“December 9, 1917 is one of the most difficult, painful and heartbreaking historical days that Turks have experienced.

Today, British armies have given one of the greatest gifts to the Christian world before Christmas by capturing Jerusalem, which had been under Ottoman rule for 401 years.

As a result of General Allenby's attack on Turkish positions in Jerusalem, which took advantage of the weather on December 8, which was also a rainy and foggy night, Ottoman Army’s the 20th Corps commander Ali Fuat Pasha requested permission from the German General Falkenhayn, the supreme commander of the Ottoman armies at the time, to withdraw from the city due to the fatigue of its soldiers and the lack of ammunition and provisions.

Falkenhayn, who was astonished by this unexpected situation, thought that the front could hold out, and even hoped to hold out until the reinforcements of the 1st Division and the German Asian branch, which were expected to arrive by December 13, reached the front.

However, it was not possible for the 20th Corps to resist. Because, against three British divisions consisting of 15-20 thousand people, Ali Fuat Pasha could hold on for a maximum of 12 hours with only 3800 soldiers. 7th army commander Fevzi Pasha ordered the corps to retreat.”
“The evacuation, which started on the evening of December 8, would be completed on the morning of December 9 and the Turkish army would retreat to new defensive fortifications in the north and east. After the withdrawal of the army, civil servants and official duties also left the city.

Izzet Bey, who was the governor of Jerusalem at that time, left the following letter to Mayor Selim El-Husniye to be delivered to the British command:

"To the British Command

In Jerusalem, which is sacred to every nation, Howitzer rounds have been falling in some places for two days.

In order to protect the religious buildings from destruction, the Ottoman Government withdrew the soldiers from the town and appointed officers to guard the religious buildings such as Kamame and Masjid al-Aqsa. We are sending this document via Hüseyinzade Bey, the Deputy Mayor, with the hope that you will treat the situation accordingly, sir.

Independent Governor of Jerusalem İzzet”

BREAKING — Egyptian Intelligence Minister called Netanyahu ten days before Hamas attack and warned him of "something unusual, a terrible operation" that was about to take place from Gaza.

Egyptians were "surprised by the indifference shown by Netanyahu".

— Yedioth Ahranoth Netanyahu’s office denied the Egyptian party's claim, saying that "the report of a warning that came from Egypt before the outbreak of the war is incorrect and false”

Armenian and Greek lobbyist Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are indicted on federal bribery charges by the US Department of Justice Menendez is accused of accepting hundreds thousands of dollars to benefit Egypt and seek to protect three business persons

BREAKING — Putin sends condolences to Prigozhin’s family “Prigozhin was a man of difficult fate, but talented”, Putin said

BREAKING — A Russian jet frequently used by Prigozhin crashed, per pro-Wagner telegram accounts.

Multiple Russian media reports say all 10 people on board died.

The crashed jet belonged to Prigozhin, but he usually flew on another plane - source tells Readovka

The plane that crashed in the Tver region is one of Prigozhin's aircraft. He usually flew on another plane, with the number RA-02878, a source told Readovka. Whether the businessman was on the fallen board is still unknown. TASS says the crashed business jet was on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

BREAKING — Erdogan is set to win a third presidential term according to latest data both from Anadolu and its rival Anka.

Erdogan remains the president of Turkey for the next five years Follow the lives updates on #Turkey’s elections here:

middleeasteye.net/live/turkey-el…

Polls are open in Turkey’s presidential runoff between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu.

Here is what you need to know:

• Polls will close by 5pm local time
• A broadcast ban likely to be lifted around 6:30pm
• Anadolu and Anka will cover the results
• The count won’t be long • Erdogan is leading with a big margin in multiple polls but it might all depend on who goes to the polling stations. Whoever mobilises their supporters and ferry them to vote will have a distinct advantage

Turkey’s runoff presidential elections between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are set for tomorrow and here is what happened so far

Kilicdaroglu run a campaign based on fear but also trying to woo GenZ and nationalist voters

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el… 2- Erdogan on the other hand ran a less polarising campaign compared to the first round.

