US President Donald Trump’s relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “somewhat” “calming down” the increasingly strained relationship between Jerusalem and Ankara, Dr. Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies specializing in Turkish affairs, explained to The Jerusalem Post earlier this week.
Lindenstrauss spoke with The Post only days after Turkey’s Interior Minister, Mustafa Ciftci, told crowds at the AK Party Corum Provincial Advisory Council meeting he had aspirations to one day govern Jerusalem, and that he hoped “those lands will be ours once again.”
“God willing, they will come under our sovereignty and dominion once more. Because we have a global leader like Recep Tayyip Erdogan at our helm. A world leader,” Ciftci said.
The Ottoman Empire controlled Israel for more than 400 years, ending when it lost to the Allied forces in World War I. In 1918, its leadership signed the Armistice of Mudros, surrendering to Britain.
Ciftci’s comments, which were widely condemned by Israeli officials, add to “existing tensions,” Lindenstrauss explained.
