An Israeli radish emerged from Trump’s bag!..

Abdülkadir Selvi, one of the government's most ardent spokespersons, wrote the following based on the coincidence that the boycott campaign launched by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel occurred at the same time as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's son calling on Israelis to "not go to Turkey":

"The son of the murderer Netanyahu and Özgür Özel took their place on the same side. Özgür Özel has added solidarity with Netanyahu to his political record. This honor is enough for Özgür Özel."

Upon this amazing (!) discovery by Selvi, I was planning to compile the genealogy of countries and leaders who are hostile to Turkey but friendly to Erdoğan. For now, let's just look at the US and Israel.

As you know, Trump and Netanyahu met recently. While our government's media claimed that Netanyahu took refuge in Trump because he was uneasy about Turkey, they were practically ecstatic over Trump's statements about Erdoğan.

You know what happened.

Netanyahu said, "We do not want Syria to be used as a base for attacks on Israel by anyone, including Turkey... President Trump has a relationship with the Turkish leader (Erdoğan). We discussed how we can prevent this conflict in various ways."

Trump also claimed that Erdoğan had taken over Syria and praised him, supposedly. Then, using the Pastor Brunson example, he replaced Obama's baseball bat with an Israeli bat and once again issued the threat: "If you face off in Syria, I will destroy your economy."

Imagine for a moment that Trump had said about CHP Chairman Özel, "My friend. I like him, and he likes me. He is a tough guy and very smart," or "We trust you in the region. We will work with you on our regional policies." Wouldn't the government and its media have made the world a living hell for the CHP and Özel?!

What is our relationship with Netanyahu, the friend of our "friend" Trump?

Trump loves Israel and Netanyahu very much. How do we know?

During his first presidential term, he not only declared Jerusalem the capital but also gave the Golan Heights to Israel. Let's recall Erdoğan's reaction. He said;

"We will never, and cannot, allow the occupation of the Golan Heights to be legitimized... While the UN resolution states that this place belongs entirely to Syria, how can you hand it over to Israel?.. You will, of course, receive an answer from Turkey... You will."

It was just before the local elections on March 31, 2019, which Ekrem İmamoğlu won. He also added:

"That is why March 31 is a matter of survival. Know this as such. We will work very hard for this. Especially Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir; these places are of great importance to us."

What happened after, in Trump's words, "Erdoğan did what no one could do for 2,000 years and took control of Syria"?

Israel not only occupied Syria but also began planning "touristic tours" to the regions it occupied, especially the Golan!..

Let's come to today's Trump. In the words of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan himself, he formed a "pro-Israel cabinet" and continued to support all of Netanyahu's expansionist ambitions. So much so that he went as far as emptying Gaza and turning it into a holiday resort!..

Again, in the words of Hakan Fidan, since "one of the most important reasons for the US's existence in the Middle East is the security of Israel," he decided on a new arms sale to Israel worth 8.8 billion dollars.

While even US Senator Bernie Sanders reacted to the decision by saying, "We must stop being complicit in this massacre," Ankara didn't make a peep. The Israeli administration also announced that they would continue their airstrikes and occupation in Syria.

With the situation as it is, our Foreign Minister Fidan said that the US "needs to, so to speak, adjust Netanyahu, to draw a framework for him," because Trump probably wouldn't want to hear it said, "Oh, this one turned out to be Israel's man too. I mean, he does whatever he says," is that right?!

Losing Syria while intending to go to Gaza

It was last week; Foreign Minister Fidan told Reuters in Brussels, where he went for a NATO meeting, "We do not want to face off with Israel in Syria... If Damascus wants to reach certain agreements with Israel, that is their own business."

Let's start with Fidan's second sentence.

Hadn't we toppled Assad together with HTS?.. Wasn't Ahmet El Şara our "dear brother"? How did it come to the point where "reaching certain agreements with Israel is Damascus's own business"?

We wrote about it recently; we were supposedly going to sign a maritime jurisdiction agreement with the new administration in Syria to protect our interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and for the Blue Homeland. Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, Israel, and the EU stepped in. While the EU decided to lift some sanctions on Syria, the following conditions were added to the text:

"Ending the interference of foreign actors that destabilize the country... Respecting the sovereign rights of EU members within the framework of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and international law in maritime jurisdiction contracts that Syria will sign with third countries..."

Moreover, it was claimed that during the visit of Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to Ankara at the end of January, she received assurance from Foreign Minister Fidan that "Turkey does not intend to sign a memorandum with Damascus regarding the determination of the Exclusive Economic Zone"!..

Erdoğan had emphasized just 6 months ago that Israel, acting with the delusion of "promised lands," would set its sights on Turkey after Palestine and Lebanon, and that is why we must keep our internal front strong, right?

What about what was said after the start of the HAMAS-Israel war? While MHP Leader Bahçeli said, "If my state asks, my nation supports, and conditions require it, I would be a coward if I did not set out to protect the children in Gaza and enter the position of humanity with a slingshot against a missile," government columnists were practically calling for the conquest of Gaza and Jerusalem every day. One of the fastest conquerors, İbrahim Karagül, roared just four days ago, "The only thing Israel can do after this point is to kneel before Turkey. This is the only way for them to prevent the war."

While these Gaza-Syria conquerors did not see or hear that statement Fidan made to Reuters, news came that Turkey and Israel sat at the table in Azerbaijan immediately after the Trump-Netanyahu meeting.

Get the news from Aliyev, the "friend" of both Turkey and Israel

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, another close "friend" of Erdoğan, described Turkey as a "brother and ally" and Israel as a "friendly" country the other day; let's recall an incident that happened last November.

News was published that we did not open our airspace to the Israeli President who was going to Azerbaijan, despite Azerbaijan's special request. Foreign Minister Fidan also said the following in response to a question about this:

"True. We did not open our airspace in reaction to the massacre of 50 thousand of our Palestinian brothers, without distinguishing between children, women, and men. The fact that no step is taken to prevent the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza hurts us all deeply as a nation. Therefore, we did not allow the use of Turkey's airspace. Our President's decision was in this direction. It was not allowed. The Azerbaijani side conveyed its diplomatic request regarding the matter. But our stance on this issue is clear."

Where did it arrive 5 months later?

The other day, first Aliyev explained that they were uncomfortable with the disputes between Turkey and Israel, that they had mediated between the two countries in the past without announcing it, and that similar processes are continuing now, saying, "The normalization of Turkey-Israel relations should not stop."

Immediately after Aliyev, Foreign Minister Fidan confirmed that "technical contacts" had been established with Israel to "prevent combatant elements from misunderstanding each other," stating that "we have no intention of conflict in Syria not only with Israel but with any country."

Yesterday, Ministry of National Defense sources announced that the first technical meeting with Israel was held in Azerbaijan the previous day "to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted incidents in Syria" and that the work would continue.

After all this, Netanyahu's office announced that an agreement had been reached at the meeting in Azerbaijan to "continue the path of dialogue to maintain regional stability" and expressed their gratitude to the host Azerbaijan and Aliyev.

After this surprise development, while a White House invitation for Erdoğan was considered a certainty, now there is talk of Trump coming to Turkey. The possible visit traffic will become clear in the coming days; but will Trump's demands from Turkey ever end? That is the unknown!..

For now, let's suffice with recording this latest statement by Trump regarding Iran:

"If military intervention is required, we will engage in military intervention. It is obvious that Israel will also be involved in this."

Müyesser YILDIZ

April 11, 2025