ABOARD THE TCG ALEMDAR: In blazing sunlight, two dozen US and Turkish sailors on a NATO exercise lower an American diving bell from an advanced Turkish rescue ship, sending it deep under the Aegean Sea where it is secured to a submarine.
Part of a combined NATO rescue simulation this week off Turkey’s southwest coast, the seamless cooperation at sea comes amidst a storm between Ankara and its alliance allies who are concerned about its decades-old commitment to the organization.
Under President Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, with NATO’s second-biggest army, has sought to bolster ties with Russia and Iran.
In a clear sign of rapprochement, Ankara is buying a missile defense system from Russia — unnerving NATO officials, who are already wary of Moscow’s military presence in the Middle East, as the system is incompatible with the alliance’s systems.
Turkey said it opted for the S-400 anti-aircraft system because Western arms suppliers had not offered a “financially effective” alternative. The Pentagon said it expressed concern to Turkey about the deal.
“They went crazy because we made the S-400 agreement. What were we supposed to do, wait for (them)?” Erdogan said recently.
“If we have difficulty in obtaining any defense element from some places, if our initiatives are often frustrated by obstacles, what will we do? We will sort it out on our own.”
Erdogan’s frustration stems from Washington’s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG in the fight against Daesh. Ankara sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out an insurgency in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Europe as well as Turkey.
Angered by indictment
The president was also angry that US prosecutors charged his former economy minister for conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran. The indictment marked the first time an ex-government member with close ties to Erdogan had been charged in the investigation that has strained relations between Washington and Ankara.
“Part of the reason Erdogan is doing this S-400 deal is he’s angry with the US over the indictment of the former economy minister as well as continued US cooperation with the YPG,” said Soner Cagaptay, a fellow at the Washington Institute think-tank and author of “The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey.”
“He’s using the S-400 as a lever, in terms of bargaining, to convince Washington to change its mind on a number of issues.”
Ties with Europe, especially Germany, were hit by Turkey’s crackdown after last year’s failed coup. Some 150,000 people were purged from the civil service, military and private sector and over 50,000 jailed, including German nationals.
Alarmed by what it sees as Ankara’s deteriorating record on human rights, Germany has said it would restrict some arms sales to Turkey. It initially announced a freeze on major arms sales, but scaled that back, citing the fight against Daesh.
Ankara also refused to allow German lawmakers to visit their troops stationed at an air base in Turkey. This has led Germany to move troops involved in the campaign against Daesh from Turkey’s Incirlik base to Jordan.
Not an alternative
Turkey rejects the idea it is turning away from the West.
“The good relations Turkey has developed with Russia are not an alternative to the good relations it has with the West, they complement each other,” Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said.
Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that Turkey’s position in NATO had not been weakened by the deal. Still, some fear Turkey might eventually find itself at the periphery of the alliance.
“Germany is our most important supplier of weapons after the United States,” said Umit Pamir, a former Turkish diplomat. He said the suspension of arms sales, would “surely impact our defense systems.”
Erdogan has been on a push to improve ties with Moscow after Turkey’s economy, particularly its tourism industry, was shaken by sanctions imposed by Russia after Turkey shot down one of its warplanes over Syria in late 2015.
He is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week to discuss a plan agreed by their countries and Iran to reduce the fighting in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
Different sides in Syria
Turkey supports rebels against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.
Erdogan plans to visit Iran next month. The two countries agreed in August to boost military cooperation when Iran’s military chief, Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, met Erdogan in a visit. The trip was the first by an Iranian military chief of staff to Turkey since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
While they back opposite sides in Syria, Ankara and Tehran have found some common ground over their opposition to the Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq. Both countries fear that an independent Kurdish state could inflame separatists tensions with their Kurdish minorities.
Recent discord over the S-400 purchase did not signal a drastic break from NATO for Turkey, said Mustafa Kibaroglu, a professor of international relations at Turkey’s MEF University. He said the West had over-reacted to the purchase.
“I don’t think there is any debate about Turkey leaving an alliance it has invested so much in,” Kibaroglu said.
