.” In another report, a senior Hamas official claimed the group would relocate to Jordan if it were asked to leave Qatar. Al-Arabiya noted that Hamas official “Mousa Abu Marzouk insisted that any talk of Hamas leaders leaving Qatar is currently unfounded, but said that Jordan could serve as an alternative destination.” The report also noted that “Doha was asked by Washington to host them.” The Hamas official said, “All this talk about Hamas’ departure from Qatar is worthless,” in an interview with the al-Alam news channel. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian meets with Palestinian group Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar December 20, 2023. (credit: IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS) On April 20, The Wall Street Journal reported that “Hamas’s political leadership is looking to move from its current base in Qatar, as US legislators build pressure on the Gulf state to deliver on cease-fire negotiations that look likely to fail.” The article in the Journal made it appear that if Hamas was asked to leave Doha, then it could “upend delicate talks to free dozens of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and likely make it more difficult for Israel and the US to pass messages to a group designated by Washington as a terrorist organization. Hamas leaders have lived in Doha, the Qatari capital, since 2012 in an arrangement supported by the US” That report said that Hamas could consider Oman as a possible destination. Understanding how Hamas and Doha handle messaging on this issue is important. Prior to October 7, Israel and the West were told that having Hamas hosted in Qatar, and also having it welcomed in NATO member Turkey, would moderate Hamas. The messaging was that diplomacy and engagement would lead to stability. However, Hamas stockpiled masses of weapons in Gaza and built hundreds of miles of tunnels, becoming exponentially more powerful in the decade and a half its members were greeted and hosted in Doha and Ankara. Hamas received support from Iran and has also had high-level meetings in Russia, but it is the fact that it has friends in high places among Western allies that gave Hamas the comfort to feel that it had the impunity to carry out October 7. In addition Israel was lured into a sense that Hamas was deterred prior to October 7 because it seemed implausible a group hosted by western allies would ever carry out such a massive terror attack. Israel believed the Hezbollah and Iranian proxy threats were worse than Hamas because Hamas has a foot in both camps, it is both backed by Iran and also friendly with western allies. One could argue that Hamas has had tacit or indirect Western backing over the decades. For instance, many Western NGOs partner with Hamas in Gaza and describe its police and its role as bringing “law and order” to Gaza. How those same NGOs square that with images of the dead body of Shani Louk being paraded through the streets by their Hamas partners on October 7 is unclear. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that Western NGOs see Hamas as “law and order” in Gaza, preferable to the “chaos” of not having Hamas. Hamas gunmen are often seen taking over aid trucks in Gaza in coordination with humanitarian aid groups. This leads us back to the question of whether Hamas would relocate from Doha. Doha’s messaging today is that any relocation would jeopardize the hostages. However, since Hamas violated the first hostage deal on December 1, no more deals have taken place. The messaging by Hamas is clear. Prior to October 7 it was “deterred” and having it hosted by western allies supposedly enabled Israel and the West to “engage” with it and prevent war. Then Hamas carried out the worst attack in Israel’s history, and the messaging shifted to assert that Hamas must be hosted by Western allies in order to do hostage deals, deals that never seem to happen. The messaging from Hamas is that they want a deal to remain in Gaza, to get numerous of their murderous prisoners back, and then have impunity to carry out more attacks. Hamas enjoys impunity primarily because it has the cover of Western allies. Jordan or Oman do not give it a similar cover. Hamas leaders such as Khaled Meshaal were once located in Jordan, but even the Kingdom found hosting them was not helpful. Hamas has spent four decades spreading terror and undermining peace, so why would a wise country like Jordan want to host them? After all, it is Hamas that was responsible for harming peace during the Oslo years, increasing bus bombings, and then illegally taking over Gaza in 2007 and ejecting the Jordanian-backed and Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Oddly, the West decided to play both sides, as they also did in Afghanistan. They trained the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, but they hedged their bets by being open to their allies hosting Hamas. Hamas, through being hosted by Western allies, became exponentially stronger since 2012. Its rockets, which once only flew a few kilometers, and its once small tunnels grew into monstrous proportions, openly, with the West watching it happen. Doha became a major non-NATO ally of the US, hosting Hamas and the Taliban. The Taliban were brought back to power in Kabul in 2021. It appears that major non-NATO ally status was a reward for hosting these groups. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others who are partners of the West got increasingly the cold shoulder; the more they cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, the more they didn’t want to host Hamas, and the more they embraced peace with Israel. The message is clear for Hamas. It grew exponentially powerful and wealthy through Western allies. Iran may have supplied the know-how for the missiles and weapons, but the wealth and impunity for attacks and cover against war crimes prosecution comes through Western allies. This is why Hezbollah today faces more challenges than Hamas because it is a Shi’ite sectarian-based Iranian proxy. Hamas is setting its sights on the West Bank to take over when PA President Mahmoud Abbas passes. As such, it will want the backing of Ankara, Doha, and the West when it seeks power in Ramallah. If Hamas is relegated to only being backed by Iran or stuck in a place like Oman, it won’t be able to swoop into control of the West Bank after the Gaza war eventually ends. The long game for Ankara and Doha, and their Western allies, is to have a foothold in Gaza and the West Bank via Hamas. Hamas understands this and knows that it is sometimes used as a tool for larger agendas, and it exploits that to carry out massacres such as October 7. There are no other cases of Western allies hosting terrorist groups who massacre thousands of people and take hundreds of hostages, including citizens of Western countries. Al-Shabab or Boko Haram don’t get the red carpet in meetings in Turkey. Hamas, due to its Muslim Brotherhood roots, its important role in Palestinian politics, and its war against Israel, is hosted by Western allies because both the West and Western allies have an interest in keeping Hamas corralled in their corner and not just a pariah group backed by Iran. This has been a disaster for the Gaza, but the interests are larger than Gaza. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-01

Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's comments, which labeled Hamas a terrorist organization, are an attempt to appear presidential ahead of a potential run for office in 2028, analysts told The Media Line. Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), is widely considered the most popular opposition politician in Turkey and is seen as a strong challenger for the country's top office in four years. During an interview with CNN, he said that any group that kills a mass amount of people is a terrorist organization. "Hamas, of course, carried out an attack in Israel that we are deeply saddened by, and any organized structure that carries out terrorist acts and kills people en masse is considered a terrorist organization by us," he said. Imamoglu quickly followed up his comments on Hamas by stating that he stands against the "brutal oppression of Palestinians." Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), accompanied by his wife Dilek Imamoglu, talks to media after casting his vote during the local elections in Istanbul, Turkey March 31, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER) A spokesperson for the AKP, Ömer Çelik, criticized Imamoglu for his comments, stating that they were "completely wrong." Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party, which is allied with Erdogan, said that Imamoglu's comment on Hamas meant he was turning his back on babies who had been killed. Yurter Ozcan, the CHP representative for the US, told The Media Line that he himself has in the past called Hamas a terrorist organization, as has the leader of the party, Ozgur Ozel, suggesting it is an official position of the party. Ömer Özkizilcik, an Ankara-based non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, believed Imamoglu's comments were aimed at an international audience and said the remarks were domestically unwise and would not help his popularity. Özkizilcik believed the remarks were aimed at the international community and that Imamoglu saw himself on the path to Turkey's top office. "It shows that Imamoglu has already begun to prepare for his presidential candidacy," Özkizilcik said. Salim Cevik, an associate at the Centre for Applied Turkish Studies at Germany's Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, told The Media Line that Imamoglu's comments were likely meant to show that he can talk about foreign policy and is capable of acting as president. "I am also not sure how smart it is to start commenting on foreign policy [on] such a controversial and sensitive topic," Cevik wrote in a message to The Media Line. Cevik stated that the Turkish president has used strong rhetoric in support of Hamas in response to the gains of the Islamist New Welfare Party, whose vote share in nationwide local elections last month seemed to have contributed to losses by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. "He is, in a way, cornered. He takes more radical positions to prevent the growth of [the New Welfare Party], but this creates risks of alienating his more centrist voters," Cevik stated. While Erdogan rejected the killing of civilians days after the October 7 attacks, he became more strongly vocal against the Israeli government as the war in Gaza went on, calling Netanyahu a war criminal and Hamas a "liberation movement." The Turkish president and his top officials have met with Hamas, both abroad and in Turkey. Last month, Erdogan stated that he didn't believe Hamas would be forced to leave Qatar when asked by a journalist about the possibility of Hamas' headquarters moving to Turkey. "The situation in Gaza is what matters, not the whereabouts of Hamas leaders. Indeed, no such information has been provided to me regarding their position in Qatar concerning the matter you stated," he said, according to a transcription of the interview issued by his office. Özkizilcik believed it was not feasible for Turkey to host Hamas' headquarters and political risk as a member of NATO. Ties with the US are a central part of Turkey's security policies, and a worsening of relations has damaged Turkey's economy in the past. "A balancing act that Qatar was not 100 percent able to do, I doubt that Turkey can do such a balancing act," Özkizilcik said. He believed that it would be a security risk for Hamas to make such a move since many foreigners come to Turkey, a tourist hotspot, and it could face possible attacks from its enemies. "We have many people going in and out, and the Israeli Mossad is a capable intelligence organization. Qatar is much more safe for them than any potentially other place," he said. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-30

Along with its NATO allies, Turkey is taking part in a large military exercise, practicing carrying out maritime strikes to defend soldiers in Eastern Europe. The exercise is taking place amid heightened tension over nuclear warfare.  The military alliance stated that the Neptune Strike 24-1 exercise will deter and showcase for the “uncertain global stage.” Turkey’s flagship naval carrier, the TCG Anadolu, is participating in a show of solidarity alongside Swedish jets patrolling the alliance’s airspace. Ankara approved in January after delaying a decision for over a year and a half. Sweden officially joined NATO in March.  The Reuters news agency reported that the Neptune drills would include long-range flights to simulate strikes in defense of militaries in Eastern Europe. Slovak Army soldier stands guard near a NATO's symbol during a ceremony in Slovakia's capital Bratislava to mark the country's entrance to NATO, April 2, 2004. (credit: REUTERS/PETR JOSEK) Aylin Ünver Noi, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Haliç University, told The Media Line that the military alliance needs to illustrate solidarity for its deterrence to work, especially in such “unpredictable” times.  “We don’t know how NATO’s deterrence [would] work to prevent Russia’s aggression or to change its behavior with regards to Ukraine,” she said. Turkey faces multiple security threats in the region, including across the Black Sea in the north. To the south, it borders Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Conflict and political repression in those three countries have brought millions to Turkey in search of refuge.  As a member of NATO, Turkey benefits from being allied with multiple nuclear powers and sharing in the collective defense principle, which states that countries will help a fellow member state if it is attacked. “Turkey knows how important NATO [is] for its own security,” Ünver Noi said. “We’re living in a very dangerous period.” In March, Turkey took part in a NATO drill led by Poland, which the alliance said was its largest military exercise since the Cold War. The Neptune exercise, which started last Friday and will run until May 10, includes using a nuclear-powered French naval ship, which will be under NATO command for the first time. In a press release about the Neptune exercise, NATO said it proves that the alliance “is able to face any threat from any direction faster, more persistently, and with more capable and stronger unity than ever before.” The drills come amid heightened tensions with Russia after Poland, which borders Ukraine, said it is open to hosting nuclear weapons. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that such nuclear facilities would be a target for his country, according to a report from the Russian state news agency TASS. There have been signs that Ankara is improving relations with its Western allies since lifting its objections to Sweden entering NATO. The US agreed to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets as a sign of the improving relationship.  On Monday, the Turkish state news agency reported that Ankara would support Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the NATO secretary general. That announcement followed a meeting between Rutte and Erdoğan in Turkey on Friday. Yusuf Can, an analyst and coordinator for the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, told The Media Line that Turkey could potentially support Poland hosting nuclear weapons. However, it would be cautious because of the risk of escalating tensions with Russia. Can said exercises such as Neptune allow Ankara to show itself as a committed NATO member, despite holding positions that have gone against many of the alliance’s policies. Republican Senator Rick Scott, who represents Florida, said last October that NATO should reconsider keeping Turkey in the alliance because Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.  Earlier this month, Erdoğan held a meeting in Istanbul with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which his office stated was about delivering aid to Gaza. Taking part in the drills, Can said, gives other countries reason to vouch for Ankara’s role in NATO during complicated times such as these. “Turkey having taken part in these drills helps its image in the alliance and the world,” he said. It can be said that balancing the need for Western allies while maintaining a relationship with opponents of NATO has been Turkey’s modus operandi well before Erdogan took power. “Turkey is in the middle of everything compared to the other NATO members,” Can said. “Turkey has a war on its north and south and all over its borders. That’s one of the main reasons Turkey needs NATO—that comfort zone, that security guarantee.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-30

