Tag Archive for Turkey

Israelis put politics aside making Turkey their top destination in July

Despite Ankara’s years of anti-Israel rhetoric, Israel Airports Authority’s data show 172,507 passengers traveled on Israel-Turkey route in July, a 30% increase from last year.

By Danny Sadeh

 

Despite the chilly relations in the diplomatic arena, Turkey has become the most active destination for flights from Israel, according to an Israel Airports Authority (IAA) summary of the month of July, which was released Monday.

Antalya. Are Israelis returning to Turkey’s holiday resorts? – Photo: Ilan Halperin

The United States, which has been the most active destination of direct flights from Israel for years, fell to the third place, while Greece went up to the second place.

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Revealed: Turkey is Financially Supporting ISIS

When US special forces killed ISIS leader in May, retrieved intel revealed NATO-member Turkey was in fact collaborating with the jihadists and is a major buyer of stolen ISIS oil.

By Ari Yashar

 

Damning evidence was found when US special forces killed Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Sayyaf in May, revealing that NATO-member Turkey has in fact been collaborating with the brutal jihadists.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Photo: Reuters

The British Guardian reported on Sunday that when Abu Sayyaf’s compound was raided in eastern Syria, it was discovered that Turkey is the main buyer of smuggled ISIS oil which was managed by Abu Sayyaf to economically prop up the terror group.
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Turkey FM withdraws from Munich conference in boycott of Israeli participants

Israeli minister Steinitz said, “By boycotting Israel, Turkey shows its sympathies lie with radical Islam & terror groups such as Hamas & the Muslim Brotherhood.”

By i24news

 

Turkey’s foreign minister on Friday cancelled his appearance at a Munich conference citing the participation of Israeli representatives.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a press conference with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja (unseen) in Ankara, on November 18, 2014 – Photo: Adem Altan/AFP)

“I was going to attend the conference but we decided not to after they added Israeli officials to the Middle East session at the last minute,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Berlin, Reuters reported.

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Jerusalem appoints female chargé d’affaires to Israel’s embassy in Turkey

New Israeli chargé d’affaires Amira Oron will have to deal with the country’s most sensitive situations: Israel’s assertion that Turkey is hosting Hamas officials, Erdogan’s accusations Israel is a terrorist state and the Mavi Marmara incident.

By Itamar Eichner

 

In an unusual move, the Foreign Ministry recently decided to appoint a woman as chargé d’affaires at the Israeli Embassy in Turkey.

Amira Oron

The diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey in the wake of the Mavi Marmara incident led then-Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to expel the Israeli ambassador and the Israeli embassy was downgraded to having a chargé d’affaires rather than an ambassador.

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Turkish governor threatens to discontinue Jewish prayer after synagogue completes renovation

Governor of Turkish city Edirne threatened to turn synagogue into museum after renovations, saying it was unfair for Turkey to fund Jewish place of worship if Israel was denying Muslims access to their holy sites in Jerusalem.

By DPA

 

The governor of the Turkish city Edirne was under pressure on Saturday, after allegedly saying local Jews would not be able to use a synagogue there because of Israel’s actions at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The historical Büyük Synagogue

The historical Büyük Synagogue – Screenshot from hurriyetdailynews.com

The 100-year-old synagogue is undergoing renovations and when completed “will only serve as a museum” Edirne Governor Dursun Sahin was quoted by local media as saying on Friday.

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Cuba Balks at Erdogan’s Proposal to Build Country’s 1st Mosque

Communist government unhesitatingly says ‘no thanks’ to Turkish leader’s offer during a speech in which he claimed ‘Muslims discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus.’

By Ari Soffer

 

Cuba has reportedly rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s offer to build the country’s first mosque.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – AFP/File

Erdoğan’s offer came during a speech in Istanbul to Muslim leaders from Latin America, in which he made the bizarre claim that Muslims discovered the Americas nearly three centuries before Christopher Columbus.

“Muslim sailors arrived in America from 1178,” Erdoğan said at the televised address.

“Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast,” he added, and said that Ankara was even prepared to build a mosque at the site mentioned by the Genoese explorer. Continue Reading »

Turkey’s President Erdogan: Muslims discovered the Americas Centuries Before Columbus

Turkish president declares that Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before the 1492 landing of Columbus.

By Deb Riechmann

 

AP – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is claiming that Muslim sailors reached the Americas more than 300 years before explorer Christopher Columbus.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s death, November 10, 2014 in Ankara. – Photo: AFP

 

Erdoğan made the comments on Saturday at a gathering of Muslim leaders from Latin America.

“Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus,” the president said in a televised speech, according to AFP.

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Israel may have misstepped into intracommunal dispute with gas-partner Cyprus

Visit to Tel Aviv as a keynote speaker by foreign minister of self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has angered EU-member Cyprus.

