Istanbul Kültür University, Ataköy Campus, Global Political Trends Center Bakirköy, 34156, Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul Kültür University Phone: (90) 212 498 44 76 | Fax: (90) 212 498 44 05 www.gpotcenter.org

Regional Updates

February 2015 | № 5 Regional Updates: Contents

Cyprus...... 3 Sources and further reading...... 4

Egypt...... 5 Sources and further reading...... 6

Israel-Palestine...... 7 Sources and further reading...... 8

GPoT No. 5 | 2 E BY DUYGU ALPAN ALPAN |CYPRUS where, according to13Turkish news, the Cypriots are buried. Greek Cypriot newspaper that a mass grave was found inParalimni town Greek inthe Cypriot side, Among extensive coverage media on missingthe persons throughout month,the it was claimed by a EU, include which my motherland, that inalot of ways on depends Russia”. “whatever sanctions are introduced against Russia, impact on they other countries, members of the Russia, Anastasiades remarked criticism on European the Union’s sanctions against Moscow noting, efforts,piracy and added, “I don’t think it shouldcause worries anywhere”.During histwo-days visit to Russia’s President ininternational mostly used Vladimir be will Putin saiddeal this anti-terrorism and side. Notably, agreement the Russia-EU came while relations remain tense over Ukrainian the crises. cooperation,included on adeal military allowing Russian the navy to enter Greek inthe ports Cypriot GreekOn February 25,the Cypriot sideand Russian Federation anumber signed of agreements, which from Aphrodite the field to . (EGAS) were authorized to study solutions technical the to transport adirect marine gas via pipeline Greek Cypriots’ Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) and Gas Egyptian the Holding Company for inEgypt infrastructure mutual benefits the of Greek Cypriots and Egyptians. Additionally,the February 16 in order to facilitate cooperation in fieldthe of oil and gas. Theallows MoU utilizing gas The Greek Cypriot side a signed and Egypt Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in on reunifying Cyprus, on basis of the that agreed all as acompromise”. has been Europeanmodern state” and underlined that, “there is only one plan, solving Cyprus the problem and during apress conference inNicosia. He suggested also to share acommon vision “to make Cyprus a much moredeserve to Turkish the than speaking country” adivided Cypriot and Turkish media On February 5, Greekthe Cypriot Nicos leader Anastasiades stated that, “Cyprus and its citizens Prime Minister addressing Turkish the Cypriots. representatives of Greek and Turkish organizations, society civil remarking that he is first the Greek 40-year conflict the on island.During hisvisit, withthemet also he Tsipras for need highlighted the substantive efforts to resolvethe negotiationsand peace under auspices the of United the Nations. zonal, bi-communal federation with asingle international identity, side where he indicated his government’s support for abi- Alexis Tsipras made his first foreignvisit the to Greek Cypriot arlier month, this Greek elected newly the Prime Minister GPoT No. 5|3 GreekReporter

Global Political Trends Center ALPAN |CYPRUS Feb. 26,2015–Rum-Rus önemli ilişkilerinde gelişme Feb. 25, 2015-Russia, on of deal use Cyprus Mediterranean military sign ports Feb. 25, 2015-Cyprus Russian to Let Signs Deal Navy Ships Stop at its Ports Feb. 20, 2015-Kayıp Şahıslar Komitesi’nin Açıklaması Tepkilere Neden Oldu Feb. 18,2015-CMPinCyprus: Greek-Cypriot Missing from 1974Turkish the Invasion Identified Feb. 18,2015-Kıbrıs’taki Kayıp Şahıslar Komitesi Feb. 18,2015-Statement delivered by 3CMPMembers the at Press Conference Feb. Cyprus and offshore sign Egypt 17,2015-Energy: gas and pipeline MoU Feb. 13,2015-Family shocked over remains mix-up Feb. 12,2015-EPresolution on Mass graves of missing the persons inCyprus Feb. 10,2015-Building bridges Cyprus withindivided cheese Feb. 9,2015-Cyprus denies‘Russia bases’ on deal military Feb. more 6,2015-Cypriots deserve than country, adivided says President Feb. 6,2015–Greek Cypriot for calls leader common Cyprus future Feb. 6,2015-Kıbrıslı Türklere ait toplu Mezar Bulundu Feb. 6,2015-International lenders say yet no to deal restart Cyprus aid Feb. 40 year wait 3,2015-‘The must end’ Feb. 3,2015-Türkiye hükümetine bir mesaj veriyorum Feb. 2,2015-Tsipras and Cyprus begins economy UNtalks visit, stalled on agenda Feb. 2,2015-Tsipras’tan Barbaros şartı Sources and Further Readingto (click access) significance forthe direction of official negotiations. As electoral the process has Turkish inthe started Cypriot side, upcoming the months may of be of negotiations. the He stated also “there is no choice other than negotiations”. the community is waiting for results the of elections the held to on be April 19concerning resumption the The representative the of Turkish Cypriots, Özdil Nami, noted that during the internationalan interview analyses, that affirmed right itidentified the person. a Greek Cypriot family were misidentified. Committee,The whichaspects of clarified technical its The CMPdelivered a statement on 18 overallegationsFebruary the that the remains it returned to officials the reflected Parliament’s decision as deceptive”. and “partial cooperatefully with Committee the on Missing Persons (CMP)”. other Onthe hand, Turkish the Cypriot authorities and military, Turkish and local the Cypriot authorities for “continued their failure […]to Ashia at Turkish inthe Ornithivillage Cypriot sideof island. the The resolution condemned Turkish The European Parliament a passed resolution on 12 on massFebruary graves the missingof persons of GPoT No. 5|4