On April 20, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, welcomed the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to Istanbul. Official statements announced that they met to discuss humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the sanctions that Turkey had recently announced against Israel, but the rumor mills were churning out a quite different story. Reports in the media suggested that this Ankara meeting was the result of a breakdown in relations between Hamas and Qatar. Hamas’s political hierarchy has been based in Qatar since 2012, where the Gulf kingdom has housed them in luxury hotels. More recently, together with the US and Egypt, Qatar has taken on the role of mediator between Hamas and Israel. On the day of the Erdogan-Haniyeh meeting, The Wall Street Journal, citing an Arab official, reported that Qatar believes its role as a trusted mediator is being to conclude a hostage-for-truce deal, and that it has threatened Hamas leaders with expulsion from Qatar if they do not. Other reports, noting that the truce talks have stalled and perhaps assuming that Hamas will remain intransigent, state that Hamas’s political chiefs are actively exploring moving their base of operations out of Qatar. The WSJ says Hamas has recently contacted two regional countries about having its leaders live there. One of them is Oman (which has denied the story). The other, one media report suggests, could be Iran. Or, it now appears, it might be Turkey. If the Hamas leadership does leave Qatar, the long-standing Hamas-Qatari relationship could be severed, mediated negotiations would certainly be disrupted, and any slim chance of a deal to free dozens of the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza would go on the back burner. Israel’s options to rescue the hostages would be reduced to the long-anticipated Rafah operation and a military defeat of Hamas. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian meets with Palestinian group Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar December 20, 2023. (credit: IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS) On April 17, Democratic US Congressman accused Qatar of failing to exert sufficient pressure on the Palestinian group to accept a ceasefire proposal. He went so far as to accuse Qatar of “siding with Hamas.” If they failed to persuade Hamas to accept a deal, he said that Washington would reevaluate its ties with the Gulf country. This prompted Qatar to release a statement, expressing surprise at Hoyer’s threat. “We share his frustration that Hamas and Israel have not reached an agreement on the release of the remaining hostages,” the statement ran, “… but Qatar is only a mediator – we do not control Israel or Hamas.” Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has been trying to mediate a deal from the start of the Gaza war. Despite Hoyer’s criticism, the Gulf kingdom has gained considerable praise for its efforts, particularly its success in brokering the temporary ceasefire that took effect from November 24 to 30, and included the release of 50 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. On November 27, the Qatari foreign ministry announced that a two-day extension to the ceasefire had been agreed in which 20 Israelis and 60 Palestinians would be released. Close to the end of the first extension another one-day extension to the truce was agreed by both sides, but it broke down on December 1, and shortly afterward hostilities were resumed. Since then no amount of mediation has succeeded in gaining agreement on the terms of a further truce and hostage release. The negotiations have stalled. And Qatar is unhappy, not only at its failure to persuade Hamas to accept any kind of deal, but also at the criticism it is facing as a consequence. On April 17, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani announced that Qatar is reevaluating its mediation role in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. “Qatar is proceeding with a complete reevaluation of its role,” he said, complaining, without naming Hoyer, about “the exploitation by some politicians who are trying to conduct their electoral campaigns by defaming the State of Qatar. There are limits to this role and limits to the ability to which we can contribute to these negotiations in a constructive way.” Perhaps the limits were reached when all efforts to replicate the truce-for-hostage deal – successfully concluded in November – were blocked by Hamas intransigence. So perhaps the media reports are accurate. Perhaps Qatar has lost patience, and is showing Hamas the door. Although Hamas has denied that it is seeking a new base, the Haniyeh-Erdogan meeting, followed by a trip to Doha, Qatar’s capital, by Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, may indicate something different. As a side issue, some in the Israeli government go along with Congressman Hoyer, and regard the Gulf kingdom as too biased to be impartial. Some would actually welcome Qatar abandoning its mediator role, in the hope that if Qatar steps aside, Cairo will take over. “Egypt should have been the main mediator from the beginning,” a member of the hostage negotiation team in Israel told the Daily Telegraph. “They don’t align with the Muslim Brotherhood mentality, and have no vested interests with Hamas like Qatar and Turkey do.” The Israeli negotiator has a point. Qatar and Erdogan’s Turkey have both supported Hamas for years, and they share the Sunni Islamist ideology it promulgates. Egypt, on the other hand, has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and declared it a terrorist organization. On April 22, HuffPost reported that, in rare extensive interviews last month, two prominent Hamas leaders separately spoke of flexibility on their . They spoke shortly after a Hamas delegation had returned from a lengthy visit to Iran. As a consequence, some experts saw Tehran as a possible next base for the organization, a scenario that would leave the US with far less access to, or leverage over, Hamas. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s politburo in Gaza, explained that if Qatar decided to withdraw its hospitality, the organization was quite prepared to move. “Hamas leadership is used to [moving] from place to place,” he said. But Hamas is increasingly concerned with projecting a confident image and challenging the idea it is becoming more isolated. So when the HuffPost contacted Naim again on April 21, he had somewhat changed his tune. He pointed to a statement he had recently issued rejecting the WSJ article as “complicit with the Israeli misleading propaganda.” Claims that Hamas “is considering leaving Qatar for another country,” he said “have no basis.” Time will tell. The writer is the Middle East correspondent for Eurasia Review. His latest book is Trump and the Holy Land: 2016-2020. Follow him at: www.a-mid-east-journal.blogspot.com. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-22

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s with a Hamas leader in Istanbul is an attempt to show his country as a mediator in the war in Gaza, analysts told The Media Line. Aydin Sezer, an Ankara-based foreign policy analyst, told The Media Line that Erdoğan is attempting to show that Turkey can have a role in talks between Hamas and the West as a way to appeal to his conservative base. While Sezer believes that Erdoğan could have some influence over Hamas, it would be limited. “Erdoğan is trying to control the Islamic sectors at home while at the same time trying to improve his relations with the West,” Sezer said. During Saturday’s meeting in Istanbul with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Erdoğan spoke about delivering aid to Gaza, according to the Reuters news agency. Days before the meeting, Haniyeh met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Istanbul, Turkey October 28, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/DILARA SENKAYA) Sezer said the Turkish president would especially want to appeal to his base now because of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in local elections last month, including in Turkey’s two largest cities, as well as areas traditionally held by the AKP. A little over a week after the local elections, Turkey announced .  Sezer said that Erdoğan believed those losses were partly due to Turkey’s continued trade with Israel at the same time as large domestic protests against Israel. Sezer said those sentiments partly pushed Erdoğan away from the more moderate tone he tried to strike earlier in the war, such as his comments after October 7, which emphasized calming tensions and stating that civilian casualties were unacceptable. The state news agency reported four days after October 7 that Erdoğan stated that any action against civilians was unjustified. Before the Israel-Hamas conflict, Turkish-Israeli ties were strongly improving. Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Ankara in 2022, and Erdoğan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting in 2023. Ӧzgür Ünlühisarcıklı, the German Marshall Fund’s Ankara office director, told The Media Line that the Turkish president met with the Hamas leader to try to play a greater role in talks on the war in Gaza.  “He wants to stay in the game, that is important for him. Turkey is an important regional actor and cannot be a bystander in important developments in the region,” he said. Ünlühisarcıklı added that Ankara could play a larger role once hostilities end, such as with the reconstruction of Gaza and providing security.  “Turkey is better positioned than Egypt or Qatar to play the role,” he said. The meeting could also appeal to Turkey’s conservatives if they believe it is in the interests of Palestinians. For years, Erdoğan has tried to cultivate an image as a defender of Palestinians and worldwide. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Fidan called on the international community to recognize a Palestinian state. “The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity,” Erdoğan said, according to a Turkish presidency’s statement after his meeting with Haniyeh. However, Erdoğan also needs to maintain ties with the West, especially due to Turkey’s struggling finances, according to Ünlühisarcıklı. The country’s economic strain had forced it to make an effort to improve relations with former rivals, including Israel, before the war in Gaza. Relations with the West may get a boost next month when Erdoğan visits US President Joe Biden in Washington on May 9.TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-US vice president Joe Biden chat after their meeting in Istanbul in 2016. (credit: REUTERS) Ünlühisarcıklı said that along with the war in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and tensions between Iran and Israel made the meeting necessary. News of the meeting came after Turkey ratified Sweden's bid to enter NATO in January, a decision Ankara had delayed for more than a year and a half.  Washington, in turn, approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a crucial move for the country’s aging air force, especially after being kicked out of the US’s F-35 fighter jet program following Ankara’s purchase of Russ ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-21

