Merakla beklenen Kahire toplantısı... Arabulucular, Gazze anlaşmasının çökmesini önlemek için yeni adımlar atıyor

Hamas, İsrail’e gerilimi artırmayı durdurması için baskı yapılması çağrısında bulundu

Eş-Şati Mülteci Kampı’ndaki binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinli çocuklar (AFP)
Eş-Şati Mülteci Kampı’ndaki binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinli çocuklar (AFP)
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Merakla beklenen Kahire toplantısı... Arabulucular, Gazze anlaşmasının çökmesini önlemek için yeni adımlar atıyor

Eş-Şati Mülteci Kampı’ndaki binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinli çocuklar (AFP)
Eş-Şati Mülteci Kampı’ndaki binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinli çocuklar (AFP)

Gazze Şeridi’nde ateşkes anlaşmasının geleceğine ilişkin endişelerin arttığı bir dönemde dikkatler, Hamas ile arabulucular arasında Kahire’de gerçekleştirilmesi beklenen görüşmeye çevrildi. Hareket, İsrail’in Gazze’de Hamas yöneticilerini hedef alan saldırılarının ardından ateşkes anlaşmasının ‘çökme tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya olduğu’ uyarısında bulundu.

Şarku’l Avsat’a konuşan uzmanlar, söz konusu görüşmenin, arabulucuların anlaşmanın çökmesini önlemeye yönelik yeni girişim ve temaslarının bir parçası olacağını, aynı zamanda İsrail’in tırmandırdığı gerilimi azaltabilecek önerilerin ele alınacağını belirtti.

Hamas’tan bir kaynak dün Şarku’l Avsat’a yaptığı açıklamada, “Mısır'daki arabuluculara bir belge gönderildi. Belgenin bir nüshası Katar ve Türkiye’ye de iletildi. Bu ülkeler aracılığıyla belge Barış Kurulu ve ABD yönetimi de dâhil olmak üzere diğer taraflara ulaştırıldı. Belgede İsrail’in ihlalleri ile hareketin siyasi tıkanıklığa ilişkin tutumu yer alıyor” dedi. Kaynak, Kurban Bayramı öncesinde yapılması planlanan müzakere turunun bayram tatili sonrasına ertelendiğini belirterek, tatilin cumartesi günü sona ereceğini ifade etti.

Henüz yeni müzakere turu için belirlenmiş kesin bir tarih bulunmadığını aktaran kaynak, hareketin üst düzey yöneticilerinden oluşan bir heyetin, gerekli hazırlıkların tamamlanmasının ardından önümüzdeki günlerde Kahire’yi ziyaret etmeye hazırlandığını söyledi.

Kaynağın açıklamaları, Hamas’ın bir gün önce yayımladığı bildirinin ardından geldi. Hareket, ABD yönetimine ‘işgal güçlerinin ihlallerini kınayan açık bir tutum’ sergileme çağrısında bulunmuş, İsrail’in son 48 saat içinde 20 Filistinlinin ölümüne yol açan hava saldırılarını yoğunlaştırdığına dikkat çekmişti. Hamas ayrıca, ateşkes anlaşmasının ‘işgal güçlerinin sürdürdüğü suçlar ve ağır ihlaller nedeniyle çökme riskiyle karşı karşıya olduğunu’ vurgulamıştı.

El-Ahram Siyasi ve Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi’nde İsrail meseleleri uzmanı olan Said Ukkaşe ise yaklaşan görüşmenin, anlaşmanın çökmesini önleme ve herhangi bir formatta da olsa devamını sağlama çabasının bir parçası olduğu değerlendirmesinde bulundu. Ukkaşe, aynı zamanda Tel Aviv’in gerilimi daha da tırmandırmasının önüne geçilmesinin hedeflendiğini söyledi. Hamas’ın mevcut güç dengelerini dikkate alması gerektiğini belirten Ukkaşe, krizin derinleşmesinde ısrar edilmemesi ve anlaşmanın çökebileceğine ilişkin ‘sonuçsuz açıklamalardan’ kaçınılması gerektiğini ifade etti.

Ukkaşe’ye göre Hamas’ın elinde, arabulucularla varılacak bir mutabakat çerçevesinde silahlarını Filistin Yönetimi’ne devretme seçeneği bulunuyor. Bunun İsrail ve ABD’yi zor durumda bırakacağını ve Hamas’ın müzakere pozisyonunu güçlendireceğini savunan Ukkaşe, hareketin şimdiye kadar bu taahhüdü yerine getirmeyi geciktirdiğini, Tel Aviv'in de bu durumu kendi lehine kullandığını söyledi.