“Are we going to bring down US planes with our S-400s?” he said. “There is no backbone to these comments, it is purely political polemics, and we are not the ones doing this.”
Turkish missile deal with Russia reflects stormy ties with NATO
Turkish missile deal with Russia reflects stormy ties with NATO
‘Killed, maimed, frozen to death’: UN Security Council meets to discuss plight of Gaza’s kids
- UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher tells council members of urgent need for donations to meet $4bn funding target for 2025
- The growing struggles of civilians in the West Bank must also not be ignored, he adds
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s humanitarian chief on Thursday called for urgent action to protect children in Gaza and ensure their well-being amid the fragile ceasefire and ongoing humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Speaking during a meeting of the Security Council to discuss “the plight of children in the Gaza Strip,” Tom Fletcher emphasized the scale of suffering among Palestinian youngsters there as he urged the international community to ensure the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas holds, and to scale up deliveries of humanitarian aid.
Fletcher said the ceasefire deal, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US, has brought a temporary reprieve for civilians, and is allowing Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians to be reunited with their families.
The truce has also enabled a surge in the amount of life-saving humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, providing a glimmer of hope for the millions of residents suffering as a result of the conflict.
“We can save more lives if all parties continue to honor the deal,” Fletcher said, thanking the mediators for their tireless efforts to facilitate the agreement and address the operational challenges in its implementation.
The 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have taken a profound toll on the children in the territory, the suffering of whom reached catastrophic proportions during that time, he added.
Fletcher painted a harrowing picture of the devastating effects of the conflict on the children of Gaza. Thousands lost their lives, an estimated 17,000 have been left without their families, and many more were injured or are suffering from malnutrition and psychological trauma.
He gave examples of the cruel conditions under which young people have been forced to lived, cited instances of unborn children perishing with their mothers, and detailed the desperate plight of more than 150,000 pregnant women and new mothers who are in urgent need of healthcare.
“The children of Gaza have been killed, starved, maimed, orphaned and separated from their families,” Fletcher said as he condemned the violence and deprivation. “A generation has been traumatized.”
Aside from the physical harm, children have endured deep psychological scars, with UNICEF estimating that 1 million youngsters are in need of mental health support for anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
“Many have faced sexual violence,” Fletcher said. “Girls, who have endured the additional indignity of no access to menstrual care, have been left exposed and vulnerable.”
The war has had devastating effects on education as well, with schools destroyed and many children denied access to learning, he added.
But despite the overwhelming challenges, the international humanitarian community has made significant strides in the days since the ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, Fletcher said.
He highlighted the increased flow of aid into Gaza, including food, medical supplies and fuel, which has enabled critical services to resume or continue operating.
With the UN Relief and Works Agency at the forefront of the efforts, humanitarian agencies have scaled up their operations, delivering emergency shelter to protect people from the winter weather, food and life-saving medical care.
“We are getting supplies to designated emergency shelters and distribution centers across the Gaza Strip,” Fletcher said.
“We are delivering food parcels, distributing fuel to ensure that healthcare and water systems can function, and reopening bakeries to help meet basic nutritional needs.”
While these efforts are vital, Fletcher stressed that they will only be able continue with sustained funding and unimpeded access.
He appealed to UN member states to help replenish humanitarian stockpiles and called for greater involvement of the private sector to meet the needs of the 2 million residents of Gaza.
Fletcher stressed the urgent need for donations to help meet the $4.07 billion target of the UN’s 2025 Flash Appeal, to help address the needs of 3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank. Almost 90 percent of the total is needed for the humanitarian response in Gaza alone.
But while much of the international attention has focused on the Strip, Fletcher also warned the Security Council about the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, where violence and displacement have reached unprecedented levels since October 2023.
He described attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages, and ongoing military operations, particularly in Jenin, that have displaced thousands and caused significant damage to infrastructure.
“The situation in the West Bank must not be ignored,” Fletcher said. “We need to ensure that humanitarian aid and protection reach those in need, and that international law is respected.”