Global Political Trends Center I Tagamoa and parties candidates’ the preparation for registration. parliamentary elections. Thiscame despitethe formedalliance amongAl-Wafd, Conference, Ghad, and an law election unconstitutional on March 1,causing High the Committee Elections to reschedule the Adly and Nazif, Ahmed were acquitted of corruption charges. Finally, Supreme the of part ruled Court and 16 leaders to life in prison. Contrastingly, Mubarak-era ministers Habib el- DoumaAhmed and 230other activiststo life inprison; blogger Abdelfattah Alaa to five years in prison; wererulings issued by also Egypt’s courts, sentencing 183Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death; prosecution announced that activistShaimaa al-Sabbagh’s was into taken killer custody. of other Aseries condition of was retrial,which adjourned afterthe first session to March al-Nil Qasr 8.On 11, February was unconditionally deported,and and Mohamed Baher were released on bail, with a In judicial and developments, legal Al-Jazeera’s journalists were released inFebruary. all Peter Greste and fans clashes Zamalek forces, between and security atotal killing of 25people. priordefused to detonation. OnFebruary 8,ariot outside of stadium afootball resulted inastampede Qaliubiya, Suez, and Port Said. Some of bombing the attempts and succeeded others were uncovered and checkpoints, personnel, vehicles, and mainly military airport, the inCairo, but inAlexandria, also Throughoutthe month,there were also multiplebombing attempts on shops, restaurants, metros,offices, phases has reached approximately $47.3million. 1 BY OMAR SHEIRA EGYPT SHEIRA |EGYPT are marked for demolition and finally, advancingsecondthe phase the Gaza of Buffer Zone, to clear 500 meters where 1,220 houses Sinaibetween and Gaza,stretching 2.5kilometers; unfolding potential attacks through raids and arrests; militants inSinai. The operations included uncovering and destroyingthe longest smuggling tunnel The armed Egyptian forces continued operations military against ABM, Ajnad Misr, and extremistother attacks have will no impact on upcoming the parliamentary elections, were which for scheduled March. development of Sinai the Peninsula. Finally, he assured leadersof Egypt’s that parties political Sinai the importance of an economic plan and accordingly pledged $1.7billion for the of Lieutenant-General Osama Roshdy Askar. highlighted the El-Sisi also and Second the Suez,East unifying Third Fieldthe under commandArmies The total buffer zone isplanned toextendkilometers 5 Egypt’sfrom Gaza border. Armed ForcesArmed (SCAF),he established counter-terrorism anew unit in responses. Afterwiththe county’smeeting SupremeCouncil theof al-Maqdis (ABM),President Abdelfattah el-Sisi announced of aseries daysn the following coordinated the January 29attacks by Ansar Beyt 1 . The total amount of compensationpaid out the to relocatedboth families in GPoT No. 5|