Gazze Şeridi’nin kuzeyindeki Cibaliye’de yıkılan binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinliler (AFP)Gazze Şeridi’nin kuzeyindeki Cibaliye’de yıkılan binaların enkazı arasında yürüyen Filistinliler (AFP)

Filistinli siyaset analisti Eymen er-Rakab ise İsrail’in sahip olduğu askerî üstünlük karşısında Hamas’ın tüm taleplerini kabul ettirmesinin zor olduğunu belirterek, arabulucuların temasları aracılığıyla İsrail’in giderek genişleyen operasyonlarını frenlemeye ve elde kalan ateşkes zemininin korunmasına çalışacağını söyledi. Rakab, Kahire’de yapılması beklenen görüşmenin de mevcut gerilimi düşürebilecek uygulanabilir bir yol haritası ortaya koymayı hedefleyeceği öngörüsünde bulundu.

Çarşamba akşamı düzenlenen İsrail hava saldırısında, aralarında iki çocuk ve iki kadının da bulunduğu 10 Filistinli hayatını kaybetti, onlarca sivil yaralandı. Saldırıda, Gazze kentindeki Kassam Tugayları’nın komutan yardımcısı olduğu belirtilen ve ‘Ebu Hassan’ lakabıyla tanınan İmad Eslim de öldürüldü.

Hamas, saldırıyı ‘yeni bir suç’ ve ateşkes anlaşmasının ‘yeniden ve açık biçimde ihlal edilmesi’ olarak nitelendirdi.

Öte yandan, onlarca Filistinli çarşamba günü Gazze kentinin sokaklarında, Hamas’ın silahlı kanadı Kassam Tugayları’nın yeni komutanı Muhammed Avde’nin cenazesine katıldı. Şarku’l Avsat’ın Reuters’tan aktardığına göre Avde, İsrail’in Hamas’ın üst düzey liderlerini hedef alan operasyonları kapsamında bir gün önce öldürülmüştü.

İsrail ordusu, Avde’nin geçtiğimiz salı akşamı Gazze’de düzenlenen hassas bir operasyonla öldürüldüğünü açıkladı. Avde’nin selefi İzzeddin el-Haddad da yaklaşık bir hafta önce Gazze Şeridi’nde bir konut binasına düzenlenen İsrail saldırısında yaşamını yitirmişti.

İsrail Başbakanı Binyamin Netanyahu perşembe günü yaptığı açıklamada, İsrail ordusuna Gazze Şeridi topraklarının yüzde 70’ini kontrol altına alma talimatı verdiğini belirterek, İsrail güçlerinin hâlihazırda bölgenin yüzde 60’ını kontrol ettiğini söyledi.

Ukkaşe’ye göre İsrail’in ateşkes ihlalleri ve Gazze’deki kontrol alanını genişletme yönündeki adımları Hamas üzerinde baskı oluşturmayı amaçlıyor. Ukkaşe, Kahire’deki görüşmenin ise ateşkes anlaşmasının uygulanmasına ilişkin olumlu sonuçlar elde etmeye yönelik bir girişim olacağını ifade etti.

Rakab ise Netanyahu’nun Gazze Şeridi’nin yüzde 70'ini işgal etme hedefini açıklamasının, zaten süregelen İsrail ihlallerinin ulaştığı son nokta olduğunu belirterek, bunun mevcut sürecin giderek daha büyük bir krize sürüklendiğini ve Tel Aviv’in gerilimi mümkün olan en üst seviyeye taşıdığını gösterdiğini söyledi.

Rakab, birkaç hafta önce Gazze Barış Kurulu Yüksek Temsilcisi Nikolay Mladenov tarafından ortaya konulan yol haritasına dönülmesinin, gerilimi geçici olarak durdurmanın en kısa yolu olabileceğini belirterek, söz konusu planın yeniden müzakere edilmesi ve üzerinde uzlaşma sağlanmasının mümkün olduğunu ifade etti.



Trump Orders Pentagon to Cut Back Military Exercises with South Korea

US President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks (Reuters)
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Trump Orders Pentagon to Cut Back Military Exercises with South Korea

US President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump listens as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” 10 days of joint military exercises with South Korea as they were about to get underway, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul's refusal to take part in actions against Iran.

Hours before exercises were scheduled to begin, Trump said on his Truth Social site that although it was too late to cancel the drills entirely, he was “not happy” that the US had previously agreed to participate and highlighted his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to Reuters.