He once again urged council members to ensure the ceasefire holds, and that the flow of aid continues to those in need, in both Gaza and the West Bank. He called for the protection of Palestinian civilians, the release of all hostages and detainees, and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers.
“The children of Gaza are not collateral damage,” Fletcher said. “They are as deserving as children everywhere of security, education and hope. We must be there for them now, when they need us most.”
Gaza hostage families conflicted over those not on release list
TEL AVIV: The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are trapped in limbo, two days before the second prisoner exchange of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, with many having relatives both on the list to be freed and those who aren’t.
Among them is Silvia Cunio, an Argentine-Israeli from the Nir Oz kibbutz community. She has two sons in captivity, one of whom was taken along with his partner Arbel Yehud.
She is on the list — but the Cunio brothers, David and Ariel, are not.
They are among the 91 hostages taken captive during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and still held in the Gaza Strip. Of that number, 34 are dead according to the Israeli military.
The ceasefire’s 42-day first phase began on Sunday with the release of three women hostages. A total of 33 captives are to be exchanged during the initial phase in return for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Standing in front of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Cunio demanded that the ceasefire deal continue beyond the first phase to completion so she could see her sons again.
“I came here to say that I continue to fight for my children... to demand that they stop the war and don’t stop fighting for my children,” she said, wearing a T-shirt with their image on it.
Cunio presented herself as an untrammelled optimist, saying that her sons “will come back in good health. That is my hope and it is what keeps me going.”
Whenever she appears on TV, Cunio addresses her sons directly, just in case they might hear her.
“David, my darling, Ariel... I am here, I am fighting, I am doing everything I can. We love you. Be strong. We are here waiting for you.”
Another hostage relative, Sharon Sharabi, has two brothers Eli and Yossi in Gaza. Eli is presumed alive. The Israeli military said early last year that Yossi was dead.
As a man over 50, Eli Sharabi is on the list of 33 to be freed, alongside women, children and hostages who are ill or injured. The release of the remaining 61 people taken by Palestinian militants is dependent on further negotiations.
“As far as we know, Eli is alive. We have not received any statement from the security forces or the (military) confirming that Eli is no longer alive. So we want to maintain this optimism and pray that we will see him on his feet very soon,” said Sharabi.
Moved by the possibility, he allowed himself to imagine a reunion between his nearly octogenarian mother and his brother.
Yet, within moments, anxiety intruded.
If his brother Eli returns, Sharon Sharabi will have to tell him that his wife and two daughters were killed on October 7, 2023, and that their brother Yossi died in captivity.
Yossi and Eli were taken captive from Beeri, a kibbutz community where Eli’s wife and teenage daughters were found dead in their home.
Itzik Horn, 72, also an Argentine-Israeli, has similar contrasting emotions. He hopes for the release of his son Yair, 46, who is on the list of 33 because of his diabetes.
But there is also the pain of his other son, Eitan, 38, remaining in Gaza.
“They cut me in half. This is an impossible situation. One son might be released, and the other one isn’t,” Horn said.
Eitan was visiting his older brother in Nir Oz on October 7, when militants took the two of them hostage.
The kibbutz, less than three kilometers (two miles) from the Gaza border, was hit extremely hard during the Hamas attack. More than 30 people were killed in Nir Oz and 70 taken hostage, with 25 still in the Gaza Strip.
Horn was angry, insisting that “everyone has to return, including the bodies.”
He admitted that dark humor helped him cope with the pain.
“Yair inherited his diabetes from me and he was always mad at me (for it). Now, if he’s freed first because of his illness, he’ll be able to thank me,” he joked.
Asked what he would do if, after the first phase of the ceasefire the war resumed, Horn said: “I’m going to burn the country down... because that’s like signing their death sentence.”
UN says 653 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 653 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the fifth day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
OCHA cited information received from Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement — the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Gazans prepare tent camps for families returning to north
GAZA CITY: Palestinians in northern Gaza prepared tent encampments for displaced families on Thursday, two days before they were expected to return to their home areas under the timeline of a ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas.