Global Political Trends Center SHEIRA |EGYPT Sources and Further Readingto (click access) innocent civilians and members of armed the forces and inEgypt”. police court dueEgyptian to its presumed role in“committed of acts sabotage, assassinations and of killing the spread the to curb extremist militant thought. Ninth, Hamas was declared aTerrorist organization by an attended a terrorism summit in Mecca for and called an overhaul and revision of Islamic education in order unsuccessfully—for an intervention inLibya. Eighth, Al-Azhar University’s Grand Imam, el-Tayeb, Ahmed to flew also New York for an emergency meeting thepermanentwith UN at delegates to rally support— facilitate safe the return thousands of several of Egyptians from Libya. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry governmentEgyptian coordinated an immediate of airstrikes series with Libyan the air force and helped a sentiment that was reciprocated. Copts ISIS21Egyptian Seventh, inLibya. beheaded In response, the audio recordings, el-Sisi contacted Gulf Arab state leadersto reassure of them strong Egyptian-Gulf ties; including military, agriculture, energy, nuclear, spacedevelopment industries. Sixth,following leaked the President Vladimir Putin officially Egyptvisited and established astrategic partnership on various fronts France, to buy fighterjets, a 24Rafale multi-mission navalfrigate, and air-to-air missiles. Fifth, Russian el-Mandeb Bab the strait is threatened by Houthis. the Fourth, a€5.2with finalized Egypt billion deal and Syria (ISIS). Third, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehlebthat stressed may Egypt use force in Yemen if pilot Muath was al-Kasasbeh, who captured and burned alive by extremist the group Islamic State of Iraq North region. African Second, el-Sisi, and other international leaders,condemned of killing the Jordanian Chuck Hagelmet with Defense Secretary environment tosecurity the discuss and Middle inthe Eastern In regional and international affairs,there were nine developments.key Sobhy First,Defense MinisterSedki Mar. Rules Court Parliamentary 1,2015 -Egypt Law Elections Unconstitutional Feb. Declares Court Hamas 28,2015-Egypt A‘Terrorist Organization’ Feb. 28,2015-3.2billion euros of Egypt-French armsfinanced deal fromby loan Paris: Sisi Feb. court gives 28,2015-Egypt life sentences to top Muslim Brotherhood leaders Feb. acquits 24,2015-Court Al-Adly and Nazif of profiteering Feb. 23,2015-Mohamed Fahmy postponed trial Feb. 22,2015-Steel tycoon Ezzbarred Ahmed from inparliamentary running election Feb. 21,2015-EGP93mdisbursed for Sinai’s ‘second phase’ families Feb. bombs 16,2015-Egypt Islamic State targets inLibya afterbeheaded 21 Egyptians Feb. threatens 13,2015-Egypt of use force Houthis incase control El-Mandeb Bab strait Feb. Prosecution 11,2015-Shaimaa incustody: Al-Sabbagh killer Feb. 10,2015-Russia and Egypt’s ‘new partnership’ Feb. 9,2015-King Salman hails strong Saudi, ties Egypt Feb. match soccer inEgyptian riot 8,2015-25people killed Feb. 4,2015-Gulf States to deposit $10bn before inEgypt conference Feb. 4,2015-Sisi condemns brutal death of Jordanian pilot by Islamic State Feb. court: Activist 4,2015-Egypt Douma Ahmed among 230sentenced to life inprison Feb. 3,2015-Hagel Security, Discusses Terrorism Counterpart with Egyptian Feb. court sentences 2,2015-Egypt 183Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death Feb. 1,2015-Sisi pledges billions to develop Sinai after recent attacks Feb. 1,2015-Sisi establishes counter-terror Egypt new unit GPoT No. 5|6

