Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Small Retreat, But Not A Great Peace

In Istanbul, offers for a solution to the Ukraine war were again on the table, and Russia signaled relaxation. There is currently not enough evidence for an agreement.

The mood on the stock exchange improved immediately after these developments: Russia wants to have initiated a "radical" reduction in "military activities" near Kiev and Chernihiv - "to strengthen confidence". Now that practical steps are being taken to prepare an agreement with Ukraine. 

The Russian negotiators, who met with the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul this Tuesday, called the talks "significant" and "constructive". The Ukrainian side presented a "comprehensibly formulated position for inclusion in a treaty". Signals of relaxation? Approaching a compromise that both sides could endure? The end of the war within reach? Probably not yet.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Delegations Meet In Istanbul, Abramovich At Talk, IAEA Helps Ukraine, Russia Resumes Exporting, Russia Continues Attacks, 2.35 Million Ukraine Refugees - An Overview

Representatives from Russia and Ukraine have started negotiations. Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan mediated. Oligarch Abramovich is also there.

For the first time in two weeks, the representatives of Russia and Ukraine met in person for negotiations. The meeting will take place in Istanbul with Turkish mediation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on the negotiators to "put an end to this tragedy".

"As members of the delegations, you have taken on a historic responsibility. The whole world is waiting for the good news that will come from you," Erdoğan said. Progress in the talks could pave the way for a meeting between the presidents of both countries. Negotiations are expected to last until Wednesday.

Jamal Khashoggi || The Attack After The Murder

The next attack followed four days after they murdered Jamal Khashoggi. It was October 6, 2018 and this time the victim's fiancée was the target, Hatice Cengiz. The Saudi royal family had silenced their partner by force. Now each of her words should be monitored. This is indicated by technical traces that can be found on Hatice Cengiz's mobile phone and that an international journalist consortium collected and analyzed. The research was coordinated by the non-profit network Forbidden Stories and technically supported by the Security Lab of the human rights organization Amnesty International.

The telltale traces on Hatice Cengiz's cell phone are inconspicuous: small files, changed file names. But if you know what to look for, they are noticeable and reveal the signature of the Pegasus spy program, a cyber weapon capable of stealthily taking control of a cell phone. According to the forensic analysis of the operating system, Hatice Cengiz's cell phone was attacked for the first time with Pegasus on October 6, 2018. The program infiltrated the device's systems and began collecting data. Shortly thereafter, it was sending hundreds of megabytes of data to the monitors. This analysis was confirmed by the Citizen Lab, the IT security laboratory at the University of Toronto that has been dealing with surveillance software for years.

Analysis || The 'Hypocritical Attitude' Of The UAE

Turkey and Iran have strongly criticized their regional rival, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for its decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in a peace deal announced by the United States, accusing it of betraying the Palestinian cause.

According to a report by the American news agency AP, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the UAE has no authority to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians or to give "concessions on important issues for Palestine".

Al Jazeera also reported that Turkey said that history and the conscience of the people of the region "will not forget it and will never forget this hypocritical attitude of the United Arab Emirates".

Read more: 'Historic Peace Agreement' Between Israel and UAE

It should be noted that this agreement has made the UAE the first Arab country in the Arabian Gulf and the third after Egypt and Jordan to have full diplomatic relations with Israel

Stay Away From Libya or Face Our Bullets

Libya's eastern army general has warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stay his forces out of Libya or face an armed response

According to an Arab report, the warning was issued by General Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan Eastern Army, who led the Lebanese National Army (LNA) during a dispute with the govt of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

It should be noted that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent Turkish-backed people from Syria to fight for the GNA, who have artillery and heavy weapons, and that they have changed course.

Addressing the military on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, Haftar accused the Turkish president of "coming to Libya in search of the legacy of his ancestors."

"Is Sofia's Decision Based on 'Power and Politics'?"

Muslim clerics have claimed that the decision to turn Turkey's historic assets into a mosque was made on the basis of "power and politics".

According to Arab News, Italy's Imam Milan Yahya Palauccini said that the 1,500-year-old asset, which has the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, should have been left as a church.

In 1934, according to an official order, Aya Sofia was turned into a museum, but recently a Turkish court overturned the official decision and restored Aya Sofia back as a mosque. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also welcomed the court ruling, announcing that Aya Sofia would be opened for Friday prayers on July 24.

The Italian imam says that Sofia should be neither a museum nor a mosque, but only a church.

Imam Milan Yahya Palauchini is also the president of Italy's Muslim religious community.

He asked whether his position on Sofia was in accordance with historical facts and references to the Qur'an.

Imam Milan said that when the second caliph, Hazrat Omar, set foot in Jerusalem, he was offered to offer prayers in the church, but he refused to accept the offer in honor of the followers of Christianity. Imam Milan said that even today one should adopt the same attitude as Hazrat Omar.

"Places of worship should be used for the purpose for which they were originally built," he said. Istanbul also has many beautiful mosques where Muslims can pray, so there was no need for another mosque.