Turkey’s president hosted Hamas leaders over the weekend in highly symbolic and important meetings that reflect Hamas’ increased influence and power in the region after the October 7 attack on Israel. In the wake of the Hamas massacre of more than 1,000 people and the kidnapping of 250, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Hamas has found that it has more clout in Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, Ankara, Doha, and other places. Instead of being isolated after its historic crimes against humanity, Hamas has been embraced. Hamas leaders traveled to Ankara amid a new phase of support for Hamas in the region, which could have major ramifications for the Gaza conflict.  A symbol of this embrace occurred in Istanbul on April 20. Hamas leaders were seated in chairs opposite Turkey’s top officials, getting a red carpet style reception with the Turkish leader. Ankara was proud of this meeting, distributing a handout about it and posting about it. Turkish media had wall-to-wall coverage. The handout about the meeting shows the Hamas leadership, facing their Turkish counterparts, with in the middle. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was hosted at the Dolmabahce Presidential working office in Istanbul. Ankara has paid lip service to supporting Palestinian unity, but it does not roll out the red carpet like this for the Palestinian Authority. Instead, it sidelines the PA and . "It is vital that Palestinians act with unity in this process. The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity," Turkey’s leader said. However, Ankara could have hosted both Hamas and the PA leadership. It chooses to boost Hamas with this meeting, which is highly symbolic. The meeting, and others like it in Moscow, Iran, and Doha, have shown that Hamas has received increased support and influence for massacring 1,000 people. No other group in history has massacred 1,000 people, many of them civilians, taken 250 hostages, and then received so many high-level meetings in such a short period of time, including by two US allies in the region. Hamas is hosted by Doha, a major non-NATO ally of the US, and Turkey is a NATO ally. Hamas, therefore, is unique in history as a group that massacred hundreds of civilians and is hosted by Western allies. Hamas still holds 133 hostages.  During the meeting with Hamas, the Turkish leader compared their attacks on Israel to Turkey’s war of independence, Turkey’s Daily Sabah said.  “We are well aware of the cost of saying this but the world must know the truth,” Turkey leader said. The report also said that Turkey’s foreign minister recently met Haniyeh in Doha. Turkey’s foreign minister also met with is Iranian counterpart on April 19, according to Turkish media. They discussed the region. Turkey and Iran often coordinate in the region. They both back Hamas and both oppose the US presence in Syria.  Turkey’s media has wall-to-wall coverage of Gaza and numerous articles bashing Israel. This is clearly a message of discipline amidst the Hamas meetings. For instance, Turkey’s foreign ministry also slammed Israel over the weekend for “massacring 35,000 Palestinians.” According to the foreign ministry spokesman in Ankara, “It is the Israeli authorities who should be ashamed. They have massacred nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.” Turkey has also said that the conflict in Gaza is the main reason for instability in the region and has warned of spillover from the war. Hamas started the war, and it is likely that countries that back Hamas, such as Turkey, could have prevented by telling Hamas to moderate. However, the message from Turkey is to blame Israel for a conflict that Hamas started. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 20, 2024. (credit: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS)  Ankara has also said that it wants to “bring the massacre in Gaza to an end,” according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli. The messaging from Ankara during the Hamas visit is intended to increase public support for Hamas more than six months after the war. This is likely coordinated with Iran. Turkey has also spoken to Egypt and other countries in recent days. Turkey also says it wants to boost aid to Gaza. The right-wing populist newspaper Yeni Safak in Turkey also ran an article about Hamas this week, calling for increased tensions in the West Bank. This was in response to a multi-day raid in Tulkarm by Israeli forces. Clearly, Hamas wants to inflame the West Bank. Ankara may view this as in its interests.  At the same time, a new Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is pushing for a flotilla to set sail from Turkey and head to Gaza. Supporters include the Turkish NGO Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which played a role in the last flotilla in 2010. Another half dozen NGOs are listed as part of the new flotilla initiative. Some reports said it may set sail as soon as the eve of Passover, a symbolic date. Last Passover, Hezbollah enabled terrorist groups in Lebanon to fire rockets at northern Israel near the community of Shlomi.  The high-level delegation of Hamas to Turkey is not the first time Turkey has hosted Hamas. In 2019-2020, Turkey increased its number of public high-level visits by Hamas. This was during the Trump administration and in the wake of the US embassy move to Jerusalem. However, between 2021 and 2022, there was apparent reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. Some experts suggested Israel should reduce its burgeoning ties with Greece and Cyprus and redirect more trade to Turkey so that Israel would be dependent on Ankara for energy needs and other trade. It was clear at the time that Ankara was trying to make Israel dependent so that when Hamas was operationalized to attack, and there was a war in Gaza, Turkey would have more leverage over Israel. Turkey and Qatar are close allies, and Doha hosts Hamas. Ankara and Doha both have close ties to Tehran. This concept of leverage over Israel in 2021-2022 was clearly an initiative that led Israel to think that funding flowing to Hamas would deter Hamas from further actions. In 2023, this all came together to produce the sense of security that led to October 7. Hamas’ visit to Turkey on April 20 is the culmination now of this process, which appears to be entering a new phase. It remains to be seen if Ankara’s backing of Hamas will lead to increased tensions in the West Bank and new initiatives in the region.  ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-21

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized the importance of Palestinian unity against Israel in the wake of a meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday.  Erdogan's call for solidarity came during discussions at the historic Dolmabahçe palace, lasting over two and a half hours, as reported by Turkish media. "The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity," Erdogan asserted in a statement released by the Turkish presidency following the meeting. The meeting between Erdogan and Haniyeh drew swift condemnation from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who took to social media to denounce the . Katz criticized Erdogan's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, linking it to alleged atrocities such as rape, murder, and the desecration of corpses. "Erdogan, shame on you!" Katz exclaimed. Responding to Katz's remarks, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli shifted blame onto Israeli authorities, accusing them of massacring nearly 35,000 Palestinians, predominantly women and children. This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences. While Turkey and Israel had announced the renormalization of relations in August 2022, with the return of ambassadors and consuls after years of strained ties, Erdogan has resumed his verbal assaults on Israel since the outbreak of conflict in Gaza. In previous speeches, Erdogan lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of perpetrating atrocities akin to those of the Nazis.  Last month, Erdogan reiterated his criticisms, characterizing Israel and Netanyahu as contemporary embodiments of the Nazi regime. In response to Erdogan's remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz summoned the Turkish deputy ambassador for a rebuke. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-20

Tayyip Erdogan discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid there with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a meeting in Istanbul, state broadcaster TRT said on Saturday. It was the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh's visit to Turkey took place three days after he met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha. The visit took place amid escalating regional tensions following Israel's reported attack on Iran this week. Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz commented on the meeting between the two leaders in Turkish.  Müslüman Kardeşler: Tecavüz, katliam, cesetlere saygısızlık, bebek yakma., utanmalısın! He said on X, formerly Twitter, "Muslim Brotherhood: Rape, massacre, desecration of corpses, burning babies." Then Katz added, tagging Erdogan, "You should be ashamed!"Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh next to his destroyed office (REUTERS/Handout) (credit: HANDOUT/REUTERS) "Issues related to Israel's attacks on lands of Palestine, particularly Gaza, efforts for adequate and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and a fair and lasting peace process in the region were discussed," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. " stressed that Israel should not benefit from the developments (between Iran and Israel) and that it is important to make efforts that will draw attention to Gaza again," the statement added. NATO member Turkey has denounced Israel's offensive in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire. Erdogan has called Hamas a "liberation movement" while slamming the West for what he calls its unconditional support of Israel. Ankara has also imposed trade restrictions on Israel. In Saturday's meeting, Erdogan told Haniyeh Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts for a permanent ceasefire as well as the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, according to the statement. Erdogan also told "it is vital for Palestinians to act in unity," the statement said. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-02

