Important Takeaways:
- Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country has officially severed diplomatic relations with Israel. The Turkish leader made the announcement to journalists on his plane after visiting Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
- “The government of the Republic of Turkey, under the leadership of Tayyip Erdogan, will not continue or develop relations with Israel,” the Turkish president said. “[Our ruling coalition] is resolute in its decision to cut ties with Israel, and we will maintain this stance in the future as well.”
- Erdogan’s decision signifies Turkey’s intention to assert a stronger presence in Middle Eastern geopolitics. The NATO leader’s diplomatic realignment may also impact his ongoing role in the Syrian conflict and other regional hostilities.
- Despite Erdogan’s announcement, the Turkish embassy appears to be continuing to operate in Tel Aviv for the time being.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- “Turkey is bombing and massacring Kurds tonight. No protests, no marches, no media coverage, no condemnations from UN, no ICC arrest warrants for Erdogan. Since 1914 Turkey has killed over 1.5 million Kurds. Stop Kurdish genocide.” — Hemdad Mehristani, researcher, X, October 23, 2024.
- If Turkey has the right to respond to a terrorist attack by bombing dozens of targets belonging to Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, why is Israel being condemned for responding to the October 7 Hamas-led atrocities against its own citizens? Just because of the “two-state solution”: Michigan and Minnesota?
- Not only is Erdogan lying when he accuses Israel of “genocide,” but he is also proving that he is a big hypocrite. If he is really worried about the safety of the Muslims in the Gaza Strip, why does he continue to support Hamas, while denying Israel the right to defend itself against Islamist terrorism? If he believes that he has the right to bomb Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, why is he denouncing Israel for taking the same action against Palestinian Islamist terrorists?
- The complicit silence of the anti-Israel groups on US university campuses towards Turkey’s crimes is simply evidence of a staggering racism and hypocrisy.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Israel is ‘the most concrete threat to regional and global peace’ says Erdoğan
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told local media on Saturday that Russia, Iran and Syria should do more to protect Syria’s “territorial integrity.”
- “It is essential that Russia, Iran and Syria take more effective measures against this situation, which poses the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity,” Erdoğan said when asked about the recent alleged Israeli airstrike in the nation’s capital, Damascus.
- Shortly after the Hamas invasion and massacre of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Turkish president canceled a planned trip to Israel and refused to condemn Hamas.
- “Hamas is not a terror organization,” Erdoğan said at the time. “It is waging a battle for its land.”
- In November, Erdoğan slammed Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the butcher of Gaza.”
- In May 2024, at Erdoğan’s urging, Turkey announced that it was halting all trade with Israel. That same month, it announced it would join South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
- The country also sent its intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, to Doha, Qatar to meet with Ismail Haniyeh, then the political leader of Hamas.
- In July, Erdoğan appeared to threaten an invasion of Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza during a party speech.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Wildfires raged across western Turkey for a third straight day Saturday, exacerbated by high winds and warm temperatures, authorities said.
- More than 130 fires have erupted across the country in the past week, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate. Most have been brought under control, but eight major fires continued in a number of provinces including Izmir, Aydin, Manisa, Karabuk and Bolu.
- Thousands of firefighters were tackling the blazes on land and from the air, with dozens of aircraft and hundreds of vehicles aiding in the emergency response.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.
- Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”
- As a member of NATO, which includes the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and other close allies of Israel, Erdogan would almost certainly face heavy opposition if he attempted to take military action over the war in Gaza.
- Since the war erupted with the October 7 terror assault in southern Israel, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians and abducted 251 others, the Turkish leader has met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul — where he encouraged Palestinians to unite against Israel, and has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Turkey’s Erdogan Calls On ‘Islamic World’ To Take Action Over Gaza
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on the “Islamic world” to take united action following the latest Israeli strikes on Gaza.
- “I have some words to say to the Islamic world: what are you waiting for to take a common decision?” Erdogan told lawmakers from his AKP party, adding that “Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Rockets fired at Israel from the North and the South following overnight Rafah op
- US military shoots down Houthi UAV • Activists block aid from entering Gaza • Son of Hamas leader warns ceasefire is a ‘trap’
- On October 7th terrorists took some 240 hostages into Gaza
- 132 hostages remain in Gaza
- 38 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says
- Turkey says Israel’s Rafah operation is another war crime
- IDF takes over Palestinian side of Rafah crossing – report
- According to the army radio, troops of the 401st Brigade had taken full operational control of the crossing.
- During the operation, Israel Air Force jets and troops of the 215th Fire Brigade struck and destroyed Hamas terror targets, among which were military buildings, underground infrastructures and other terrorist infrastructures from which Hamas operated in the Rafah area.
- During the overnight operation, 20 terrorists were killed in action, according to the IDF’s estimates, and many others were wounded.
- According to southern Command officials, 50 Hamas targets were attacked in the operation.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Turkey on Thursday suspended all imports and exports to Israel citing the country’s ongoing military action in Gaza and vowed to continue to impose the measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian aid to the region.
- Turkish officials would coordinate with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinians are not affected by the suspension of imports and exports, the ministry said.
- This week Turkey decided to join the legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice and would soon submit a formal request to intervene in the case.
- South Africa filed a case at the ICJ accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention with its military offensive against Hamas.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Erdogan Suffers Historic Loss in Turkey Municipal Elections
- Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered an unprecedented defeat at the ballot box against the main opposition party amid rampant inflation and the highest borrowing costs since the president swept to power more than two decades ago.
- Turkey’s lira weakened in early trading on Monday after Erdogan’s AK Party fell behind the main opposition Republican People’s Party, known as CHP, in Sunday’s municipal elections for the first time ever, according to early results published by state broadcaster TRT.
- Poll results show voters turned against the ruling party in much of the country, but the change was more dramatic in urban areas. That was mainly due to persistently high inflation even after Erdogan allowed the central bank to raise the nation’s key interest rate to 50%, the highest level since the ruling party first came to power in 2002. While higher lending costs resulted in a slump in consumer sentiment, they have yet to reverse the trajectory of price increases, which are running at an annual rate of just under 70%.
- “Voters appear to have punished his party and candidates for economic hardships at the municipal elections,” Emre Peker, Europe director for Eurasia Group, said of the president. “Erdogan is no longer immune to voter concerns over the economy, which he most recently sidestepped in May 2023 to secure reelection.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Turkey cozies up to Iran after praising Hamas ‘mujahideen,’ seeks reconciliation on key issues
- Turkey has found itself at odds with its NATO allies, most of whom have backed Israel’s right to defend itself following the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, while Turkey has echoed the stances of other Middle Eastern nations in questioning Israel and defending the Palestinians.
- Erdogan took things a step further and defended the Hamas terrorists who carried out the attack, calling the group a “mujahideen,” or freedom fighters, “defending their lands.” He has also continued to push for a ceasefire, accusing the West of being “too weak” to call for one — a stance that seems common among the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members.
Read the original article by clicking here.