 

The visit to Israel this week of Özdil Nami, foreign minister of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has landed Israel in hot water with its ally in the southern part of the divided island.

Özdil Nami

Özdil Nami – Photo Courtesy TRNC Foreign Ministry

Nami was a keynote speaker at the Israel Energy and Business Convention 2014 in Tel Aviv – at exactly the same time that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was visiting Cyprus and meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides. Continue Reading »

3 Israeli Arabs reportedly entered Syria to join Islamic jihad

According to a report in a local Nazareth magazine, the families of the three men tried to have them arrested before they crossed the Turkish-Syrian border.

Four residents of Yafia, a town near Nazareth, left Israel for Turkey during Eid al-Adha earlier this month with the intent of enlisting with the rebel groups in Syria, or with the Islamic State, according to a report in a local Nazareth paper.

ISIS fighters in Raqqa, Syria.

Fighters from the Islamic State marching in Raqqa, Syria, January 2014. – Photo: AP

One of the four dropped out en route and returned home, where he told the families of the other three that they were planning to travel to Syria.

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Turkey’s Pro-Erdoğan daily blames mine disaster on the Jews

 

Front page anti-Semitic tirade focused on deflecting criticism from PM Erdoğan for his insensitive handling of the tragedy, prints, ‘All info on Soma incident leads us to Israel.’

 

 

A conservative paper supporting Turkey’s prime minister went on an anti-Semitic diatribe regarding the recent mine disaster that claimed the lives of 301 people, International Business Times reported Wednesday.

Erdogan.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – Photo: AFP

The article on the front page of Yeni Akit on Tuesday declared that the son-in-law of Alp Gurkan, the owner of the Soma mine where the disaster occurred, is a Jew. The paper was roundly condemned on social media.

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Turkish report: Ankara discussed Naval Invasion into Israeli Waters

Turkish newspaper article reveals details of secret high-ranking meeting hours before the Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza incident, where the possibility of war with Israel was considered.

By Ege Berk Korkut

 

A Turkish newspaper has released details of a high-level meeting of the country’s military leaders, in which the Turkish government had considered sending warships into Israel as a military escort for the Mavi Marmara flotilla – and the possibility of triggering a war with the Jewish state as a result.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – Reuters

On May 31 2010, nine Turkish Islamists were killed on the flotilla after violently attacking IDF soldiers, during an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade on the terrorist group Hamas-enclave Gaza. Continue Reading »

Erdoğan quips Turkey may ban Facebook & YouTube to leash opponents

Forced to confront his former political ally, the struggling Turkish prime minister aims to silence criticism from his political enemies on internet sites.

By REUTERS

 

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube, which he says have been abused by his political enemies, after local elections on March 30.

Facebook - Photo IsraelandStuff

The Power of Facebook – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Erdogan is locked in a power struggle with the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who he says is behind a stream of “fabricated” audio recordings posted on the Internet allegedly revealing corruption in his inner circle.

“We are determined on this subject. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem Offers Turkey $20 Million Compensation for Mavi Marmara Incident

Compensation negotiations advancing over 2010 incident in which IHH sponsored flotilla attempted to illegally break Israel’s blockade on Gaza’s terror group Hamas.

By Ari Yashar

 

Israel has offered to pay $20 million in “compensation” to the families of Turkish citizens killed during the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla, which tried to illegally break the IDF blockade on the terror group Hamas in Gaza. Nine Turkish Islamists were killed as they violently attacked IDF soldiers who boarded their ship.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu formally apologized to Turkey last March for the soldiers‘ use of force in saving their own lives. Continue Reading »

2nd time Turkish students detained at Auschwitz for Nazi salute

 

The two Turkish students could face 2 years each in prison for public promotion of Nazi symbols.

By

 

 

Two Turkish tourists were detained by guards at the Auschwitz museum for appearing to make a Nazi salute.

The entrance to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz

The entrance to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. – Photo: Reuters

The tourists, a man and a woman, both 22, were taking pictures of each other in front of the gate to the former Nazi death camp under the iconic sign “Arbeit macht frei,” or “Work makes you free,” and allegedly raised their right hands in the gesture of a Nazi salute. Continue Reading »

U.S. Congress Cancelled Predator Drone Delivery to Turkey

Reports fromTurkish newspaper: The American Congress cancelled the scheduled delivery of US made UAVs to Turkey because of Ankara’s  exposing of Israeli spies to the Iranians.

By Elad Benari

 

The United States Congress cancelled the delivery to Turkey of 10 Predators – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – following Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan’s disclosure of the identity of 10 Iranians who had been working for the Mossad, the Turkish Taraf daily reported on Monday.

File:MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft.jpg

Predator – unmanned aircraft, Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

According to the newspaper, the claims about Fidan can be traced back to the year after the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010. Continue Reading »