Erdogan’s global peacemaker spotlight hides tumult within Turkiye

Erdogan’s global peacemaker spotlight hides tumult within Turkiye
Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference in Ankara, Feb. 18, 2025. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 14 May 2025
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Erdogan’s global peacemaker spotlight hides tumult within Turkiye

Erdogan’s global peacemaker spotlight hides tumult within Turkiye
  • Erdogan’s growing capital as international statesman is turbocharging Turkiye’s rising regional influence
  • “Erdogan has never been this pivotal of a player in geopolitics,” said Birol Baskan, a Turkiye-based political scientist

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan has probably never held more global sway: he will host the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks in three years on Thursday, days after his country’s militant nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), dissolved.

His growing capital as international statesman — working toward stability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and receiving accolades from US President Donald Trump for it — is turbocharging Turkiye’s rising regional influence.

Yet the timing of it appears odd and even agonizing to many at home who fear it could bolster his domestic political goals.

The arrest and jailing of Erdogan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, prompted the largest protests in a decade in March and April over what critics called a politicized and anti-democratic legal crackdown.

Imamoglu denies the charges he faces, while Ankara denies the criticism of autocratic behavior.

Yet these seemingly parallel universes — international versus domestic — underscore Erdogan’s tendency over 22 years running Turkiye to shift the focus abroad when political or economic problems are brewing at home.

In line with this pattern, Erdogan in May 2022 blocked the planned enlargement of NATO at a time when Turkiye’s inflation rate was soaring toward 85 percent, waiting until early last year to finally approve Sweden’s membership bid in exchange for concessions.

“Erdogan has never been this pivotal of a player in geopolitics,” said Birol Baskan, a Turkiye-based political scientist. “There were dramatic twists and turns in geopolitics, with the re-election of Donald Trump of particular note, though I think Erdogan’s biggest gain is indisputably Syria.”

According to Turkish government officials, Erdogan’s backing of Syrian rebels over the last decade finally paid off for them — and him — when they ousted former President Bashar Assad in December, leaving Ankara with heavy influence in Damascus and beyond as the region sought to recover from war.

Erdogan’s sway grew in January when Trump returned to the White House, given their close ties in Trump’s first term.

Trump, who boasts of “great relations” with Erdogan, said he will be a good host for Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul. He also said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would make a last-minute trip there, and even floated attending in person.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, set to visit the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday, has dared Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to meet him in Istanbul on Thursday to agree a ceasefire, though Putin has not committed to meet.

Erdogan — fielding calls or visits from US, Russian, Ukrainian, Saudi, French, Italian, NATO and other world leaders in the last week alone — has urged seizing the opportunity for peace between its Black Sea neighbors to the north.

KURDISH MILITANTS DISBAND
Peace is also within reach to Turkiye’s south, where PKK militants are now largely based after a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state that killed more than 40,000 people.

Weakened after years of Turkish bombardment, the group said on Monday it decided to disband and disarm at a congress last week in northern Iraq.

While a tricky path lies ahead, it marked a significant victory for Erdogan. He had sought to capitalize on vulnerabilities of PKK-affiliated Kurdish forces in northern Syria after Assad’s fall, including his bet that Trump would soon pull out US troops allied with those forces.

Musavvat Dervisoglu, chair of Turkiye’s opposition nationalist IYI Party, warned that Erdogan was using the PKK decision to secure a “lifetime presidency,” given that the support of Kurdish voters could help him adopt a new constitution and extend his rule beyond 2028 when his term expires.

Erdogan says a new constitution is a priority but has not said whether he wants to run again.

Imamoglu’s lead over Erdogan in polls has edged higher since the mayor was arrested in March — which at the time hit Turkiye’s lira and set back the central bank’s battle with years of soaring inflation.

But last week, a Turkish court order blocked Imamoglu’s access to his social media X account, potentially further isolating him as he awaits a court hearing on corruption charges.

Meanwhile the nightly protests in which tens of thousands of Turks filled streets nationwide to denounce the president for wielding the judiciary for political gain — charges he denies — have largely faded.

