Israel, with its attack on Gaza, has tried the United States. The results of this test show that America is still behind Israel.

Israel has been living in political déjà vu for some time now. It neither comprehends the transformation in the region, nor does it have the political capacity to analyze the future.

Syria and Israel are two semi-states which base their identities on pretended hostility.

“Should al-Assad step down, disaster will ensue.” This assumption not only asserts that a region with al-Assad is possible, but it insists that it would in fact be better. Is that really so? 

Israel wants regime change in Syria, as much as it wanted a change in Egypt, the heart of the Camp David order, of which the Syrian regime is branch.

In the wake of the Arab League’s embargo against Syria, a new period is ahead for the Baathist regime.

The withdrawal seemed to be an achievement of the Palestinians and a positive step towards peace by the Israelis.

The “Lieberman Plan” aims at removing Israel’s “effective control” over Gaza, without compromising Israeli security or intruding upon its own sovereignty.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos stormed a passenger ship, the Mavi Marmara, the largest boat of a flotilla of six boats which were carrying 10000 tons of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, in international high waters. The operation left 9 activists dead and over 30 activists wounded. The flotilla attack started a new trend for Turkish-Israeli relations. For the first time in history, Turkish citizens were directly exposed to Israeli aggression. In this sense, the attack constitutes a break in Turkish-Israeli relations. It is now not only Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians that will shape the nature of Turkish-Israeli relations, more than anything else, but it is Israel’s steps towards salvaging bilateral relations by reassuring the Turkish nation and state.

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE By  Alon Ben-Meir,  Professor of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at the Center for Global Affairs, New York University Date: January 14, 2010 Thursday  Time: 11.00 – 12.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

In a rather unprecedented cry of outrage, Prince Turki al-Faisal, one of the most prominent figures of the Saudi state, put it bluntly: If the US under the new Obama administration does not change its policy toward Israel and Palestine, the Saudis will no longer maintain their “special relationship” with the US (“Saudi Arabia’s patience is running out,” Financial Times, Jan. 23, 2009). Quoting from the Saudi king that his peace plan, called “the Arab peace initiative,” is still on the table, the prince added that “it would not remain there for long.” 

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE  Speakers:  H.E. Mr. Nabil Maaruf Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Ä°brahim Kalın  SETA, Director General AyÅŸe Karabat  Today's Zaman Columnist Date: January 9, 2009 Friday  Time: 10.00 – 12.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

There are two main reasons for the Turkish outcry. First of all, Turkey has been acting as a facilitator between Israel and Syria over the last year or so. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, the two sides were very close to moving to the next stage of direct talks. This would have been one of the most important breakthroughs in the Middle East in a long time. After the war on Gaza started, the Syrian-Israeli talks were suspended

I get this question all the time: how does Turkey do it? In international relations, Turkey wants to be a member of the European Union, continue its partnership with the US, have good relations with Russia and Iran, be fully involved in Iraq and the larger Middle East, increase its presence in the Balkans and central Asia and open up to Africa and Latin America. Domestically, Turkey wants to strengthen its democracy, improve its human rights record, continue its economic development, find a solution to the Kurdish problem and ease the tensions between religion and the Turkish state.  

The current meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian presidents in Ankara comes only a few weeks before the multilateral summit in Annapolis, Maryland, in the US.  

Consider this wild scenario: After years of demonizing each other, the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran put their differences behind them. They agree to be strategic partners and sign a document to seal it.

“Russia is the most reliable partner of the Islamic world and the most faithful defender of its interests,” Russian President Viladimir Putin said in 2005 in Chechnya’s capital of Grozny. Putin made this statement in the first session of the local parliament in Grozny. Given the place and its brutal history, what the Russian president has said is seriously ironic. But the story does not stop here.Russia’s desire to straighten its record with the Muslim world has gained visible momentum in the last few years. In 2005, Russia was granted observer status at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the largest international organization in the Islamic world, representing 57 Muslim countries.