Turkey had momentous local elections over the weekend. On March 31 around 48 million people voted out of around 16 million who could have voted. This is a good turnout and shows that in Turkey there is a vibrant demand for democracy. This comes after two decades of basically one-party rule by the authoritarian AKP. That party has dominated politics for two decades, but it has not always had a majority of voters. It’s ability to control Turkey comes through alliances and also splitting the opposition. In recent years the opposition has become better at uniting.  In essence, the voters in Turkey have a choice between the authoritarian and right-wing religious AKP, which has channeled political Islam into politics and has roots in the ; and parties that represent the secular nationalist tradition, and those that are more left or far-right. For instance many people in the Kurdish areas of eastern Turkey vote for the DEM party. In western Turkey, along the coast, the secular nationalist CHP is more popular. The AKP has been more popular historically in the center of Turkey, which is more religious and traditional. It faces an uphill struggle in some municipalities because of the rise of the MHP and other parties that often offer various forms of far-right nationalist slates that appeal to people. The opposition has claimed a major victory after many non-AKP parties appeared to perform well. Ekrem Imamoglu, the CHP leader in Istanbul pulled off an exciting victory. It wasn’t his first. He also won in local elections in 2019. Of course, this is important, because Istanbul has some 19 million residents. The city has more people than many countries. Therefore these votes have the chance of transforming Turkey, or at least preventing its slide into more authoritarianism and religious extremism under the AKP. It's obvious that many in Turkey are tiring of the endless leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Erdogan has benefited from a world that has become more authoritarian in the last two decades. He’s not the only example of a leader who clings to power. Russia’s Putin, China’s leader, and many others are walking in the same direction. They all want a new world order in which the West’s liberal democratic traditions are replaced. Turkey’s leader has often been a vocal opponent of Israel. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), greets his supporters at the CHP headquarters following the early results during the local elections in Ankara, Turkey March 31, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/CAGLA GURDOGAN) However, Turkey also likes to carve out some exceptions to that populist pro-Palestinian ranting. This is because Ankara likes trade deals with Israel and also doesn’t want Israel-Greece-Cyprus ties to become too cemented. Turkey, for instance, occupies northern Cyprus since the 1970s when Turkey invaded the island. Turkey has also invaded Syria, displacing Kurds in Afrin in 2018 and carrying out other attacks against the . Ankara also plays a role in northern Iraq. It claims to be fighting the PKK who it labels terrorists. Turkey therefore has an important role to play in the region. Its role has often been destabilizing and has backed some extremist groups. However, some people, believe Turkey will one day balance Iran and Russia in the region. So far this has not happened. Turkey continues to have warm ties to both Iran and Russia. Ankara also works closely with Doha, and both Doha and Ankara host Hamas members. At the same time, Turkey and Qatar are both Western allies via NATO in Turkey’s case and via “major non-NATO ally” status in Qatar’s case. What this means is that two western allies host Hamas. Hamas is also backed by Iran and Russia, and by China to some extent. This means that this grouping of states, Turkey-Iran-Russia-China, are actively working against the West, and often with groups like Hamas, to some extent. This presents a major challenge for the West and Israel. The elections in Turkey are a setback for Erdogan. Ankara will likely seek to launch more military operations in Iraq or Syria to get more populist support. It will also likely replace Kurdish mayors who were elected in eastern Turkey, thus rolling back the democratic successes of minorities. The overall effect of the elections in the Middle East will be to inspire some who still want a say in politics and want democracy at home. Because Turkey is a large Muslim country and also a democracy with a strong secular tradition, it has a lot of influence in the region and the world. It has sought to displace other traditional leaders of the Islamic world, such as , in this respect. Therefore the elections have ramifications in Europe and the Middle East and even far beyond. Turkey plays an increasing role in Africa, for instance, where it seeks influence in Somalia, Sudan and other places. It also has a role in Libya. Turkey also seeks to sell its Bayraktar drones abroad. In Ukraine it also has interests. As such it sits atop many “files” that matter globally. The elections will play into that. Several years ago Ankara was involved in cooking up many crisis in the eastern Mediterranean. It remains to be seen if it will go back to that crisis drive. It may be waiting to see what happens in US elections in the fall.  ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-04-01

 Turks dealt President Tayyip Erdogan and his party their on Sunday in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force and reinforced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as the president's chief rival. With most votes counted, Imamoglu led by ten percentage points in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. His Republican People's Party (CHP) retained Ankara and gained 15 other mayoral seats in cities nationwide. It marked the worst defeat for Erdogan and his AK Party (AKP) in their more than two decades in power and could signal a change in the country's divided political landscape. Erdogan called it a "turning point" in a post-midnight address. Analysts said he and the AKP fared worse than opinion polls predicted due to soaring inflation, dissatisfied Islamist voters, and Imamoglu's appeal beyond the CHP's secular base in Istanbul. "Those who do not understand the nation's message will eventually lose," Imamoglu, 53, told thousands of jubilant supporters late Sunday, some of whom were chanting for Erdogan to resign. "Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president," said the former businessman, who entered politics in 2008 and is now widely touted as a likely presidential challenger. Erdogan, who was also mayor of his hometown of Istanbul in the 1990s, had campaigned hard ahead of the municipal elections, which analysts described as a gauge of both his support and the opposition's durability. Galata Tower in Istanbul, Turke (credit: TGA) Addressing crowds gathered at AKP headquarters in Ankara, the capital, Erdogan said his alliance had "lost altitude" across the nation and would take steps to address the message from voters. He said, "If we make a mistake, we will fix it" in the years ahead. If anything is missing, we will complete it. Elsewhere in Ankara, thousands more supporters had earlier waved Turkish and party flags for a speech by reelected CHP Mayor Mansur Yavas, who trounced his AKP challenger in another disappointment for Erdogan. According to 92.92% of ballot boxes opened in Europe's largest city and the country's economic engine, Imamoglu had 50.92% support compared with 40.05% for AKP challenger Murat Kurum, a former minister in Erdogan's national government. Polls had predicted a tight contest in Istanbul and possible CHP losses nationwide. Yet partial official results reported by state-run Anadolu Agency showed AKP and its main ally giving up mayoralties in 19 key municipalities, including big cities Bursa and Balikesir in the industrialized northwest, possibly reflecting strains on wage earners. The results showed that the CHP led nationwide by almost 1% of the votes, a first in 35 years. Mert Arslanalp, assistant professor of political science at Istanbul's Bogazici University, said it was Erdogan's "severest election defeat" since coming to national power in 2002. "Imamoglu demonstrated he could reach across the deep socio-political divisions that define Turkey's opposition electorate even without their institutional support," he said. "This makes him the most politically competitive rival to Erdogan's regime." In 2019,dealt Erdogan a sharp electoral blow when he first won Istanbul. This ended 25 years of rule in the city by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors, including Erdogan's own run as its mayor in the 1990s. CHP also won Ankara that year. The president struck back in 2023 by securing reelection and a parliamentary majority with his nationalist allies despite a years-long cost-of-living crisis. Analysts said the economic strains, including nearly 70% inflation and a slowdown in growth brought on by an aggressive monetary-tightening regime, moved voters to punish AKP this time. "The economy was the decisive factor," said Hakan Akbas, a senior adviser at the Albright Stonebridge Group. The Turkish people demanded change, and Imamoglu is now President Erdogan's default nemesis." Erdogan said ending the second election cycle in less than a year would revive the economy. In front of the Istanbul Municipality building, flag-waving supporters said they wanted to see Imamoglu challenge Erdogan for the presidency in the future. "We are very happy. I love him so much. We would like to see him as president," said Esra, a housewife. Rising popular support for the Islamist New Welfare Party, which took an even more hardline stance than Erdogan against Israel over the Gaza conflict, also sapped AKP support. The party took Sanliurfa from an AKP incumbent in the southeast. Imamoglu was reelected despite the collapse of the opposition alliance that failed to topple Erdogan last year. The main pro-Kurdish party, which backed Imamoglu in 2019, fielded its own candidate under the DEM banner in Istanbul this time. However, the results suggest that many Kurds put aside party loyalty and voted for him again. In the mainly Kurdish southeast, DEM reaffirmed its strength, winning ten provinces. Following previous elections, the state has replaced pro-Kurdish mayors with state-appointed "trustees" following previous elections over alleged militant ties. Violence erupted earlier in the day, including one incident in the southeast in clashes by groups armed with guns, sticks, and stones, killing one and wounding 11. In another, one neighborhood official, or "muhtar," candidate was killed, and four people were wounded in a fight, Anadolu reported. Several others were hurt in other incidents, while one person was shot dead and two were wounded overnight ahead of the vote in Bursa, the Demiroren news agency reported. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-28

