Turkey Criticizes Israel over Response to Palestinian Protests
Voice of America
11 May 2021, 07:05 GMT+10
ISTANBUL - Mosques across Turkey broadcast prayers Monday in support of Palestinians injured in violent confrontations with Israeli police in Jerusalem. The unrest, which coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, comes amid the possible eviction of Palestinians from east Jerusalem homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.
Also Monday, hundreds of people, many waving Palestinian flags, massed in front of Israel s consulate in Istanbul in protest of Israeli police actions around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem s Old City. The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.
Turkey is seeking a fresh start with Israel TURKEYSource by Karel Valansi
Photo courtesy of ScottyNolan via Wikimedia Commons
The relationship between Turkey and Israel has gone through several ups and downs since ties between the two nations were formalized in 1949. After a recent period of turbulence, Turkey is eager to normalize ties; Israel, however, is unlikely to rush into a relationship.
Turkey’s growing isolation in its neighborhood and strained ties with the United States are driving a bid by Ankara to normalize relations with countries in the region, including Israel. A combination of economic, energy, intelligence, and political interests may have also persuaded Ankara to rethink its policy on Israel. Specifically, Turkey is feeling pressure as a result of the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states, and the reconciliation between its ally, Qatar, and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as Egypt
February 16, 2021 Share
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused fellow NATO ally the United States of supporting terrorists in the wake of the deaths of 13 kidnapped Turks in northern Iraq. He also said a U.S. statement about the killings, which Ankara blamed on Kurdish militants, was a joke.
“You [the U.S.] said you did not support terrorists, when in fact you are on their side and behind them,” Erdogan said Monday in comments to supporters. By terrorists, he was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been waging a decadeslong insurgency inside southeastern Turkey.
Erdogan spoke one day after a U.S. State Department spokesman said in a statement that if the reports of the deaths of Turkish civilians at the hands of the PKK are confirmed, “we condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.” The U.S., European Union and Turkey consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
Erdogan: US Siding with Terrorists after Turks Found Dead in Iraq theusnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theusnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is becoming increasingly panicked as the date of President-elect Joe-Biden’s inauguration approaches. Erdogan knows that, unlike President Trump, the Biden administration will not give him free rein and certainly won’t attempt to protect him from US law and sanctions. As a consequence, Turkey has begun seeding the media landscape with leaks and reports on rapprochement with Israel, including an alleged intelligence backchannel and the appointment of a new ambassador. Erdogan himself recently said Turkey “would like to bring our ties [with Israel] to a better point