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Turkish women continued their sit-in protest against the PKK terrorist organization in the country's southeast, hoping to reunite with their children on Eid al-Adha, one of the two major festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

They say their children were kidnapped or forcibly recruited by the PKK terrorist organization.

The protest outside the HDP headquarters in Diyarbakir province has entered its day 1,394, with more people joining in daily.

Bedriye Uslu told Anadolu that she is protesting in front of the HDP building for the return of his son Mahmut, who was kidnapped "26 Eid ago."

My son is 30 years old now; if he were here, he would have a home, get married, and have children. I hope our efforts will not be in vain, and one day our children will come. We will reunite with our children and spend the holidays with them," she said in an optimistic tone, hoping to see Mahmud soon.

Another protester, Guzide Demir, said his son, Aziz, was kidnapped "18 Eid ago."

"We have no peace left at home ... We want our children from the HDP. It's been 18 Eid, I'm separated from my child My son was an orphan, and I was both a mother and a father to him. I won't leave here without my child, she insisted.

Nihat Aydin, a father, said his son was kidnapped when he was 13 years old.

They took these children to the mountain and left them to die in caves. As with every holiday, we will wait for the path of our children on this Eid.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Trkiye, the PKK listed as a terrorist organization by Trkiye, the US, and EU has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the terror group's Syrian branch.

Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, will be celebrated by Muslims in Trkiye and around the globe on Wednesday, as well as on Thursday in some countries.

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Erdogan look to reunite their children kidnapped by PKK terror ... - Yeni afak English

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited Dr Mahathir Mohamad to attend a follow-up event to the Kuala Lumpur Summit held in 2019, in what is seen as the Turkish leader's continued support for the former prime minister's proposal for a new Muslim power bloc.

Following an hour-long meeting in Ankara on Tuesday where Mahathir and wife Dr Siti Hasmah Ali were welcomed at the presidential palace, he said Erdogan was keen to organise the Istanbul Summit to pursue what was discussed during the KL Summit, where top leaders of Malaysia and Turkey, as well as Qatar and Iran, had agreed to cooperate.

"There were also a lot of discussions on the fate of the Muslim ummah and the need to help Muslims and their nations which are facing hardship and wars.

"Mahathir also acknowledged, given Turkiyes rapid development and progress in various fields, that it can be the model nation for other Muslim countries," said a statement on Mahathir's Facebook.

It said both leaders agreed that the Istanbul Summit would be held in either September or October this year, adding that Erdogan would like Mahathir's team to partner his Turkish side for the event.

In 2019, Erdogan alongside Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani attended the KL Summit, which has been renamed as the Perdana Dialogue, a forum that organisers say complements the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in addressing issues affecting the Muslim world.

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Erdogan invites Mahathir to join hands for Islamic summit in Turkey - MalaysiaNow

As after almost every failure, the opposition parties in Turkiye have already started to blame each other for the defeat they suffered during last months general elections. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of a coalition of opposition parties, has said it is my duty to lead the ship to a safe harbor, but he did not say why he could not do this in the last elections. In fact, he has lost all 10 elections that he has participated in. Political analysts underline that, in a country where democracy is properly digested, political leaders should step aside if they fail in one or two successive elections. Despite this and despite pressure coming from his partys hierarchy, Kilicdaroglu seems to be intent on continuing his fight. In the first round of the presidential election on May 14, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the leading candidate, but by less than half a percent of the votes. In the second round, Erdogan, of the ruling Justice and Development Party, obtained 52.14 percent of the votes versus opposition leader Kilicdaroglus 47.86. For now, there are three candidates for the chairmanship of the main opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party, which is known as the CHP. One is Kilicdaroglu. The second is Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, who won this position by digging the ground with his fingers. The third is Ozgur Ozel, a young and ambitious member of the party. He has publicly announced that he would not avoid taking on responsibility, adding that he would not hold back from sacrifice either, which means that he will run for the presidency only if Kilicdaroglu supports him. There is a feeling in Turkiyes opposition party circles that a sea change has become necessary. So far, only Imamoglu has come up with a structured report and underlined the specific areas where the coalition of opposition parties failed. This report highlighted many failures. Firstly, it stated that the main opposition CHP and its allies could not turn the last election into a referendum for or against Erdogan. Secondly, Erdogan transformed the elections into a choice of whether the electorate should vote for stability or chaos and the opposition parties watched this from a distance as bystanders. Thirdly, the campaign became an effort to make Kilicdaroglu a candidate for the presidential post, rather than winning the elections. Finally, the opposition parties could not explain to the electorate that continuing with Erdogan would mean the further impoverishment of the Turkish people. On Wednesday last week, Kilicdaroglu and Imamoglu held a two-hour meeting on the outskirts of Ankara. People close to Imamoglu emphasized that radical changes are necessary in the party, while Kilicdaroglu thought that the election of a new chairman had to be postponed until after the local elections that will be held next year. This means Kilicdaroglu is not prepared to leave the leadership of the party until after then at least. The other participants commented that a positive atmosphere dominated the meeting.

Despite pressure coming from his partys hierarchy, Kilicdaroglu seems to be intent on continuing his fight.

