Erdogan: Turkey Opposes NATO Cooperation With Israel

Latest Developments

Turkey vowed on July 12 to oppose NATO’s cooperation with Israel. During a press conference at the 75th NATO Summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.” Foreign Minister Israel Katz rebuffed Erdogan’s statement on X: “First of all, Erdogan, you decide nothing. Furthermore, a country like Turkey, which supports the murderers and rapists of Hamas and the Iranian axis of evil, should not be a member of NATO.”

Israel’s use of ‘Hannibal Directive’ on 7 October confirmed by new evidence

In a startling revelation, documents obtained by Haaretz have confirmed that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) implemented the controversial Hannibal Directive during the Hamas cross-border incursion on 7 October, and killed its own citizens. This confirmation comes after months of denial and attempts to discredit alternative news sources that had reported on the use of this contentious military protocol.

Gaza: There Is No Alternative To UNRWA, Guterres Says

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, standing alongside top officials in New York on Friday, underscored the essential need to bolster the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) across the Middle East amid continued attacks on its mandate, staff, premises and operations.

Iraq-based Iranian Proxy, Kataib Hezbollah, Threatens Saudi Arabia and Israel

Latest Developments

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraq-based Iranian proxy militia, threatened Saudi Arabia in a statement on July 13 for enabling the “the battle against the Palestinians.” Following previous threats to Riyadh, the group criticized via Telegram the “malicious role of Saudi Arabia’s rulers in harnessing their land routes to perpetuate the momentum of the battle against the Palestinians.”

Orders of Disorder

Who Disbanded Iraq’s Army and De-Baathified Its Bureaucracy?

The history of Iraq was already being rewritten by L. Paul Bremer on his flight into Baghdad. It was May 2003, and Bremer, an experienced former ambassador and bureaucratic player—he’d served as Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s chief of staff—was just weeks into his new role as presidential envoy to the freshly liberated country. After a flurry of briefings in Washington and a final Oval Office meeting with President George W. Bush, “Jerry,” as everyone called Bremer, had flown into Qatar and on to Kuwait and then Iraq. Bremer’s diplomatic career had taken him to most Middle Eastern capitals, but this was the first time he’d ever seen Baghdad. He had spent the previous two weeks trying to learn as much as he could about the country he would now rule.

WHAT COMES NEXT FOR TURKEY? PROSPECTS FOR CHANGE ON THEPOLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND FOREIGNPOLICY FRONTS

INTRODUCTION

At a time when there is widespread anxiety around the world about the fate of democracy but not enough debate on the future of autocracy, Turkey presents an interesting case for scholars and policy-makers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spent two decades in power taking steps to build his neman rule. 2023 was the year when many thought it would finally come to an end. The government’s poor response to the devastating earthquake in February 2023 and Turkey’s mounting economic problems strengthened popular discontent with Erdoğan’s rule. Yet he still managed to win another term as president in the May 2023 elections thanks to the disarray among the six-party opposition coalition and its uninspiring candidate.

10 Years After ISIS’s Genocide, Iraq Is Still Dealing with the Human Legacies

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of ISIS’ capture of a third of Iraqi and Syrian territory and genocide against the Ezidis (Yazidis) and other communities. Supported by the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Iraq declared military victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 and has significantly reduced and controlled the threat ever since. Significant progress has also been made in the recovery and stabilization process, with the successful return to their areas of origin of some five million of the six million Iraqis internally displaced by the conflict and the rebuilding of many of the regions that the conflict devastated.