Apple’s first store set to open in Istanbul

Published on May 20, 2013

Consumer technology market analysts expect Apple to start taking a big bite from the emerging market for its products here when it opens its first store in Istanbul in a few months.

Erdogan says will go ahead with Gaza visit

Published on May 16, 2013

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the White House on Thursday that he intends to go ahead with a planned trip to the Gaza Strip next month despite pressure from the United States to delay it.

International court to look into Israel’s 2010 Gaza flotilla raid

Published on May 16, 2013

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said she would open a preliminary examination into the 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, which left nine Turkish activists dead.

May 16, 2013

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on May 16, 2013

Turkey’s Erdogan to push Obama on Syria after bombings

Published on May 14, 2013

Turkey's prime minister will push President Barack Obama for more assertive action on Syria during a visit to Washington this week, days after car bombs tore through a Turkish border town in the deadliest spillover of violence yet.

May 13, 2013

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on May 13, 2013

May 10, 2013

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on May 10, 2013

Turkey’s prime minister set to visit Gaza

Published on May 8, 2013

Political observers in Turkey expect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to reaffirm his support for Palestinians with a visit this month to Gaza, marking the third anniversary of a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish aid flotilla bound for the disputed territory

Syrian rebels increasingly frustrated

Published on May 6, 2013

Gazing out at the rubble, which was all that remained of a four story apartment complex in the city of Azaz just south of the Turkish border, 41 year old bricklayer Khalid Jaza’iri did not see much to be optimistic about.

Jewish cemetery unearthed during construction work in Turkey

Published on May 1, 2013

Gravestones and bones from an ancient Turkish Jewish cemetery were unearthed during the construction of an underground tunnel.

Israeli pols slam Kerry for marathon-Mavi Marmara comparison

Published on April 23, 2013

Israeli lawmakers are condemning U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's comparison of the Boston Marathon bombing victims to the 2010 deaths of Turkish citizens aboard the Mavi Marmara ship.

Ergogan disregards Kerry request to postpone Gaza visit

Published on April 22, 2013

Turkey's prime minister will go ahead with a planned visit next month to Gaza, despite a request from US Secretary of State John Kerry to postpone.

Turkey, Israel reconciliation far from fact

Published on April 9, 2013

Just before President Barack Obama boarded Air Force One to leave Israel on a windy Friday afternoon last month, he made a dramatic announcement.

Injured Turks will sue Israeli soldiers despite Bibi’s apology

Published on April 9, 2013

Turkish nationals injured in Israel's raid on the Mavi Marmara said they will sue Israeli soldiers and their commanders despite Israel's apology.

April 8, 2013

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on April 8, 2013

This week from Israel

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on April 1, 2013

Accepting an apology graciously

Published on March 28, 2013

"Turkey was the first to recognize Israel from the Muslim world. Since the 15th Century, Turkey was a shelter for the Jewish people. I can think of about 1,000 reasons why Turkey and Israel should be friends. There is an affinity in history; there is a closeness in geography."

After Mideast trip, Obama gains political capital. Will he spend it?

Published on March 25, 2013

For a trip that U.S. officials had cautioned was not about getting “deliverables,” President Obama’s apparent success during his Middle East trip at getting Israel and Turkey to reconcile has raised some hopes for a breakthrough on another front: Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Apology? Extortion.

By Ariel Blumenthal
Published on March 24, 2013

Analysis: Obama scores unexpected successes on Middle East trip

Published on March 22, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama flew out of Israel in a duststorm on Friday, leaving behind a trail of symbolic gestures and fine oratory that should help preserve the status quo at a time of regional upheaval.

Obama brokers Israel-Turkey rapprochement

Published on March 22, 2013

Israel apologized to Turkey on Friday for killing nine Turkish citizens in a 2010 naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla and both feuding U.S. allies agreed to normalize relations in a surprise breakthrough announced by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Israel, Turkey to normalize ties after Israeli apology for 2010 flotilla raid

Published on March 22, 2013

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to normalize relations after Netanyahu apologized and agreed to compensation for the 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkish-flagged ship that left nine Turks dead.