On open ground surrounded by blown-out buildings, a group of men began putting up rows of white tents to receive families who are planning to return north on Saturday when Hamas is due to release a second batch of hostages in return for dozens of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expected to head back to the northern Gaza Strip will return to homes in ruins after a 15-month Israeli military offensive that has laid waste to the enclave and killed more than 47,000 Gazans.
In October, Israeli forces returned to areas of the north in a major anti-Hamas operation focused on the Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City and Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya towns, clearing the area of its inhabitants and razing most of its buildings.
“Is this the tent that we dreamed of? This will have to fit 10 people. This tent is for my children who are coming from the south. Really, is this adequate space?” asked Wael Jundiya as he prepared a tent for his children, who will return from where they had been sheltering in the Mawasi coastal area of the south.
“On Saturday, people will come from the south and flood Gaza (City). Where will they go? This camp will fit 100, 200 people. There will be 1.5 million coming from the south,” Jundiya told Reuters.
Hamas published a statement on Thursday saying the return of the displaced families would begin after Saturday’s exchange was complete and once Israeli forces had pulled out from the coastal road to the north.
At least four hostages are expected to be handed over to Israel on Saturday.
Highlighting concerns by many Palestinians over how strong the phased ceasefire is, an Israeli tank shelling killed two Gazans in Rafah in the south of the enclave, the local civil emergency service said.
Gaza ceasefire ‘wouldn’t have happened without us,’ Trump tells WEF
- The US president touted his administration’s role in brokering the Israel-Hamas hostage deal
- He also welcomed Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion investment, while calling for lower oil prices
DAVOS: In a virtual address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, US President Donald Trump highlighted his administration’s pivotal role in brokering the ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of hostages.
“Before even taking office, my team negotiated a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East, which wouldn’t have happened without us,” Trump said in his first major speech on the world stage since returning to the White House.
“Earlier this week, the hostages began to return to their families. They are returning, and it’s a beautiful sight, and they’ll be coming in more and more.”
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, came into effect on Jan. 19, ending 15-months of fighting which has left more than 47,500 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The deal was structured in multiple phases, the first involving a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
In exchange, Israel committed to releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank and allowing hundreds of aid trucks carrying food and fuel into the Gaza Strip through border crossings in Israel and Egypt.
The negotiation process was marked by significant diplomatic efforts, with both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration playing instrumental roles.
Brett McGurk, a Middle East negotiator for the Biden administration, collaborated closely with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East. This bipartisan cooperation was driven by a mutual desire to resolve the conflict prior to the presidential inauguration.
Trump had issued stern warnings, stating that failure to release the hostages, including seven American citizens, before his inauguration would result in severe consequences.
The US president, who began his second term on Monday, also used his WEF speech to welcome Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion investment, and said that he hoped there would be room for it to grow to $1 trillion and lower oil prices.
“I’ll be asking the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman), who’s a fantastic guy, to round it up to around $1 trillion. I think they’ll do that,” Trump said.
He did, however, add: “I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.” Four days into his presidency, Trump said he wants to lower global oil prices, interest rates and taxes, and warned they will face tariffs if they make their products abroad.
“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world,” he said.
Some of his harshest criticism was reserved for traditional US allies Canada and the EU who he threatened again with new tariffs, while berating their import policies blaming them for the US’s trade goods deficit with these partners.
“One thing we’re going to be demanding is we’re going to be demanding respect from other nations. Canada. We have a tremendous deficit with Canada. We’re not going to have that anywhere,” he said.
Trump promised to reduce inflation with a mix of tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts along with his crackdown on illegal immigration and commitment to making the US a hub of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and fossil fuels.
He also criticized levels of taxation in the EU.
“The US has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump said. “Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it will make the US a manufacturing superpower.”
Declaring the US had entered the “golden age of America,” Trump highlighted the sweeping reforms of his administration, which he said were correcting the “disasters” left by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump criticized Biden’s economic policies, saying: “His $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending, energy restrictions, regulations, and hidden taxes resulted in the worst inflation crisis in modern history.”