Harun Armagan, vice chair of foreign affairs for Erdogan’s AK Party, said Imamoglu’s case “is not a political process, but a judicial one” that is separate from the “significant political developments unfolding” elsewhere.

“The PKK laying down arms and disbanding...will be recorded as historic milestones in the context of Turkish politics,” he told Reuters.

TURKEY-BROKERED PEACE DEAL?
While some European leaders denounced the arrest of Imamoglu, many have also endorsed Erdogan’s offer to host Russia-Ukraine talks, including French President Emmanuel Macron who stressed on a call with Erdogan on Sunday the “necessity” of Russia agreeing a ceasefire.

In another diplomatic boon for Erdogan, Europe has warmed to Turkiye in recent months, diplomats say, as it scrambles to bolster defenses and find guarantees for Ukraine under any forthcoming ceasefire deal pushed by Trump.

Turkiye has NATO’s second-largest army and makes armed drones used extensively by Ukraine against Russia. At the same time, Ankara has rejected Western sanctions on Moscow, walking a fine line between the warring nations and maintaining their trust.

“Even if peace talks stumble in Istanbul, Erdogan still gets credit. He loves his name stamped next to a peace deal,” said Onur Isci, associate professor of international relations at Kadir Has University.

“He is in a very powerful diplomatic position and appears to be scoring more and more points.”

The latest point was scored on Tuesday when Trump, in Riyadh, made the surprise announcement that the US would lift all sanctions on Syria, after sources said Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to do so.

Erdogan and Trump have held at least three calls since Trump’s re-election, and spoke again on Wednesday with other leaders about the Syria decision.

Trump also appointed a longtime adviser, Thomas Barrack, as US ambassador to Turkiye who upon arrival last week said he intends to elevate the relationship from a “great” one to an “extraordinary” one.


Israeli-backed group seeks at least $30 million from US for aid distribution in Gaza

Updated 15 sec ago
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Israeli-backed group seeks at least $30 million from US for aid distribution in Gaza

Israeli-backed group seeks at least $30 million from US for aid distribution in Gaza
The foundation says it has provided millions of meals in southern Gaza since late May to Palestinians
The effort has seen near-daily fatal shootings of Palestinians trying to reach the distribution sites

WASHINGTON: A US-led group has asked the Trump administration to step in with an initial $30 million so it can continue its much scrutinized and Israeli-backed aid distribution in Gaza, according to three US officials and the organization’s application for the money.

That application, obtained by The Associated Press, also offers some of the first financial details about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its work in the territory.

The foundation says it has provided millions of meals in southern Gaza since late May to Palestinians as Israel’s blockade and military campaign have driven the Gaza to the brink of famine.

But the effort has seen near-daily fatal shootings of Palestinians trying to reach the distribution sites. Major humanitarian groups also accuse the foundation of cooperating with Israel’s objectives in the 20-month-old war against Hamas in a way that violates humanitarian principles.

The group’s funding application was submitted to the US Agency for International Development, according to the US officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The application was being processed this week as potentially one of the agency’s last acts before the Republican administration absorbs USAID into the State Department as part of deep cuts in foreign assistance.

Two of the officials said they were told the administration has decided to award the money. They said the processing was moving forward with little of the review and auditing normally required before Washington makes foreign assistance grants to an organization.

In a letter submitted Thursday as part of the application, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation secretary Loik Henderson said his organization “was grateful for the opportunity to partner with you to sustain and scale life-saving operations in Gaza.”

Neither the State Department nor Henderson immediately responded to requests for comment Saturday.

Israel says the foundation is the linchpin of a new aid system to wrest control from the United Nations, which Israel alleges has been infiltrated by Hamas, and other humanitarian groups. The foundation’s use of fixed sites in southern Gaza is in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to use aid to concentrate the territory’s more than 2 million people in the south, freeing Israel to fight Hamas elsewhere.

Aid workers fear it’s a step toward another of Netanyahu’s public goals, removing Palestinians from Gaza in “voluntary” migrations that aid groups and human rights organizations say would amount to coerced departures.