Global Political Trends Center T supporting insurgency Sinai. innorthern Second, Hamaskilled. listed has as a terrorist been organization by an court, due Egyptian to allegedly roletheir in supporting terror attacks in Israel 2002-2004, in which American between citizens were and Palestine the Liberation Organization (PLO) were held responsible inManhattan by ajury for Two court decisions targeted Palestine month. this First, on Palestinian February 23,the Authority state by backing anon-binding resolution. for Palestinians. the Similarly, Italian lawmakers urged government their to recognize Palestine as a recognitionthe came with responsibilities, he then announced a180million USD aid new program in Western Europe upon President Abbas’ visit to Stockholm. Prime Minister Stefan said that Loefven Afterthe recognition of 2014, October Palestine in Sweden thehas first opened Palestinian embassy Israeli settlement expansions following national the elections inIsrael. (ICC). In context, this areport stated that European the Union is preparing sanctions new against Palestinianthe Foreign stated Ministry that it would to International the case the take Court Criminal Following Israel’s announcement of settlement 450new units Jerusalem and inEast West the Bank, Mladenov of BulgariaCoordinator as his Special for Peace. Middle the East BanKi-moon General appointedcitizen incentral Jerusalem. OnFebruary 27,UNSecretary Nickolay was vandalized in aJerusalem hate attack; crime and an Israeli citizen was by stabbed aPalestinian Palestinian by citizen Israeli wasthe killed Defense Forces center aChristian (IDF) near Bethlehem; attacks the Beside outside of Israel, afew other incidents took place inIsrael and Palestine too. A other government leadersfor Jewish immigration to Israel. shootinga deadly at aDenmark synagogue brought about repeated the by call PMNetanyahu and Nice, France, hundreds of Jewish and Muslim graves were vandalizedineastern France. Subsequently, threat to Israel and region, the attacks inEurope continued. Following an attack on aJewish center in While it stated has been by Prime the Minister that his main aim is to warn world the about Iran and its Congress. theto US to flew to speak and USofficials, as several aswell Israeli opposition parties, Netanyahu elections inIsrael. Despite criticism the and opposition by White the House in USCongress on March only 3,2015while two weeks remain until the AMMASH |ISRAEL-PALESTINE BY MUHAMMED AMMASH ISRAEL-PALESTINE Netanyahu did not back down from his plan to deliver a speech upcoming general elections and relations the with US.PM the he major topics that have occupying been Israel’s agenda were the GPoT No. 5|7 Reuters

Global Political Trends Center AMMASH | ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Jordan returned its ambassador to Israel, whom it recalled before three months due to Israeli “aggression” on the Temple Mount. This decision was welcomed by PM Netanyahu who stated that the move is an “important step that reflects Israeli-Jordanian joint interests, first and foremost stability, security and peace.” Moreover, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman praised King Abdullah after Jordan’s stand and actions to combat ISIS.

Turkey however, did not show any change in its approach towards the region. Despite the reports and numbers showing that trade between Israel and Turkey has reached its highest1, political crises between the two countries continues. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu pulled out of a security conference in Munich to avoid Israeli delegation. Subsequently, Israeli FM Liberman slammed Turkey’s action and said that apology to Turkey was a great mistake.

Sources and Further Reading (click to access)

Feb. 1, 2015 - Palestinians to take Israel settlements to ICC Feb. 2, 2015 - Jordan to return ambassador to Tel Aviv, citing Israel’s steps to ease tensions Feb. 2, 2015 - Expect many more rounds of fighting after Gaza war Feb. 4, 2015 - FM Liberman praises King Abdullah for strong action against terrorism Feb. 5, 2015 - SG Appoints Nickolay Mladenov UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Feb. 5, 2015 - Netanyahu rejects criticism of Congress speech: My duty is to warn about Iran Feb. 6, 2015 - Turkey pulls out of Munich conference to avoid Israeli delegation Feb. 6, 2015 - Lieberman: Israel’s apology to Turkey was a great mistake Feb. 6, 2015 - Sweden to press Palestinians to boost role of women in nation-building efforts Feb. 7, 2015 - Hundreds of rabbis from call on Israel to halt demolition of Palestinian homes Feb. 10, 2015 - Israeli trade with Turkey more than doubles in past five years Feb. 10, 2015 - Report: EU planning to step up sanctions on Israeli settlements after election Feb. 11, 2015 - Sweden tells Abbas aid to Palestine comes with responsibilities Feb. 15, 2015 - Hundreds of Jewish graves vandalized in eastern France Feb. 15, 2015 - Israel eyes European Jewish immigration after Denmark attack Feb. 16, 2015 - Israeli authorities approve landfill project in East Jerusalem Feb. 18, 2015 - Zoabi, Marzel back in election race, High Court rules Feb. 21, 2015 - The world has broken its promises about rebuilding Gaza – and children will suffer Feb. 21, 2015 - Hamas accuses Egyptian media of spreading anti-Palestinian lies Feb. 23, 2015 - Palestinian Groups Are Found Liable at Manhattan Terror Trial Feb. 23, 2015 - PM Netanyahu on the US federal court decision Feb. 27, 2015 - Italian lawmakers urge recognition of Palestinian state Glo ba l Pol itica T r ends Cen t e Feb. 27, 2015 - Saudi Arabia to allow Israel use of its airspace to strike Iran – report Feb. 28, 2015 - Egypt court puts Hamas on terrorist list

1 Table D. 4 - Imports and Exports, by Commodity Groups - Turkey

GPoT No. 5 | 8 Global Political Trends Center Istanbul Kültür University

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