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US Senate Confirms Thomas Barrack as Ambassador to Turkey Amid Concern Over Ankara’s Hamas Support
Thomas Barrack, a billionaire friend of Donald Trump who chaired the former president’s inaugural fund, exits following a not guilty verdict at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, US, Nov. 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Thomas Barrack, a private equity leader and long-time supporter of President Donald Trump, as the new US ambassador to Turkey, a country which has had a tumultuous relationship with Washington in recent years despite their shared membership in the NATO alliance.
Barrack’s confirmation passed with a 60-36 vote, largely supported by Republican senators, who control 53 out of the Senate’s 100 seats.
In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month, Barrack highlighted Turkey’s strategic significance as a US ally and emphasized Ankara’s position within NATO.
“Sitting at the most strategic crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Turkey’s NATO contributions are numerous,” he told lawmakers.
While speaking to committee members, he underscored the strength and size of Turkey’s military, the second largest in NATO.
Barrack’s confirmation comes as Turkey has continued to support the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and be one of the world’s most vocal critics of Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East, amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Turkey has long hosted senior Hamas officials, such as Marwan Muhammad Abu Ras, who in recent months has spread pro-terrorist propaganda in speeches and on the country’s state-controlled media outlets.
“The Qassam Brigades [the military wing of Hamas] are at the forefront of the war and the jihad. … You must support the Qassam Brigades — with your prayers, your wealth, your politics, your weapons, with everything you have, you must support the Qassam Brigades,” Abu Ras said during a rally in southeastern Turkey earlier this month, according to the Nordic Research and Monitoring Network.
Several Hamas leaders have established residence in Turkey, often accompanied by their families. Some have acquired Turkish citizenship and passports, integrating further into the country. Many have even invested heavily in the real estate sector and now operate multi-million-dollar businesses. In addition to their commercial activities, these individuals remain actively involved in fundraising efforts that support Hamas’s international network.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of the most vocal anti-Israel voices during the Gaza war. In February, for example he demanded that Israel pay reparations “for the harm it inflicted through its aggressive actions in Gaza.”
Last year, Erdogan made an explicit threat to invade Israel, leading Israel’s foreign minister to call on NATO to expel Turkey. Ankara also called on the United Nations to use force if it can’t stop Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
Turkey has reportedly blocked cooperation between NATO and Israel since October 2023 because of the war in Gaza and said the alliance should not engage with Israel as a partner until the conflict ends.
Last year, Ankara also ceased all exports and imports to and from Israel, citing the “humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories as the reason.
Erdogan has frequently defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he described as an Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. He and other Turkish leaders have repeatedly compared Israel with Nazi Germany and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler
The day after Barrack’s confirmation, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) released a report arguing that the Trump administration should keep Turkey out of the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program, calling the country a “potentially threatening regional power” and citing Ankara’s extensive ties to Hamas.
“The United States must carefully consider whether Turkey, a rising, and potentially threatening, regional power led by the authoritarian, pro-Hamas, neo-Ottoman President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, can be trusted with this advanced jet,” the report stated.
JINSA noted Turkey’s decision to acquire the Russian S-400 air and missile defense system, despite repeated warnings from US officials. Washington ultimately blocked Turkey from procuring and producing the F-35 as a result. Ankara has sought to be readmitted into the program, and the Trump administration has reportedly been working on a deal to sell Turkey the jets if it relinquishes the S-400.
The post US Senate Confirms Thomas Barrack as Ambassador to Turkey Amid Concern Over Ankara’s Hamas Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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