The UN and many leading nonprofit groups accuse the foundation of stepping into aid distribution with little transparency or humanitarian experience, and, crucially, without a commitment to the principles of neutrality and operational independence in war zones.

Since the organization started operations, several hundred Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in near-daily shootings as they tried to reach aid sites, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Witnesses say Israeli troops regularly fire heavy barrages toward the crowds in an attempt to control them.

The Israeli military has denied firing on civilians. It says it fired warning shots in several instance, and fired directly at a few “suspects” who ignored warnings and approached its forces.

It’s unclear who is funding the new operation in Gaza. No donor has come forward. The State Department said this past week that the United States is not funding it.

In documents supporting its application, the group said it received nearly $119 million for May operations from “other government donors,” but gives no details. It expects $38 million from those unspecific government donors for June, in addition to the hoped-for $30 million from the United States.

The application shows no funding from private philanthropy or any other source.

Gaza’s starvation crisis fuels deadly race for survival

Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, June 21, 2025. (REUTERS)
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, June 21, 2025. (REUTERS)
Updated 12 min 59 sec ago
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Gaza’s starvation crisis fuels deadly race for survival

Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, June 21, 2025. (REUTERS)
  • Palestinians say they are forced into a competition to feed their families

KHAN YOUNIS: Each day, Palestinians in Gaza run a deadly gauntlet in hopes of getting food. Israeli troops open barrages of gunfire toward crowds crossing military zones to get to the aid, they say, and knife-wielding thieves wait to ambush those who succeed. Palestinians say lawlessness is growing as they are forced into a competition to feed their families.
A lucky few manage to secure some packets of lentils, a jar of Nutella, or a bag of flour.
Many return empty-handed and must attempt the ordeal again the next day.
“This is not aid. It’s humiliation. It’s death,” said Jamil Atili, his face shining with sweat as he made his way back last week from a food center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor.
He had suffered a knife cut across his cheek amid the scramble for food and said a contractor guard pepper-sprayed him in the face. Still, he emerged with nothing for his 13 family members.

I have nothing to feed my children. My heart is broken.

