A recent state of emergency decree put into law by the Turkish government on Dec. 24 has seemingly exhausted the patience of the Turkish public.
Recent opinion polls conducted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) have shown that the economy is the Turkish public’s number one concern, surpassing terrorism, after many years, despite points gained by President Tayyip Erdoğan for his foreign policy stance vis-a-vis the U.S. and Europe.
U.S. President Donald Trump telling Nikki Haley, his representative in the United Nations, to take note of countries that would approve the objection to his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was one of the most blatantly arrogant moves in modern diplomatic history.
An opposition member of the Turkish Parliament revealed in a press conference on Dec. 20 that he shared intelligence with the Turkish government about potential assassination attempts targeting certain Turkish citizens living Europe.
The fact that there was no mention of Turkey in the latest U.S. National Security Strategy, announced on Dec. 18, was considered something positive by decision-makers in Ankara. They had been worried that if Turkey was mentioned it could be with negative references.
Exactly a year ago on Dec. 19, 2016, Andrey Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Ankara, arrived at a photo exhibition aiming to bring Turkish and Russian cultures closer together.
“It doesn’t matter whether it is Syria or Medina, I will fight anywhere because I believe in jihad,” suspected terrorist Celil Çelik said in court.
In an interview with Gyles Brandreth for the Daily Telegraph back in 2000, former Saudi Oil Minister Zeki Yamani made the following unforgettable remarks: “Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Oil will be left in the ground. The Stone Age came to an end not because we lacked stones; the oil age will come to an end not because we lack oil.”
The leaders of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine “under occupation” of Israel after an emergency summit in Istanbul on Dec. 13.
