Peloni: This is the result of Trump’s Turkey policy in which Amb. Barrack has done nothing but embolded Erdogan towards resuscitating the Ottoman Empire.
‘Ottoman Empire that Erdogan dreams of has collapsed and will never return,’ charges DM Katz
| Published: June 8, 2026
The ongoing tensions between Turkey and Israel reached another high point on Sunday, after Israeli ministers reacted strongly to the suggestion of Turkey’s interior minister that Jerusalem could one day be reconquered by the successor state to the Ottoman Empire.
Speaking at a party convention, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said that “just as we witnessed the liberation of Damascus, Aleppo, and Karabakh, God willing, one day we will also witness the liberation of Jerusalem.”
This is a reference to the defeat of the Assad regime at the hands of the Islamist alliance led by the now-defunct terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which received significant support from Turkey.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
The corrupt Ottoman Empire is gone. Forever.
Jerusalem DC (David’s capital) shall remain the eternal capital of Israel.
Forever. https://t.co/FRSR7ue1gP— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 7, 2026
In addition, he referenced the capture of Karabakh, a region within the Turkish-allied Republic of Azerbaijan that is called Artsakh by Armenians, who were the majority population until Azerbaijan captured the region in 2023.
Çiftçi continued by recounting his “heartfelt plea to the Almighty”: “O Lord, grant me the governorship of Jerusalem, even if just for a single day.”
“I still believe that the Almighty will show us those days,” he added, “He will surely show them to us. I have believed this with all my heart, and I continue to believe it. Just as in the past, 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.”
“Wake up and smell the coffee. The corrupt Ottoman Empire is gone. Forever,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry hit back.
I know this isn't the main story today, but the number of Turkish accounts salivating at the thought of conquering Jerusalem after their interior ministry prayed for its "liberation" is disturbing and should be on everyone's radar. https://t.co/oiosDmvBzt
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) June 8, 2026
“Jerusalem DC (David’s capital) shall remain the eternal capital of Israel. Forever,” it said, in a statement that was reposted to ? by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to Çiftçi, who he dubbed the minister “who dreams of administering Jerusalem and hurls threats,” in a lengthy post on ?.
“Jerusalem is not Constantinople, and the State of Israel is not a crumbling Crusader Empire. Israel is a strong and resolute state that has proven its capacity to defend itself against any threat. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years and will remain Israel’s capital forever,” he wrote.
“You and the Ottoman Empire that Erdogan dreams of, on the other hand, have collapsed and will never return. Unfortunately, you have learned nothing from the legacy of Atatürk, who worked to transform Turkey into a modern state; on the contrary, you are working to drag Turkey back into a dark and backward era.”
Atatürk was the founder of the state of Turkey, who modernized and secularized the country while rebuilding it out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, which ended after World War 1.
While ostensibly praising Atatürk, Erdogan and his Islamist AK Party have rolled back many of the secular policies instituted by the founder.
The Ottomans had captured Jerusalem and the Land of Israel from the Egypt-based Mamluk Empire in 1516 and controlled it until the British Empire took control of the area in 1917, symbolized by the entry of General Edmund Allenby into the Holy City on Dec. 11 of that year.
T. Belman. This is very well written and very clear. Even so it is a summary of a larger article which may be found at the link.
https://www.israpundit.org/the-legality-of-israeli-sovereignty-over-judea-and-samaria-according-to-international-law/
@Sébastien
Good point of reference. I’ll repost this for tomorrow
https://en.azvision.az/news/107682/news.html
Googled: “do the tangled and contradictory relationships between Israel, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia disprove the assertion that the enemy of my enemy is necessarily my friend and that the friend of my enemy is necessarily my enemy?
AI Overview “ Yes, the complex geopolitical alignments between Israel, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia thoroughly disprove the simplistic “enemy of my enemy” proverb.These interlocking relationships demonstrate that modern states base foreign policy on pragmatic national interests—such as geographic security, energy corridors, and ethnic stability—rather than rigid binary alliances. The web of interactions highlights why this traditional maxim fails:Israel and Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan is a Shia-majority nation that shares a long border with Iran. Despite this, Baku maintains a deep strategic and military partnership with Israel, largely based on mutual distrust of Tehran and energy trade.Israel and Turkey: Although Turkey and Israel share historical security ties, their relationship has experienced severe diplomatic ruptures due to ideological and geopolitical disagreements, particularly over the status of Palestinians.Turkey and Iran: Ankara and Tehran are historical regional rivals competing for influence in the Middle East, yet they maintain robust trade relations and cooperate on border security regarding Kurdish separatist movements.Turkey and Armenia: Turkey maintains a closed border and has historically hostile relations with Armenia, largely due to Turkey’s close ethnic and political alliance with Azerbaijan.Iran and Armenia: Iran and Armenia share a relatively stable and cooperative border. Despite Iran being an Islamic Republic, it avoids siding completely with its Shia-majority neighbor, Azerbaijan, because a victorious, Turkish-backed Azerbaijan would threaten Iranian territorial integrity and regional influence.Iran and Azerbaijan: Despite sharing religious demographics, Iran and Azerbaijan have a deeply tense relationship. Tehran views Baku’s secular government and close ties with Israel and Turkey as a direct national security threat.Because these countries frequently cooperate with the adversaries of their partners depending on the specific issue at hand, foreign relations function more like a fluid, multi-dimensional chess game.To help me tailor this analysis, please let me know if you would like to explore:The impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on regional alignments.The historical background of Iran-Israel relations.How energy pipelines dictate foreign policy in the Caucasus.”