Ravit Naor is the owner of Ravit and Friends special trips abroad. She was on a trip to Morocco with one of her groups when the war started.  Where did the war find you? We were supposed to return to Israel on Monday from Marrakesh. On Saturday, we woke up to the news of a horror that was taking place in Israel. Our friends were under pressure, as some had children and grandchildren who had been recruited. I learned that my good friend R had been seriously wounded in Sderot.  On Sunday, our Arkia flight to Israel was canceled, so we arranged a flight from Istanbul to Athens and Israel. In Athens, we encountered 5,000 people who were waiting to fly to Israel because their flights were canceled. What happened after you landed? I stayed at Barzilai hospital for two days with my friend who was wounded.  On Thursday I went to Sderot, which was a battlefield. We started escorting teams and mapping cities; we knocked on doors to see who wanted to evacuate. I helped a woman with three young children and her parents, who wanted to evacuate to Jerusalem; but she wanted to go Eilat, where her whole family was. We brought the family to Eilat.  I drove 800 km. a day, two tanks of fuel all at my expense. We brought diapers to the Dead Sea; on the way, we rescued many animals. On the farms, I helped in the cauliflower, eggplant, and tomato fields together with Unit 55, who are Air Force retirees. On the way, I was approached by a farmer whose son was murdered on October 7 who needed to sell his pomegranates. We brought dozens of crates, and we sold them. (credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY) When did you join Lahav 433? One of the groups asked for volunteers for their logistic center that had just been established. I showed up, and stayed. When I arrived, I found out that the deputy superintendent who was assigned the task was an amazing girl who had been on my trip to Lapland. After two days, she told me they were not moving from there.  We quickly realized that without a large number of volunteers, even in another two years we wouldn’t be able to return the equipment that the police and the volunteers had evacuated.  The work is hard; you have to search through the sacks and figure out what belongs to whom and whether the vehicle number matches what is in it because sometimes the items were crammed into one vehicle. It is detective work, and your hands are shaking because they don't know if the owner is alive or dead. We dealt with the living; the police dealt with the dead; and the army dealt with the kidnapped.  The logistic center is very moving. We draw blood from things, we tie things to things, we started returning equipment to people. There were moments of elation because we were busy with life.  There were crazy episodes. It turned out that the terrorist was killed. We found cellphones for the family from the terrorists who robbed their home. We found the cellphone of a guy who survived the robbery. All his friends were murdered, and his phone had all the latest videos. We found four wallets; three of the owners are alive, and one was kidnapped.  Every item is linked to a story and a person. There are unidentified things, most of them from a bad area. I came up with an idea to organize everything and bring it to Suprernova. I must praise the police, who were one of the first responders to function. We convinced the Supernova people that we would bring them. We decided to take pictures and put a bar code on each item. The police worked on an app. We hired photographers to take pictures of the things, and we will organize a catalog by subject so that everyone can find their own items. We realized that there were many things left in the area that has been declared a closed military zone. We arrived at the field; everything was dusty. They shouted at me that I was crazy. I obtained permits. I insisted on taking everything because it might be the only thing left of the person. We brought a metal detecting company that found jewelry. We worked with gloves. We crawled on all fours, just to find another bag, a flip flop, a shirt, a wallet. I filled my vehicle with the items that I found. When we found bone remains, a tuft of hair, we realized it was a crime scene. We called the army and the police, and five remains of bodies were found. I sent them videos and locations because it is difficult to extract DNA. They let us work on Friday and Saturday.  There was joy along with sadness. I gave the reservists my phone and told them that whatever they find they should call me. How do you survive? I work like a machine. There are moments of happiness. The advantage is that I am disconnected from the news and Twitter all day. I come home, plop down on the couch, take a shower, and then I take a sleeping pill because it's hard to fall asleep. This article is taken from The Jerusalem Post, 'Women - Heroines of Swords of Iron' Magazine 2024. To read the entire magazine, . ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-28

Turkey's nationwide local elections are on Sunday. The top prize, Istanbul, is seen as a bellwether for the opposition’s chances of taking power away from President Recep Tayyip in four years. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s surprise victory against Erdogan’s ally in 2019 made him one of the country's most popular politicians. He served the Turkish president his greatest defeat since coming into power. The country’s largest city is also its economic engine, and the result is expected to have a major influence on Turkey’s future: either it will embolden Imamoglu to be a fierce challenger against the governing party in the 2028 presidential election or end any of his possible ambitions to lead the country and put the opposition into disarray. Ilhan Uzgel, the deputy chairperson in charge of foreign affairs for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told The Media Line the race for Istanbul holds special value for Erdogan. “He wants to restore his prestige. That has both psychological and symbolic significance for Erdogan, and it’s important who controls Istanbul in Turkish politics, so Erdogan wants to get it back.” Galata Tower in Istanbul, Turke (credit: TGA) Imamoglu is facing off against a former member of Turkish President s cabinet, Murat Kurum. Both sides have emphasized improving the city’s infrastructure and strengthening preparations fora feared earthquake. The Turkish president has hit the campaign trail for Kurum, his former environment minister. He has criticized the CHP for squandering public funds while emphasizing the vast construction projects the city enjoyed under his party’s leadership. “They do not understand Istanbul or its residents, but we are committed to the same principle we had 30 years ago, and we will continue serving our people,” Erdogan said at a rally last weekend in Istanbul. The result is expected to be close. A Metropoll survey earlier this month gave Imamoglu a two- percent lead. The biggest challenge for the CHP is winning with a split opposition. The Good Party and the pro-Kurdish Peoples Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) have candidates running in this election, compared to 2019, when the groups withheld putting forward anyone who explicitly or tacitly supported Imamoglu. In 2019, the CHP also won Turkey’s capital, Ankara, which is expected to be easier for the opposition to win. Aside from the collapse of the opposition alliance, another risk for the CHP is that an untested new chairman, Özgur Özel, is leading it. Özel was booed by locals in the earthquake-hit city of Hatay while with the city’s mayor, a fellow CHP member, Lutfu Savas, over anger at his response to the disaster. However, the vote on the right also risks splitting between the AKP and the New Welfare Party, a far-right Islamist group that has previously allied with Erdogan’s party. Cem Çakmaklı, an assistant professor of economics at Koc University in Istanbul, told The Media Line that the elections could have a long-term impact on the country’s finances because of its potential influence over the next presidential elections. If Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) takes back the city's power, it willsignal that its economic policies could last beyond 2028. The Turkish president has been accused of undermining the Central Bank and supporting unorthodox economic principles, such as keeping interest rates low during skyrocketing inflation. While there has been a return to more orthodox policies since Erdogan’s re-election last year, the length of that trend is uncertain. “The governing party is representing an economic policy, which was unsuccessful in the last three years,” said Çakmaklı. He believes the CHP represented a more rational economic mindset and policies based on institutions, while the AKP’s policies are based on the president’s opinions. As mayor, Imamoglu has boosted tourism with cultural renovations in the city, improved infrastructures, making it easier for people to commute to work, and has increased child care support, making it easier for women to enter the labor force, Çakmaklı said. Turkey’s most populous city holds particular weight for Erdogan. He grew up in a conservative, working-class neighborhood in the center of the city there, and hispolitical career began as mayor. Before his party lost control of it, the Turkish president said, “Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey.” The CHP’s Uzgel said that the elections also show, especially since power has been more centralized with the president’s office. “It shows that power can change hands democratically through , and it somehow balances Erdogan’s power,” Uzgel said. "It is critical and crucial for the opposition to hold the districts it controls after 2019; otherwise, there will be no checks and balances in this country.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-27