“These exercises are not only costly... but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” Trump wrote.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters that the drills started on Monday as scheduled, but declined comment on Trump's comments. The country's presidential office and defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond on a public holiday in Seoul.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises are scheduled to run from August 17 to 27, with about 18,000 South Korean military ⁠personnel participating. The drills are expected to include operations to counter drones, disrupt GPS signals and cyberattacks to adapt to North Korea's evolving capabilities, officials said last week.

Trump also pointed to South Korea's stance on the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!’” Trump wrote.

A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions on the matter to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for more information on next steps for the drills.

Pyongyang routinely denounces the US-South Korean exercises as preparations for an invasion. North Korea last Wednesday fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast towards the Sea of Japan, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, six days after a similar North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch on August 6.

US military officials have said that North Korean troops, who have fought alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, have gained experience from the conflict, including the growing use of unmanned systems, electronic warfare and cyber operations.

Ukraine said last week that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in ⁠Zaporizhzhia that killed seven workers and forced a production halt, with Russia's Zircon hypersonic missiles also used in the attack.

A high-ranking US Northern Command official, Lieutenant General Joseph Jarrard, last week warned that North Korea had successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles with “enough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America,” complicating US homeland defense efforts.


Is this Cave in Türkiye Where Homer Wrote 'The Odyssey'?

Access to the rock-strewn cave is not easy. Ahmet Ayberk Cimen / AFP
Access to the rock-strewn cave is not easy. Ahmet Ayberk Cimen / AFP
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Is this Cave in Türkiye Where Homer Wrote 'The Odyssey'?

Access to the rock-strewn cave is not easy. Ahmet Ayberk Cimen / AFP
Access to the rock-strewn cave is not easy. Ahmet Ayberk Cimen / AFP

On a Turkish hillside overlooking the olive-covered slopes outside Izmir is a cave known to generations of locals as the place where Homer penned "The Odyssey".

"This place was always called Homer's Valley by the locals. Travelers from all over the world would come and see the cave where Homer is said to have composed his poems," explained Turkish researcher Altan Altin, who has written a book on the subject.

In fact, nobody knows exactly where Homer wrote his epic poems and there is much mythology around the idea of his cave. Today, of course, the debate has become livelier and more immediate thanks to Christopher Nolan's blockbuster film "The Odyssey".

The poet has for a very long time been associated with the Izmir region of Türkiye’s Aegean coast, which for most of its history was known as ancient Smyrna.

"The Smyrnaeans have the river Meles, with its lovely water, and at its springs is the grotto, where they say Homer composed his poems," wrote the 2nd-century Greek chronicler and geographer Pausanias.

Those words have fueled a centuries-long debate, one that continues today, about Homer's life and the location of the river where he was thought to have been born in the year 8 BC.

- Remarkable precision -

Visiting the cave, which is filled with rocks, is not easy.

Inside, travelers have left Greek scrawled on the walls, although it is not clear how old the writing is.

Although other places, notably the Greek island of Chios, also lay claim to Homer's origins, ancient Smyrna and its hinterland -- where Bornova is located -- are closely associated with the poet.

"For me, there's no doubt, Homer is from Bornova. In any case, he is from Ionia, which includes Smyrna and Chios. He's from these lands," Altin told AFP. Ionia is the name of an ancient Greek region on Türkiye’s Aegean coast.

To support his thesis, Altin pointed to a 3rd-century BC frieze depicting the deification of Homer, which he says reproduced the Bornova cave with remarkable precision.

"This bas-relief was already known, but no one had ever noticed the identical details to those found in Homer's cave. This is the first time such a detailed geographical description came to light," he said.

Archaeological evidence from the area also suggests a link to Homer.

"The discoveries from the excavations, especially coins bearing Homer's likeness, show us that the inhabitants of ancient Smyrna considered the poet to be one of their own," archaeologist Mehmet Akif Erdem said.

"'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' were written in the (ancient Greek) dialects of Ionic and Aeolic, suggesting that ancient Smyrna and Bornova could be among Homer's native lands," he said.

- Homer everywhere -

Beyond the academic debate about his origins, Homer is everywhere in Bornova.

At Yesilova Hoyuk, a Neolithic site considered to be the oldest known prehistoric human settlement in Izmir, there is a bust of Homer with the inscription: "I compiled The Iliad and The Odyssey epics on this land. I lived in Bornova."