Jamil Atili, Gaza resident

“I have nothing to feed my children,” he said, nearly crying. “My heart is broken.”
Israel began allowing food into Gaza this past month after cutting it off completely for 10 weeks, though UN officials say it is not enough to stave off starvation.
Most of the supplies go to GHF, which operates four food distribution points inside Israeli military zones. A trickle of aid goes to the UN and humanitarian groups.
Both systems are mired in chaos.
Daily gunfire by Israeli troops toward crowds on the roads heading to the GHF centers has killed several hundred people and wounded hundreds more in the past weeks, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
At the same time, in past weeks, hungry crowds have overwhelmed most of the UN’s truck convoys and stripped away the supplies. Israeli troops have opened fire to disperse crowds waiting for trucks near military zones, witnesses say — and on Tuesday, more than 50 people were killed, according to the ministry.
“I don’t see how it can get any worse, because it is already apocalyptic. But somehow it does get worse,” said Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian affairs office.
Thousands of people must walk miles to reach the GHF centers, three of which are in the far south outside the city of Rafah. Palestinians said the danger begins when the crowds enter the Israeli military zone encompassing Rafah.
Mohammed Saqer, a father of three who risked the trip multiple times, said that when he went last week, tanks were firing over the heads of the crowds as drone announcements told everyone to move back.
It’s like it was "Squid Game,” Saqer said, referring to the dystopian thriller TV series in which contestants risk their lives to win a prize. Just raising your head might mean death, he said.
He and others crawled forward, then left the main road.
A shot rang out nearby, and they ducked, he said. They found a young man on the ground, shot in the back.
The others assumed he was dead, but Saqer felt his chest — it was still warm, and he found a pulse.
They carried him to a point where a car could pick him up.
Saqer said he stood for a moment, traumatized by the scene. Then people shouted that the site had opened.
The mad dash
Everyone broke into a crazed run, he said. He saw several people wounded on the ground. One man, bleeding from his abdomen, reached out his hand, pleading for help. No one stopped.
“Everyone is just running to get to the aid, to get there first,” Saqer said.
Omar Al-Hobi described the same scene four times when he went last week.
Twice, he returned empty-handed; once, he managed to grab a pack of lentils. On the fourth day, he was determined to secure flour for his three children and pregnant wife.
He said he and others inched their way forward under tank fire. He saw several people shot in the legs. One man fell bleeding to the ground, apparently dead, he said.
Horrified, Al-Hobi froze, unable to move, “but I remembered I have to feed my children.”
He took cover in a greenhouse, then heard the announcement that the center was open and began to run.
Avoiding thieves
At the center, food boxes are stacked on the ground in an area surrounded by fences and earthen berms. Thousands rush in to grab what they can in a frantic melee.
You have to move fast, Saqer said. Once supplies run out, some of those who came too late rob those leaving. He swiftly tore open a box and loaded the contents into a sack — juice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, beans, flour and cooking oil.
Then he took off running. There’s only one route in and out of the center. But, knowing thieves waited outside, Saqer clambered over a berm, running the risk of being fired on by Israeli troops.
“It all depends on the soldiers’ mood. If they are in a bad mood … they will shoot at me. If not, they will let me be,” he said.
Heba Jouda said she saw a group of men beat up a boy of 12 or 13 years old and take his food as she left one of the Rafah centers.
Another time, she said, thieves attacked an older man, who hugged his sack, weeping that his children had no food.
They sliced his arm with a knife and ran off with the sack.
Al-Hobi said he was trampled in the scramble for boxes.
He managed to grab a bag of rice, a packet of macaroni.
He snagged flour — but much of it was ruined in the chaos.
At his family tent outside Khan Younis, his wife, Anwaar Saleh, said she will ration it all to make it last a week or so.
“We hope he doesn’t have to go back. His life is the most important thing,” she said.
Al-Hobi remains shaken — both by his brushes with death and the callousness that the race for food has instilled in everyone.
“No one will show you mercy these days. Everybody fends for themselves.”

 


Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’

Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’
Updated 21 June 2025
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Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’

Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’
  • “We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities,” said Pezeshkian

TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country will not halt nuclear activity “under any circumstances” amid ongoing fighting with Israel which hit nuclear sites.

“We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, however, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances,” said Pezeshkian during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.


Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say

Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say
Updated 21 June 2025
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Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say

Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say
  • The man appeared before a district court on Saturday
  • Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X that an Iranian attempt to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus was thwarted

NICOSIA: Police in Cyprus have arrested a British man on suspicion of terror-related offenses and espionage, authorities said on Saturday, with Israel accusing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of trying to attack Israeli citizens on the island.

The man appeared before a district court on Saturday, which ordered an eight-day detention pending inquiries.

Police gave no further details, citing national security.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X that an Iranian attempt to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus was thwarted, “thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services.”

He gave no more details about the nature of the attack, and there was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.

A spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the individual’s nationality, saying it was in contact with local authorities.

“We are in contact (with) the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man,” the spokesperson told Reuters.

Several Cypriot news outlets reported the suspect was a man of Azeri ethnic descent and had been arrested in the Zakaki suburb of the coastal city of Limassol. The suspect was thought to have had a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri under surveillance, as well as Cyprus’s own Andreas Papandreou Air Base in the western region of Paphos since mid-April, Cyprus’s ANT1 news portal reported.

Cyprus lies very close to the Middle East and has in recent days been used as a transit point for people either leaving or going to the region amid the conflict between regional foes Israel and Iran.

Terror-related offenses on the island are very rare.


IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit

IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit
Updated 21 June 2025
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IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit

IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit
  • “There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi said

VIENNA: The UN nuclear agency confirmed on Saturday that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site had been hit, in the latest strike amid Israel’s bombing campaign.


“A centrifuge manufacturing workshop has been hit in Esfahan, the third such facility that has been targeted in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear-related sites over the past week,” the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi.

“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi was quoted as saying.