Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for December 27, 2022
Newsline: Israeli envoy named in Turkey
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan received the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador to Turkey on Tuesday, as the two countries normalise ties after four years of strain. Irit Lillian, Israeli’s charge d’affaires in Ankara since January 2021, became ambassador after presenting his letter of confidence to Erdogan. (https://kfgo.com/2022/12/27/israeli-envoy-named-in-turkey-after-years-of-strain/) Turkey and Israel began improving relations with high-level visits this year including Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Ankara. They agreed to appoint ambassadors mutually in August. After Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu won elections last month, he and Erdogan agreed to “work together to create a new era in relations” on a basis of respect for mutual interests. Once close regional allies, relations between Israel and Turkey have been strained for more than a decade, with Ankara having expelled Israel’s ambassador following a 2010 Israeli raid on an aid ship to Gaza, which killed 10 Turkish citizens. Diplomatic relations were restored in 2016, but two years later Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel and expelled the Israeli envoy when Israeli forces killed a number of Palestinians who had taken part in protests in the Gaza Strip.
Newsline: Australia’s new U.S. envoy is expected to alter China playbook
The appointment of Kevin Rudd as Canberra’s next ambassador to the U.S. surprised few in Australia. The former two-time prime minister has maintained a public profile in both countries, thus having high chances to alter China playbook. (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Kevin-Rudd-Australia-s-new-U.S.-envoy-will-alter-China-playbook) Kevin Rudd has cultivated a profile as an analyst and commentator to be reckoned with, especially on China and its president, Xi Jinping.
Newsline: Turkey summons French ambassador
Turkey summoned France’s ambassador over what it called “black propaganda” by Kurdish activists during a march to mourn three people killed in a shooting at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris. French Ambassador Herve Magro was summoned so Ankara could relay unease after some marched in Paris with flags of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or suggested that Turkey was linked to the shooting, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Turkey “expects France to act prudently over the incident and not to allow the [banned PKK] terrorist organisation to advance its sneaky agenda,” Anadolu reported. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/26/turkey-summons-french-ambassador-over-anti-turk-propaganda) On Saturday, members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists joined together in Paris in a demonstration of mourning and anger a day after a Kurdish neighbourhood was targeted by a gunman who has admitted racist motivations. While the gathering was largely peaceful, with marchers holding portraits of the victims, some youths threw objects and set light to cars, and police shot tear gas to disperse the crowd.
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