The town -- which already hosts a book fair dedicated to Homer and has a statue of Trojan War hero Hector in a local park -- is planning to refurbish the cave and open it to visitors to capitalize on the revival of interest in the ancient poet.

"Preserving Homer's legacy is a duty we owe to humanity. He is one of the founding fathers of literature," Bornova Mayor Omer Eski told AFP.

"The stories he tells are about this land. The question is not whether we should claim Homer or not. His story is also ours," he said.

But not everyone shares his vision.

In 2024, municipal officials from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party proposed renaming Homer's Valley after a Turkish fighter, saying the site should not have a Greek name.

"Erasing Homer's name would be one of the worst things we could do to Bornova," retorted the mayor, whose aim is to "make Homer known to the whole world as a person from Bornova" and to make the town a tourist attraction.

- 'Proud to be his compatriot' -

Mustafa Kocyigit, who runs the Gargantua bookshop in Izmir, said the success of Nolan's film has revived interest in Homer and boosted sales of the poem "The Odyssey".

"I knew Homer was from these lands, but I didn't know he was specifically from Izmir. We are incredibly lucky," said teacher Safak Tosun outside one of the city's cinemas where the film is showing.

"I feel proud, honored and deeply privileged to be his fellow countryman."

For the researcher Altin, there are clues in Homer's writing that he says shows the poet came from the area.

"When you dive into the Iliad, you really understand that Homer was an Anatolian. You find anecdotes and cultural references that are completely unknown elsewhere," he said.

He believes Homer's origins should not stir up rivalry between Türkiye and Greece.

"Homer is 2,800 years old, while the Turkish-Greek border is only a century old," he shrugs.

"Homer is Greek. Homer is Anatolian. None of us is older than he is, not even our countries."


Egypt Warns Ethiopia against Plans to Control Nile River Flows

The Ethiopian national flag is seen at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, Feb. 19, 2022. (AFP)
The Ethiopian national flag is seen at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, Feb. 19, 2022. (AFP)
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Egypt Warns Ethiopia against Plans to Control Nile River Flows

The Ethiopian national flag is seen at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, Feb. 19, 2022. (AFP)
The Ethiopian national flag is seen at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, Feb. 19, 2022. (AFP)

An official Egyptian source warned on Sunday Ethiopia against plans to control the flows of the Nile River to downstream countries, in the latest tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The official made the warning in wake of Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy Habtamu Geleta saying that his country may build more dams on the river, effectively controlling its flow to Egypt and Sudan.

The source said Egypt has “several means at its disposal and is capable of defending the interests of its people when it comes to the Nile,” reported the state news agency MENA.

“Egypt will not accept or allow any party to control the Nile’s flow to downstream countries,” he declared.

Diplomats and observers told Asharq Al-Awsat that Ethipoia’s comments prove that the construction of the dam aimed to apply political pressure on Cairo and was not a development project as it had claimed.

The dispute over the Nile goes back 15 years since Ethiopia began constructing the dam and which it inaugurated around a year ago. Egypt fears that the dam will impact its share of the river water, which is vital for the people.

Arab and local media reported Geleta as saying that his country “will control the flows of the Nile” and that it is “determined to build more dams as part of its right to the fair use of its waters and achieve sustainable development.”

The Egyptian source, however, slammed the statements as more evidence of Addis Ababa’s unilateral actions and violation of international law.

They reflect its “delusions about its ability to impose control over a river it shares with others,” he added.

He warned that the statements are “dangerous” because they reveal an intent to impose a status quo on the ground and impose monopoly over a joint international water source.

“Ethiopia is using its geographic location to threaten the water rights and interests of downstream countries in violation of international law. Egypt will not allow it,” he vowed.

Cairo had previously declared before the UN Security Council that it will resort to all means at its disposal to protect the rights of people to the Nile, he noted.

‘Several options’

Salah Halima, former Assistant Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, said Cairo has “several options” at its disposal to protect its interests.

It can again resort to the Security Council and demand measures to resolve conflicts in line with Chapter 6, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Failure to comply, means it can resort to Chapter 7, which would then view the GERD as an act of aggression and a threat to human life, which demands self-defense, he added.

Chapter 6 calls for resolving disputes peacefully through negotiations and mediations, while Chapter 7 allows the Security Council the authority to impose measures through military and non-military means to preserve international peace and security.

Halima said Ethiopia’s latest statements demonstrate that the construction of the GERD was politically motivated to pressure Egypt.

The dam has already caused damage to Sudan where water levels are low, he noted.