Retract Zionism slur, U.S. lawmakers urge Turkey’s Erdogan

Published on March 13, 2013

Eighty-nine members of the U.S. Congress signed a letter calling on Turkey's prime minister to retract his comments blasting Zionism.

Notes from the Herzliya Conference

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on March 13, 2013

Do you really want to go inside?” a friend asked me at the entrance to the main hall of the Herzliya Conference, a global policy conference. “You know,” he said, “it’s Tzipi Livni speaking” — implying that there’s no point in wasting one’s time on her.

Fearful Syrian voters will keep Assad in power, Hezbollah deputy leader says

Published on March 12, 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad is likely to run for re-election next year and win, with Syria remaining in military and political deadlock until then, said the deputy leader of Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

What do I think about Zionism as a Turkish Muslim?

Published on March 5, 2013

For the last couple of years - and especially the last couple of days - my Jewish friends all over the world have expressed their concern over whether anti-Semitism is on the rise in Turkey. First of all Turkey has a population over 70 million.

The Turkic Islamic world uniting with Israel as a sovereign entity

Published on March 1, 2013

Over the last few years, one of the questions that I have been often asked is: Is Turkey leaving the West? Is Turkey's axis shifting? Is Turkey turning its back on the West?

Kerry: Turkish PM’s Zionism comments ‘objectionable’

Published on March 1, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday the United States found a comment by Turkey's prime minister, likening Zionism to crimes against humanity, "objectionable", overshadowing their talks on the crisis in neighboring Syria.

Erdogan at UN forum: Zionism is ‘crime against humanity’ [VIDEO]

Published on February 28, 2013

Amid rampant hate speech against Jews published in newspapers in Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said at a United Nations meeting that anti-Semitism, Zionism and Islamophobia were all “crimes against humanity.”

It is time for Israel and Turkey to remember their deep common history

Published on February 25, 2013

I am a Turkish Muslim and every time I have a conversation with an Israeli friend, they keep asking me why the relations between Israel and Turkey have reached such a nadir, why Turkey seemingly has an antagonistic stance against Israel.

Report: Israel mulling apology for ‘operational errors’ on Turkish flotilla

Published on February 22, 2013

Israel reportedly may apologize to Turkey for “operational errors” during its fatal raid on a 2010 Turkish aid flotilla to Gaza ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Iran nuke unlikely to start Mideast arms race, report says

Published on February 20, 2013

Fears that an Iranian nuclear weapon might trigger an atomic arms race across the Middle East are overplayed, a U.S. security thinktank said on Tuesday, arguing that countries like Saudi Arabia face big disincentives against getting the bomb.

Kerry will wait on Israel visit to accompany Obama

Published on February 20, 2013

John Kerry will tour the Middle East during his first foreign tour as U.S. secretary of state, but will visit Israel two weeks later with President Obama.

Israel to allow Turkish construction material into Gaza

Published on February 12, 2013

Israel has agreed to allow Turkish trucks carrying construction materials into the Gaza Strip for the construction of a hospital.

Turkey-Israel: The Status Quo is the Better Alternative

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on February 11, 2013

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on February 8, 2013

Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey

Published on February 1, 2013

A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air.

Sixty-five found executed in Syria’s Aleppo, activists say

Published on January 29, 2013

At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a "new massacre" in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.

Scientific American mocks claims that Darwin was Jewish

Published on January 11, 2013

Scientific American magazine satirized claims in a Turkish children's book that Charles Darwin was Jewish.

Obama discusses violence in Israel, Gaza with Turkish Prime Minister

Published on November 17, 2012

President Barack Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to discuss how the two countries could help bring an end to escalating violence between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a White House official said on Saturday.

U.S. urges Turkey, Egypt, others to encourage Hamas to de-escalate

Published on November 15, 2012

The United States has asked countries that have contact with Hamas to urge the group to stop its recent rocket attacks from Gaza, a White House adviser said on Thursday.