(JTA) — assertion earlier this month that Turkey “firmly backs” Hamas was the culmination of months in which the Turkish president has lambasted Israel’s war in Gaza. The feud between the two countries did not end there. Last week, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish envoy for a reprimand after berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said God would “make him miserable and curse him.”  Israel’s foreign minister shot back on social media, “There is no God who will listen to those who support the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by your barbaric Hamas friends. Be quiet and shame on you!” Those public comments paint a picture of an acrimonious relationship between but scholars say the reality is more complicated. Erdogan has spoken warmly about Hamas for decades and engaged in several high-profile diplomatic spats with Israel since coming to power more than 20 years ago. But at the same time, trade between the two countries is booming and their relations were warming up before Oct. 7. “We know from the past, Erdogan always calls Israel a ‘terrorist state’ and a ‘genocidal state,’ yet business goes on with the state of Israel,” M. Hakan Yavuz, a professor of political science at the University of Utah and the author of 2021’s “Erdogan: The Making of an Autocrat,” told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Hamas' Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh shake hands during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara January 3, 2012 (credit: REUTERS/Stringer) Weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack launched the war, killing some 1,200 and taking 250 hostages, Erdogan called Hamas a “liberation group.” Turkey has hosted senior Hamas figures before and after the attack, including leader Ismail Haniyeh, who Erdogan’s chief security adviser said “might have been” in Turkey on Oct. 7. During his speech earlier this month in Istanbul, Erdogan also said Netanyahu and his government “are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today’s Nazis.”  But last month, Turkey’s exports to Israel increased more than 20% to $422 million, surpassing the pre-Oct. 7 figure of $408.3 million, according to local reports. Israel ranked 13th on Turkey’s export list in 2023. According to Yavuz, Erdogan is ramping up his pro-Hamas rhetoric ahead of Turkey’s local elections on March 31. Erdogan’s Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party is attempting to win back offices in Istanbul and Ankara, where the secular opposition Republican People’s Party took control in 2019, penetrating the president’s near-total grip on power. Yavuz believes that Erdogan is making a play for votes with the Turkish public, which broadly sympathizes with the Palestinians and has been incensed by the bloodshed and reports of starvation in Gaza. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run enclave. “This is an opportunist leader,” said Yavuz. “I don’t think he cares about Palestinians. He has been instrumentalizing the Palestinian cause for a long time.” Before Erdogan came to power in 2003, Israel and Turkey had close diplomatic relations. Turkey was the first country in the region to recognize Israel’s sovereignty in 1949. For decades, the two states shared counterterrorism and intelligence efforts and built strong economic ties, including in trade and tourism. Even after Erdogan became prime minister, before later becoming president, he hosted then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. However, a year earlier, he signaled that Turkey was warming to Hamas by inviting then-leader Khaled Meshaal to visit. The relationship between Israel and Turkey began to deteriorate after 2008, when Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza in response to rocket fire. In January 2009, Erdogan stormed out of the World Economic Forum after clashing with Peres and vowed never to return to Davos. A year later, the relationship imploded when a Turkish ship led a flotilla of boats carrying volunteers and humanitarian aid to Gaza, challenging Israel’s naval blockade of the enclave. Israeli troops raided the ship and, amid clashes, killed nine Turks on board. Netanyahu apologized for the incident in 2013, but tensions between the countries continued to fester during rounds of conflict between Israel and Gaza. In 2018, Israel killed more than 100 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border. In retaliation, Turkey expelled its Israeli ambassador and Israel in turn ordered the Turkish consul general in Jerusalem to leave.  The two countries again recalled their ambassadors following Oct. 7. Meanwhile, Turkish Jewish leaders have not publicly opined about the sparring between Netanyahu and Erdogan. The community’s organized leadership did not respond to a JTA request for comment. “I think they are all in hiding,” said Yavuz. “No one in today’s dominant political culture would go and say, ‘As a Jew, this is what I think.’ I think that’s out of the question in Turkey. The political environment is very anti-Jewish in Turkey today.” Over the course of his decades in office, Erdogan has worked to legitimize the public’s perception of Hamas as a viable form of Palestinian leadership, according to Asli Aydintasbas, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and journalist from Turkey. Erdogan has openly supported the group and never categorized it as a terrorist organization, unlike the United States and the European Union. Many Turkish voters have followed his lead: A survey found that only 30% of respondents believe Hamas is a terrorist organization. Unlike Yavuz, Aydintasbas argued in an interview with Brookings that the president’s pro-Palestinian position is driven more by personal convictions than by opportunism. “There is no pragmatism there,” said Aydintasbas. “Erdogan sees it as his calling to take a position against what Israel is doing, even if the price is isolation. It is clearly personal, ideological, and near and dear to his heart.” The Palestinian issue is also an important part of Erdogan’s ideology of neo-Ottomanism, said Aydintasbas. The president has built his political platform on the idea of reviving a Turkish empire in the Middle East akin to the one that existed prior to 1917. Key to that effort is representing dispossessed Muslim populations in the region, including the Palestinians, and standing opposed to the West and Israel. But prior to Oct. 7, Erdogan had shown more openness to normalizing relations with Israel in recent years, as Turkey has struggled with economic difficulties and diplomatic isolation. The countries announced a full renewal of diplomatic ties in 2022. In Sept. 2023, weeks before the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Erdogan and Netanyahu met for the first time in New York and agreed to visit each other’s countries soon. That’s unlikely to happen now, according to Yavuz. “I think Turkish public opinion moved further against Israel during this war,” said Yavuz. “I think the trade and business relations will continue, but with the current public opinion, those relations are in danger as well.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-23

Foreign Minister Israel Katz summoned the Turkish ambassador after Turkish President threatened to "send [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to Allah" in a post on X on Friday. "I instructed Israel's Foreign Ministry officials to summon the Turkish deputy ambassador to Israel for a serious reprimand, following Erdogan's attack on and his threats to send PM Netanyahu to Allah and to convey a clear message to Erdogan," Katz wrote. "You who support the burning of babies, murderers, rapists, and the mutilation of corpses by Hamas criminals, is the last one who can speak about God.  There is no God who will listen to those who support the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by your barbaric Hamas friends. Be quiet and ashamed!” he continued. This was shortly after an election rally last Thursday where the Turkish President had made these statements, the Jewish National Syndicate reported. Earlier this month, Erdogan compared Netanyahu in a speech to some of history's known dictators, including Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, multiple media sources reported. TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in Istanbul, this week. (credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS) The Turkish President was also quoted by multiple outlets saying that “Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but rather a resistance, and we stand firmly behind them and [are] in constant contact with its leaders,” to which the Israeli prime minister responded by saying that "Israel observes the laws of war and will not be subject to moral preaching from Erdogan, who supports murderers and rapists of the Hamas terrorist organization, denies the , and massacres Kurds in his own country." ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-12