He even embraced pro-Kurdish HDP voters today, telling them to vote for himself

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el…

NEW: Erdogan to meet presidential candidate Sinan Ogan in Istanbul today Erdogan today told CNN that he wouldn’t negotiate with Ogan

Here is Kilicdaroglu’s runoff strategy

• Tense; nationalist campaign
• Present a binary choice between him and Erdogan
• Table of Six leaders won’t be visible
• Steps to push 8 million voters who didn’t show up back to polls on May 28

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el… • Moves to capture GenZ votes, CHP suspects half of them didn’t go to the polls
• Will try to increase Kurdish voter turnouts
• Imamoglu, Yavas will stay in Istanbul and Ankara, campaign in their respective cities to rally support

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el…

There are a lot of disinformation about the Turkey elections vote count. Let me explain, bear with me

1- Votes are counted in individual polling stations and each party get the results and submit them to their own database

2- Then the bags full of ballots carried to districts 3- District election boards collect bags and the records, merge them and send them to provincial election boards

4- Provincial boards enter the data to the official system as the final vote, the change from the first point to last point is generally minimal

Polls open in Turkey’s fiercely fought elections My neighbourhood school was very busy. Lines everywhere even though it is very early in Turkey, 8am.

Erdogan tonight recited the Holy Quran’s surah Al Baqarah at The Hagia Sophia

“Alif- Lâm- Mîm. This is the Book! There is no doubt about it, a guide for those mindful of Allah…”
Erdoğan at Hagia Sophia from a different angle

One day to go to Turkey’s elections, and here is a thread of stories which I think is useful to understand what’s at stake.

First, what kind of a campaign does Erdogan run, and what does his close advisor think on the elections? Here is a gist

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el… 2- There are more than 5 million first time voters, the GenZ. And their political leanings might decide the future of the country

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el…

I talked to a senior Turkish opposition official on why Kilicdaroglu thinks there is a Russian interference in elections 🧵 1/

middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-el… 2- First, the official said Russia is helping Erdogan’s campaign promises by pumping dollars to Turkish Central Bank via Akkuyu power plant and energy payment deferrals

#Turkey poll alert: PanoramaTR survey indicates:

• Kilicdaroglu: 47.9%
• Erdogan: 46.6%
• Ogan: 5.6%

Poll was conducted with 2,738 people on May 8-11.

2.4% margin of error This poll was leaked to social media. The company didn’t publish it, only sent it to its subscribers.

For sure it is an unlikely alliance.

You have a Republican Alevi candidate from Tunceli. The guy who introduced him is a political Islamist, he was the mayor when a pogrom was conducted against Alevis in Sivas.

You have former Erdogan comrades. And an ultranationalist But in many ways it is a testimony that if there is a Republican Project that was intended by Ataturk and his friends, it succeeded.

A member of a long persecuted sect may become the next president of Turkey with the support of regime dissident Islamists.

Operation Convincing Aksener is underway as Kilicdaroglu camp is trying to offer deals and receiving counter deals to patch up the wound that is called Table of Six I know it doesn’t look much for people who aren’t Turkish. But we all are consumed by the Table of Six joint presidential candidate crisis since last week in Turkey.

It is basically 24/7 news right now. Nothing else is given any thought

Pretty horrible situation in Turkey over all. There are hundreds of collapsed buildings in 10 cities.

No cell phone coverage in many cities and it is snowing in Malatya as rescue workers dig through the rubble. Runway in Hatay airport per social media reports. CNNTurk says the airport is damaged

NEW: 76 people died in Turkey earthquake per disaster management agency AFAD.

440 people were wounded in 10 cities Syrian sources: The death toll in Syria as a result of the earthquake rose to 99 dead and about 330 wounded — Sky News

Fascinating AJ investigation into Mossad’s failed recruitment operation in Turkey.

The funny part is the Turkish intelligence played with Mossad with disinformation for a year and a half

• Mossad has tried to recruit Palestinians living in Turkey through social media like Facebook and WhatsApp, presenting themselves as NATO officers or think tankers researching on Turkey

• Some targets immediately contacted the Turkish Intel