Imam Milan said he thought the decision on Sofia was based on power and politics.

He said he understood the sentiments of Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Christian community, and that his position on preserving places of worship of all religions was correct.

The Catholic Church in Italy has also criticized President Erdogan's decision. The pastor of the Catholic Church in Italy, Eto'o Malanti, told Arab News that Sofia had been a Christian church for more than a thousand years, built by Christian King Justin for the worship of the Christian community.

Aya Sofia Grand Mosque || Perform Friday Prayers after 86 Years

People began to gather early in the morning for Friday prayers at the Aya Sofia Grand Mosque in Istanbul.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled a new plaque on the building. Today, 86 years later, Friday prayers were offered at the Aya Sofia Grand Mosque.

People started gathering in the morning to offer prayers, including women and children. People camped outside the mosque overnight, but due to the lack of space for one and a half thousand worshipers and the lack of space in the mosque, thousands of citizens prayed outside on the streets.

People were wearing shirts with pictures of the Turkish president and the Ottoman caliph. Strict measures were taken to prevent and control the epidemic on this historic occasion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ministers, dignitaries and members of parliament also attended Friday prayers.

It should be noted that on July 10, Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, overturned the 1934 ruling in favor of Aya Sofia in favor of the Sultan Muhammad Fatih Foundation. The ruling said it could not be used for any purpose other than a mosque. The building was built in the sixth century.

background

Turkey's Supreme Court Council of State has decided to convert the historic Aya Sofia building in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque. The Turkish president has also signed a presidential decree to convert the museum into a mosque.

Was Sofia a church in the past? Then the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror conquered Constantinople and defeated the Byzantines. He bought the church from his personal property and converted it into a mosque. The mosque became known as "Jamia Aya Sofia" and continued to pray five times a day for five hundred years until the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Mustafa Kemal Atatrk overthrew the Ottoman Empire and closed the Aya Sofia Mosque for prayers and turned it into a museum.

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of many countries, including the United States and the European Union, has criticized Turkey for rebuilding Sofia.

On the other hand, Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected all international criticism and called it an internal matter of Turkey. He said the decision was an expression of Turkey's exercise of its sovereign rights, adding that countries that did nothing to curb Islamophobia were attacking Turkey's sovereignty.

The Largest Airport in the World in the Foreseeable Future | Istanbul New mega airport has gone into operation

It will be a hub in European-Asian air traffic and will become the largest airport in the world in the foreseeable future. The new Istanbul airport officially started operations on Saturday with the launch of a Turkish Airlines aircraft.

Broadcast live from Turkish state media, lifted the first aircraft against 14.30 local time towards the capital Ankara from the new mega-location in the north of the metropolis. Previously, the entire airport facility had moved within a day. Already in the morning authorities had reported that the gigantic procession, which began on Friday, was largely completed. In Istanbul, streets that were closed for the move from Atatürk Airport to nearly 40 kilometers Istanbul Airport, already re-opened, tweeted Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi on Saturday. Hundreds of Lorries with airport equipment and tens of thousands of tons of material had rolled through the city since Friday morning. 

Saturday night, the first international flights from the airport should start. According to Turkish Airlines, 337 of his aircraft were flown by Atatürk to their new home base.

Istanbul Airport is a prestigious project by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who officially opened the airport in October, when it was still a construction site , and is primarily to compete with Dubai as a global hub. Following completion scheduled for 2028, the airport is expected to reach a capacity of 200 million passengers per year, making it the largest airport in the world, according to current standards.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) | "Collective Voice of the Muslim World" | Israel a "terrorist state" | East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine

The fate of Jerusalem can not be left to a country that feeds on blood and expands its borders by savagely killing children, civilians and women.

At the opening of an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Erdogan strongly denounced Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. "I urge countries defending international law and justice to recognize occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine," said the Turkish head of state." Israel is a state of occupation. Moreover, it is a terrorist state, "he also said, repeating that Jerusalem is "a red line".

With the decision made by US President Donald Trump, "Israel has been rewarded for all the terrorist activities it carries out. 

It was Trump who delivered this award, "said Erdogan, assuring that he will "never give up" to demanding a "sovereign and independent Palestine". The announcement of the US president on December 6 has caused almost unanimous reprobation in the world and angry demonstrations in several countries of the Middle East .

Current Chairman of the OIC, Erdogan hopes to unify the Muslim world behind his firm line against the US decision. But the task is difficult, as the Muslim world is deeply divided and several countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, are trying to cultivate good relations with the Trump administration against the background of common hostility towards the country, Iran.

Abbas no longer accepts the role of the United States

In a speech in Istanbul, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Donald Trump of "offering Jerusalem as a gift to the Zionist movement" and said that the United States no longer has a role to play in the peace process. "Jerusalem is and will remain forever the capital of the State of Palestine. And there will be neither peace nor stability without it," added the Palestinian president.

"From now on, we do not accept any role of the United States in the political process," he added to the OIC representatives, saying that Washington was "biased". "There are laws applied to Israelis, and different laws applied to Palestinians.