Amid criticism from staff members and others, a prestigious literary magazine has retracted an essay by an Israeli writer and translator wrestling with her attempts to find mutual understanding with Palestinians Guernica magazine did not explain the retraction over the weekend but said it “regrets having published” the essay by Joanna Chen, titled “From The Edges Of A Broken World.” The retraction came after multiple members of the journal’s volunteer staff resigned publicly over the essay. Madhuri Sastry, a human-rights worker and researcher formerly of the American Red Cross, quit as co-publisher on Sunday after calling the essay “a hand-wringing apologia for Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.” She also called for the resignation of the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jina Ngarambe. As many as 15 other editors and staffers, according to a review of recent changes to the magazine’s masthead, many after making their own public statements decrying the essay and Guernica’s choice to print it. Ishita Marwah, Guernica’s departing fiction editor, for example, wrote that publishing the piece made the magazine “a pillar of eugenicist white colonialism masquerading as goodness.” A pro-Palestinian demonstrator holds a sign, as they take part in a protest against US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Turkey, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Istanbul, November 4, 2023. (credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS) The Guernica page that used to house Chen’s essay now reads, “Guernica regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it. A more fulsome explanation will follow.” Chen did not immediately return a request for comment on Sunday. The retraction comes amid widespread tensions within the literary community over the Israel-Hamas war. A number of independent literary magazines like Guernica have prioritized pro-Palestinian narratives, and Jewish and pro-Israel authors have been targeted with online criticism. The situation is so acute that the Jewish Book Council, a nonprofit that promotes Jewish writers and stories, recently launched an initiative to track antisemitism in the literary world. Guernica’s case stands out because Chen, and her essay, are deeply critical of Israel. Chen, a writer and translator of both Hebrew and Arabic work who moved to Israel from the United Kingdom as a teenager, wrote for Guernica in 2015 about her efforts not to build on land from which Palestinians had been displaced. In the retracted essay, she details her commitment to coexistence and frets over the ways in which Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel has challenged it. Chen writes about how she refused to serve in the Israel Defense Forces and worked as a volunteer for Road to Recovery, an organization in which Israelis provide transport for Palestinians who are seeking medical care, both before and (while briefly pausing in the immediate aftermath). She also recalls an experience donating blood to Palestinians during Israel’s 2014 war in Gaza, for which she received blowback from other Israelis. But she says the bridges she had been working to build felt impossible to complete after Oct. 7. “It is not easy to tread the line of empathy, to feel passion for both sides,” Chen writes in the piece, which also includes translated excerpts from Hebrew- and Arabic-language poems. It remains available online through the Internet Archive. Of two Gaza-based poets she works with, Chen wrote, “Their voices are important ones, and I want the English-speaking world to listen to them as much as I want the world to listen to the voices I translate from Hebrew.” Almost as soon as the piece appeared online, it began drawing criticism from within the Guernica staff. Founded in 2004 partly in response to the Iraq War and named after Pablo Picasso’s famous anti-war painting, the nonprofit magazine has long married literary bona fides and left-wing politics. Having published writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, George Saunders and Jesmyn Ward, it identifies its focus as “the intersection of art and politics.” The publication of Chen’s piece, Sastry said in her statement, violated the magazine’s “anti-imperialist” spirit. She wrote that she had initially pushed the magazine to support a cultural boycott of Israel but was told that the publication’s politics should be expressed “solely through our editorial choices and position.” Now, she said, an editorial process she sees as opaque had led to the publication of a piece she could not support. “I am deeply ashamed to see this piece in Guernica’s pages, and sincerely apologize to the writers, readers and supporters who feel betrayed by this decision,” the co-publisher tweeted. Sastry did not provide examples of what she found objectionable about the piece, except to note that it “attempts to soften the violence of colonialism and genocide.” But several other departing editors offered more specific critiques. “It starts from the outside, from a place that ostensibly acknowledges the ‘shared humanity’ of Palestinians and Israelis, yet fails or refuses to trace the shape of power — in this case, a violent, imperialist, colonial power — that makes the systematic and historic dehumanization of Palestinians (the tacit precondition for why she may feel a need at all to affirm ‘shared humanity’ in the first place) a non-issue,” senior editor April Zhu wrote in a statement published Saturday. Joshua Gutterman Tranen, an anti-Zionist Jewish writer who has published in Guernica in the past, specifically pointed out a passage he found objectionable in which Chen briefly pauses her volunteer work after Oct. 7, writing, “How could I continue after Hamas had massacred and kidnapped so many civilians, including Road to Recovery members, such as Vivian Silver, a longtime Canadian peace activist? And I have to admit, I was afraid for my own life.” “The moment in the Guernica essay where the Israeli writer — who never considers why Palestinian children don’t have access to adequate healthcare b/c of colonization and apartheid — says she has to stop assisting them getting medical support because of ‘Hamas,’” Tranen tweeted. “This is genocidal.” Israel strenuously rejects the charge that it is committing genocide, saying it takes measures to avoid killing civilians. Its supporters, including a cohort of Black Jews who have vocally defended Israel online in recent months, dispute that it is a “white” country, noting that a large portion of its Jewish population has roots in the Middle East and North Africa. Chen’s essay is not the first time progressive Jews and Israelis have been condemned for being insufficiently critical of Israel. The official movement to boycott Israel, for example, called for a boycott of Standing Together, an Israeli-Palestinian coexistence group that opposes the war, saying that the group promotes “normalization” of Israel. And when Haymarket Books, a left-wing publisher, recently announced a book co-authored by longtime leaders of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, it drew sharp criticism on Instagram — in part because one author, who supports boycotting Israel, is married to an Israeli and has family members in Israel. For some Jews who have questioned their place in progressive and literary spaces since Oct. 7, Guernica’s retraction offered new evidence of a toxic discourse in which no Israeli or Jew can pass muster. “THIS is what was beyond the pale? This essay of nuance, lived experiences, fears, hopes, and continuing to strive in her own way for peace?” tweeted Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a historian of modern Israel who has written about her own struggle to sustain her liberal Zionist outlook after the attack, after reading the retracted piece. “Obviously this is just a bigoted decision about an Israeli and Jewish author … This virtual burning of books is bareknuckled antisemitism.” Emily Fox Kaplan, a Jewish writer who had shared the essay before it was retracted, wrote that she saw the criticism of Chen’s essay as part of a much wider dynamic. “The problem, when it really comes down to it, is that it presents an Israeli as human,” she tweeted. “The people who are losing their minds about this want to believe that there are no civilians in Israel. They want a simple good guys/bad guys binary, and this creates cognitive dissonance.” Some non-Jewish writers also lamented the piece’s retraction. “Anyone who wants to seriously grapple with war had better be prepared for far more shocking opinions than are found in this thoughtful essay by a translator and writer living in Israel,” tweeted Phil Klay, a U.S. military veteran whose writing draws on his war experiences. “Shame on @GuernicaMag for pulling it down.” Matt Gallagher, a war correspondent who is also a veteran and who opposes the Israel-Hamas war, said his own work had benefited from reading thoughtful authors whose perspectives were different from his own. “If you want the war in Gaza to end, as I do,” he tweeted, “shouting down calm Israeli voices mulling the ruin of it all isn’t going to help.” ...قراءة المزيد

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