Oddly Forgot to mention Israel versus Iran and Israel versus Armenia but you get the picture, anyway.
Googled: “at the end of the Soviet Union was Nagorno-Karabakh assigned to Azerbaijan and recognized as such by the international community?”
AI Overview: “Yes, at the end of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized by the international community as part of Azerbaijan. This recognition was based on a fundamental principle of international law governing the breakup of states. [1, 2, 3, 4]…
‘… Soviet Union formally dissolved in December 1991, the international community applied the legal doctrine of uti possidetis juris. This meant that the newly independent nations inherited the internal administrative boundaries of the former Soviet republics exactly as they stood…
‘ * Alma-Ata Declaration: Signed by 11 former Soviet republics in December 1991, this declaration explicitly committed the newly sovereign states to respecting each other’s territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing Soviet-era borders…
‘ United Nations, the United States, and the broader global community unanimously recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. [1, 2, 3]
Concurrently, ethnic Armenians in the enclave held a referendum and declared the independence of the
Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). However, no country—including Armenia itself—ever officially recognized its independence. For decades, the area functioned as a de facto breakaway state until Azerbaijan fully reasserted military and political control over the region…
Googled: “at the end of the soviet union was Nagorno-Karabakh assigned to Azerbaijan and recognized as such by the international community?”
AI Overview: “Yes, at the end of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized by the international community as part of Azerbaijan. This recognition was based on a fundamental principle of international law governing the breakup of states. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Administrative Realities at Dissolution
* Soviet Borders: Under Soviet administrative law, Nagorno-Karabakh existed as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), an enclave placed within the borders of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). [1, 2]
* Uti Possidetis Juris: When the
*
* ?Soviet Union formally dissolved in December 1991, the international community applied the legal doctrine of uti possidetis juris. This meant that the newly independent nations inherited the internal administrative boundaries of the former Soviet republics exactly as they stood. [1, 2]
* Alma-Ata Declaration: Signed by 11 former Soviet republics in December 1991, this declaration explicitly committed the newly sovereign states to respecting each other’s territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing Soviet-era borders. [1, 2]
The Position of the International Community
Because the region was inside the administrative borders of the Azerbaijan SSR, the
?United Nations, the United States, and the broader global community unanimously recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. [1, 2, 3]
Concurrently, ethnic Armenians in the enclave held a referendum and declared the independence of the
?Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). However, no country—including Armenia itself—ever officially recognized its independence. For decades, the area functioned as a de facto breakaway state until
?Azerbaijan fully reasserted military and political control over the region. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
If you would like to explore this topic further, I can provide more details on:
* The 1991 referendum held by the regional Armenian leadership.
* The specific United Nations Security Council resolutions passed regarding the territory.
* How Soviet secession laws created competing legal arguments for both sides. “
More complicated. Aside from the fact of Azerbaijan being Israel’s strategic partner,
Googled: “was karabakh majority Azeri before Armenia captured it?” [read to end]
“No, Nagorno-Karabakh itself was not majority Azerbaijani before Armenian forces captured it in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994). Ethnic Armenians maintained a consistent demographic majority inside the borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) throughout the entire Soviet era.
However, confusion often arises because the broader conflict involved different geographic zones, which had vastly different population makeups.
The Enclave vs. Surrounding Districts
To understand the demographics accurately, the region must be divided into two distinct areas:
* Nagorno-Karabakh (The Highland Enclave): This specific, mountainous autonomous oblast was 76.9% Armenian and 21.5% Azerbaijani in the final Soviet census of 1989.
* The Seven Surrounding Districts: When Armenian forces captured the enclave in the early 1990s, they also seized seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts (such as Lachin, Kalbajar, and Aghdam) to create a military buffer zone. These surrounding areas were almost entirely populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis…
Displacements on Both Sides
The capture of these lands resulted in massive, bidirectional ethnic cleansing:
* Azerbaijanis Displaced: Over 600,000 Azerbaijanis were forced out of the seven surrounding districts and the enclave itself (particularly from the town of Shusha) during the 1990s war.
* Armenians Displaced: Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians were simultaneously forced to flee from other parts of Azerbaijan, such as Baku and Sumgait.
(Note: Following the 2020 war and Azerbaijan’s lightning military offensive in September 2023, the demographic makeup inverted completely. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the enclave into Armenia, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh almost entirely populated by Azerbaijanis today).”
AI Overview