Turkey’s diplomatic campaigns against Israel are negatively affecting NATO’s operational capabilities, according to Israeli Deputy National Security Chief Eran Lerman. Turkish officials have blocked Israeli participation in a range of international cooperative programs, including counterterrorism forums and forums dedicated to promoting renewable energy. By limiting Israeli participation in NATO exercises...

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Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag has told U.S. ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone to “mind his own business” after the ambassador criticized Ankara for imprisoning journalists, military officers, lawmakers, and others. The unusually undiplomatic language comes amidst analyst worries regarding renewed attempts by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party to centralize...

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Turkey has blocked NATO initiatives designed to enhance the alliance’s cooperation with Israel, according to statements made this week by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Substantively, the claims are likely to cause frustration in Washington and elsewhere, as NATO cooperation with regional allies is seen as crucial to the U.S.’s ability...

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An Israeli official dismissed renewed Turkish diplomatic moves against Israel as “brazen hypocrisy,” after Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday told delegates at an Islamic conference in Cairo that the Jewish state has become an international “pariah.” Citing a recent report by the UN Human Rights Council calling on Israel to evacuate...

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Israeli outlets from across the political spectrum are criticizing Turkey over what Israeli officials are describing as Ankara’s “brazen hypocrisy” in lashing out against Israel on a variety of issues. Analysts and pundits have expressed surprise that Turkey, a country described as having “ethnically cleansed the northern part of Cyprus...

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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the weekend lashed out at Israel over the reported strikes, urging  the Bashar al-Assad regime – against which Turkey has been waging a two-year proxy war inside Syria – to retaliate against Jerusalem. Davutoglu, described by US diplomatic cables as “exceptionally dangerous” and “lost in neo-Ottoman Islamist fantasies”,...

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A suicide bomber from a far-left Turkish group opposed to U.S.-Turkish ties detonated himself in front of the US embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard. The attacker managed to enter American property and the U.S. State Department described the attack as a “terrorist blast.” Turkey’s government has been...

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Turkish media outlets are quoting Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz to the effect that Ankara at one point blocked Israeli and Cypriot membership in an international body dedicated to promoting renewable energy. Reporting on the diplomatic gambit, which in some quarters would be greeted as an unreasonable extension of...

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Despite recent rapprochement between the U.S. and Turkey, Washington is increasingly concerned over Ankara’s involvement in Iraq. Analysts note that business ties, particularly between northern Iraq and Turkey “could further push Baghdad toward Tehran.” Turkey has maintained growing trade with Iran despite U.S. and international sanctions on Iranian financial institutions that aid the...

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A new study shows massive Iranian support has improved the military capabilities of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organizations. According to Tel Aviv-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, the massive rocket fire from Gaza in November that targeted Israeli civilian population centers was made possible by Iran’s support....

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