Kategori arşivi: Uncategorized

“Normalizing” Relations between Türkiye and Syria

Bir Cevap Yazın

September 2, 2024

Hafez al-Assad was the 18th president of Syria from 1971 until he died in 2000. He was the number one regional enemy of Türkiye. Starting in the mid-1980s, Syria provided the PKK and its leader Ocalan with safe havens from where they launched terrorist attacks against Türkiye across the 910-kilometer border. President Assad, despite irrefutable evidence provided by Ankara over the years, constantly denied support. Türkiye’s patience finally ran out. In the fall of 1988, the Turkish land forces commander delivered an ultimatum on the border saying that either Syria deported Ocalan or the Turkish army would move in. Hafez al-Assad complied. On October 20, 1988, Türkiye and Syria signed the Adana Agreement which was essentially a commitment by Damascus to end its support to terrorism.

Okumaya devam et →

A Brief Story of the Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Bir Cevap Yazın

August 23, 2024

The October 7 Hamas onslaught was a shock to Israel, but also to Washington because with the Abraham Accords, it seemed that the US could put its Middle East troubles behind and focus on its strategic competition with China and the war in Ukraine. Which power or powers could convince Israel of the need with growing urgency to put a stop to the current fighting? None other than the US, one would think. However, as I said in my last post, Prime Minister Netanyahu knows that no matter who is in the White House, he can manage Washington’s Middle East policy more than Washington can steer his conduct in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, with his appeals for a ceasefire, it appears now that President Biden is asking for a favor from Mr. Netanyahu, not the opposite.

Okumaya devam et →

Gaza Ceasefire Talks Should No Longer Be a Distraction

Bir Cevap Yazın

August 19, 2024

Since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, world attention has essentially focused on two aspects of the war in Gaza. First, the ferocity of the IDF operations that have caused immense loss of civilian life and devastation, and second, the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange talks.

Okumaya devam et →

Where to Turkish-Israeli Relations?

Bir Cevap Yazın

August 5, 2023

In 1492, the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Atatürk’s modern Türkiye, opened its doors to Jews after they had been expelled from Spain. Türkiye became the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel as an independent state in 1949. In the late 1950s, Türkiye and Israel agreed to expand their cooperation in diplomatic, economic, and military fields during Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s visit to Ankara. Relations kept developing.

Okumaya devam et →

Prime Minister Netanyahu Visits a Turbulent US

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 28, 2024

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the US Congress for the fourth time, the most of any foreign leader in history. Winston Churchill had addressed Congress only three times.

Mr. Netanyahu’s previous address to Congress was in March 2015, during the Obama presidency, and only two weeks before the Israeli elections. Traditionally, US administrations do not receive foreign heads of state or government shortly before their elections. Still, the Republican leaders of Congress decided to invite him, defying President Obama.

Okumaya devam et →

Gaza Becoming Inhabitable Land

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 22, 2024

During the past weeks, developments of global public interest somehow diverted attention away from the war in Gaza until the Israeli strikes on Al-Mawasi, an area in southern Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled to after the Israeli military declared it safe for civilians. The attack targeted Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander, but also left nearly a hundred dead and more than three hundred wounded.

Okumaya devam et →

NATO’s Washington Summit

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 15, 2024

In a post two weeks ago, I said that an assessment of NATO’s past 75 years must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and a second one on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. I concluded that the first chapter is a success story, the second an entirely different one.

Okumaya devam et →

Türkiye’s Overlooked Gift to Israel

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 8, 2024

President Bashar al-Assad met with Alexander Lavrentiev, President Putin’s special envoy in late June. During their discussion, President al-Assad reportedly expressed Syria’s openness to all initiatives aimed at improving Syrian-Turkish relations, provided Ankara respects Syria’s sovereignty and commits to combating all forms of terrorism and terrorist organizations. In the following days, President Erdoğan said that Türkiye has no interest in interfering in Syria’s domestic affairs and that the two countries could act in unity as in the past. Yesterday, he also said an invitation could soon be extended to President Assad to visit Türkiye. These statements and the acts of violence between Syrian refugees and the locals in some Turkish cities once again moved the question of “reconciliation with Syria” up Türkiye’s foreign policy agenda. Whether this is simply another distraction from our depressing economic problems or represents a genuine change of heart remains to be seen.

Okumaya devam et →

NATO’s 75th Anniversary

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 3, 2024

As the NATO Heads of State meetings start in Washington next week, many will look at the past and evaluate the Alliance’s performance in the past 75 years. In my view, such an assessment must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, and a second on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. In my view, the first is a success story, the second an entirely different one as I will elaborate at the end.

Okumaya devam et →

Lessening the Intensity of the War in Gaza

Bir Cevap Yazın

July 1, 2024

In recent posts, I said that Prime Minister Netanyahu could be thinking of continuing the war in Gaza in different ways depending on the battlefield requirements, lowering the loss of life among Gazans, keeping the talks over hostage-prisoner exchange and humanitarian aid alive, and thus gaining time until the upcoming US presidential election that might pave the way for another family visit to a Trump White House. But until then, should that prove to be the case, it would be a tough path for Mr. Netanyahu both at home and abroad with only a four-seat majority in the Knesset, an increasingly critical global view of Israel’s operations in Gaza, and now the prospect of a war with Hezbollah.

Okumaya devam et →