Trial on Marmara crimes? Give me a break!

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on November 14, 2012

‘Robust’ EU sanctions no match for Tehran’s tricks, experts say

Published on November 13, 2012

With embargoes on Iranian gas and oil firmly in place, the European Union seems determined to tighten a net of sanctions around Iran, as even longtime critics of Europe's trade relations with Iran acknowledge.

For a Thanksgiving seder, it’s all about the ‘hodu’

Published on November 12, 2012

Sitting down to the well-set table every November, even though it is filled with family and food, I always feel that something is missing -- a Jewish connection to the Thanksgiving story.

This week from Israel

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on November 11, 2012

Netanyahu among 13 leaders Obama calls post-election

Published on November 8, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of 13 world leaders that President Obama called to thank for congratulatory messages following his reelection.

Trial in absentia of Israeli commanders in Mavi Marmara raid

Published on November 8, 2012

A Turkish court began a trial in absentia for four Israeli military commanders responsible for the raid on the Mavi Marmara ship. The court case against former Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as former navy Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom, ex-military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and former air force Brig. Gen. Avishai Levi, opened on Nov. 6 in Istanbul. The charges reportedly include manslaughter and attempted manslaughter, causing bodily harm, deprivation of freedom, plundering, damage to property and illegal confiscation of property.

Israel seizes pro-Palestinian activist ship off Gaza

Published on October 20, 2012

The Israeli navy seized an international pro-Palestinian activist ship on the Mediterranean high seas on Saturday to prevent it breaching Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, a military spokeswoman said.

Israel goes to U.N. in effort to halt Gaza-bound ship

Published on October 18, 2012

Israel asked the United Nations to stop a Swedish-owned ship carrying human rights activists from attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.

Syrian clashes intensify near Turkey border

Published on October 9, 2012

NATO said on Tuesday it had drawn up plans to defend Turkey if necessary against any further spillover of violence from Syria's border areas where rebels and government forces are fighting for control.

Turkish president says ‘worst case’ unfolding in Syria

Published on October 8, 2012

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday the "worst-case scenarios" were now playing out in Syria and Turkey would do everything necessary to protect itself, as its army fired back for a sixth day after a shell from Syria flew over the border.

Mavi Marmara victims’ families sue Israel

Published on October 8, 2012

Relatives of nine Turkish citizens killed in the raid aboard the Mavi Marmara ship filed a lawsuit against Israel, according to Turkish reports.

Israel says Syrian mortar strike was attack on NATO

Published on October 4, 2012

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said on Thursday a deadly Syrian mortar strike on a Turkish town had to be considered an attack on a member of the NATO alliance.

Turkey’s Erdogan says Israel sent ‘richest Jew’ to intercede

Published on September 20, 2012

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a Turkish newspaper that Israel sent "the richest Jewish man in the world" to create better relations between the two countries.

Turkish minister: Religious freedom no longer guaranteed in Germany

Published on August 28, 2012

Turkey's minister for European affairs, Egemen Bagis, has called circumcision bans in Germany "a danger for liberty."

August 24, 2012

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on August 24, 2012

The Arab Spring springs surprises

Published on August 15, 2012

When a popular uprising started in Tunisia less than two years ago, it took the world by surprise. Not many observers had anticipated the outbreak, let alone the success, of popular uprisings in a region far better known for the longevity of its tyrants and despots.

‘No reason’ to apologize for Mavi Marmara incident, Lieberman tells Turkish journalists

Published on July 24, 2012

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Turkish journalists that Israel has "no reason to apologize" for the Mavi Marmara incident.

Jordan Farmar waived by Hawks, to play in Turkey

Published on July 17, 2012

Jordan Farmar was waived by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and reportedly will continue his professional basketball career in Turkey.

Syrian minister: Thought downed Turkish plane was Israeli

Published on June 27, 2012

Syria shot down a Turkish plane believing it was an Israeli plane, a Syrian government minister said.