February 9 might mark a beginning of a new era in relations with the U.S. and Türkiye, depending on the news about the F-16 sales expected from Congress. It would be prudent to be cautious, but the US State Department’s statement on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to Türkiye can be considered one of
The meeting between the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT), İbrahim Kalın, and Hamas leader İsmail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, on February 3 has increased the curiosity of Ankara diplomatic circles recently. A few hours after Anadolu Agency’s report, citing security sources, Hamas spokesman Osama bin Hamdan announced overnight that no new ceasefire
Ankara responded harshly to alleged claims of Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin Bet’s chief Ronen Bar, who said in a record published by Israeli state television KAN that “they are determined to kill Hamas leaders all over the world, including Qatar, Türkiye and Lebanon.” Turkish intelligence officials told Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency that the Israeli
Türkiye-Israel relations are increasingly strained on December 2 after Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement as a response to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s social media post directly addressing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who reiterated his previous statement that he does not regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Spokesperson of Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
A 4-day ceasefire, hostage exchange, and humanitarian aid delivery agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have been announced in the first hours of November 22. Israel and Hamas agreed on a “humanitarian pause” to the crisis that started on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and has continued
When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telephoned President Tayyip Erdoğan on May 29 to congratulate him on his re-election and at the same time invited him, what he had in mind was not to further deteriorate, and perhaps even improve, relations with the leader of Türkiye, whom he sees as a “difficult partner” who will lead
Ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Türkiye on November 5-6, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made an important statement on the Gaza crisis and relations with Israel. He said that severing relations with Israel over the Gaza crisis was not on the agenda, but that he would no longer deal with Prime
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said on October 25 that he regards the Palestinian Hamas organization “not as a terrorist organization, but as a liberation group”. Devoting almost the entire parliamentary group speach to Gaza, Erdoğan said: “You cannot find any other country that bombs cities day and night with its warplanes, that sets buildings and
It is reported that Türkiye asked Hamas political representatives to leave the country on October 7, the day they launched an attack on Israel. Sources who asked not to be named confirmed YetkinReport the report by journalist Fehim Taştekin in Al Monitor, despite another Turkish source told Times of Israel that the report was “untrue”.
The chaos in the Middle East prevails as the İsrael-Palestinian conflict has merged into a war once again after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Unfortunately, the bombardments and clashes last in its second week with a rising humanitarian cost. This environment, if prolonged, will have negative effects on Türkiye, which had been on the