Yasar Yakis

There are two opportunities that the willing members of the CHP would like to use to take command of the party. One of them is the partys general congress. The regular biennial general congress of the CHP was due to be held last year, but it was postponed to this year. The preparatory meetings have to be held at the village or neighborhood level, to be followed by the district and then provincial levels. The second is the local elections. This requires at least three months to organize. The municipal elections are expected to be held on March 31, 2024, if there is no decision made to change the date. Therefore, the parties will have to hold their intra-party elections months before so that the new administrations can launch their campaigns. Opinions are divided as to whether the general congress of the CHP should be held before or after the local elections. If it is held beforehand, Kilicdaroglu may not be reelected, meaning his dream to lead the ship to a safe harbor may not materialize. Kilicdaroglu is on the record as saying that he is not opposed to the candidacy of any member of the party, but that the wrong choice should not allow the CHP to lose a major metropolis like Istanbul. The most important thing is to avoid a fight within the party, because such a division may cause a split. Ozel, the chairman of the CHPs parliamentary group, clarified his position by emphasizing that he would definitely support any candidate who is designated by Kilicdaroglu. Kilicdaroglu would not want to take a decision that might harm the political party he has been leading for 13 years. However, human beings have their choices. In a democratic environment, people also make mistakes. Therefore, the right way will again be found by intensifying the dialogue. Another major factor that has to be taken into account is the case of Meral Akseners IYI Parti. In last months parliamentary elections, this party obtained 9.69 percent of the votes and 44 seats in the parliament. The party made a mistake by withdrawing for three days from the six-party opposition coalition. This unwise move caused unease within the party and must have produced a substantive loss of support among the electorate. Erdogan has repeatedly said that, in Turkish elections, the one who gets Istanbul will also get Turkiye. We may presume that he will do everything he can to ensure he does not lose Istanbul in next years local elections.

Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

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Turkish opposition eyes local elections after loss to Erdogan - Arab News

Turkeys newly reelected president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has on a visit to northern Cyprus demanded the recognition of the breakaway state as a condition for negotiations on the future of the island. In this case, he is barking up the wrong tree.

Since 1964, when UN peacekeeping forces (UNFICYP) were deployed on the island to prevent fighting between the two population groups the Greek and Turkish Cypriots this has developed into one of the worlds longest standing conflicts.

In 1974 the conflict escalated when Turkish troops occupied the northern third of the island in accordance with the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee between Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, which allowed Turkey to intervene to prevent the union of Cyprus with any other state.

In July, the Cypriot president Archbishop Makarios was overthrown in a coup by a former EOKA gunman, Nicos Sampson, who, backed by the military junta in Athens, intended to declare enosis (union) with Greece. However, Turkeys occupation led to partition and finally, in 1983, the unilateral declaration of the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), which is only recognized by Turkey.

From 1975, reunification talks began under the aegis of the UN with the declared aim of establishing a bizonal, bicommunal federation. A notable attempt in 2004, based on the Annan Plan for reunification, was accepted by 65% of Turkish Cypriots, but rejected by 76% of the Greek Cypriots. A week later, the rump state, designated as the Republic of Cyprus, found a safe harbor in the European Union.

The latest attempt, in what UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres has called a horizon of endless process without result, foundered at Crans-Montana in Switzerland in 2017. Guterres was undoubtedly correct in his belief that a historic opportunity had been missed, as Ersin Tatar was elected Turkish Cypriot leader instead of the pro-federal Mustaf Akinci in October 2020.

Tatar, a hardliner and backed by Ankara, goes in for a two-state solution. Failing this, annexation is a third option, which is not unlikely, given that northern Cyprus is de facto Turkeys 82nd province.

However, the game changer was the discovery of vast gas and oil reserves in the Levant Basin in 2010. Cyprus had already delimited its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and concluded agreements with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel. Turkey, which is not a signatory to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), insists that the extent of its continental shelf and shoreline overrides this principle.

The fact that Cyprus has awarded concessions to foreign companies for hydrocarbon exploration in its EEZ has led to continual conflict with Turkey, not least because it clashes with Turkeys Blue Homeland maritime doctrine.

One response has been the trilateral cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, which has lasted a decade and includes a military dimension.

On another level, Egypt, whose Zohr gas field is the largest in the Mediterranean, in 2019 founded the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which includes Israel, Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, but not Turkey. The US and the EU are observers.

ACCORDING TO former US ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman, Erdogan believes he can threaten his way in. On the other hand, also in 2019, Congress passed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act in support of Greece as a valuable NATO member, Israel as a steadfast ally and Cyprus as a key strategic partner.

In addition, in October 2021 the US amended its MDCA (Mutual Defense and Cooperation Agreement) with Greece to include the port of Alexandroupolis as a key strategic hub.

In 2014, when Turkish professor Ahmet Davutoglu, the architect of Turkeys neo-Ottoman foreign policy, was appointed prime minister, he included in his manifesto a vision of Turkey as an energy corridor.

In 2009, the European Commission agreed on the construction of a Southern Gas Corridor to diversify its energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea to European markets. Commissioned at the end of 2020, it comprises the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) through Turkey and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to Italy.

Turkey has tried to lure Israel to commit to a pipeline from Israels Leviathan field to Ceyhan in southern Turkey, but so far Israel has resisted this siren call. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to arrange a meeting with Erdogan, but Erdogan will only meet with him if he delivers news on gas cooperation.

Turkey is also dependent on Russian gas through the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines, and Russia has proposed to Turkey that it acts as an energy hub for Russian gas to Europe after the Nord Stream blasts.

In January 2022 a non-paper from the US State Department put the kibosh on Greece, Cyprus and Israels plans to construct a 1,900 km. EastMed pipeline to transport gas from the Levant Basin via Greece to Europe. One of the reasons given for canceling the project was creating tensions in the region i.e. dont upset Turkey.

Against a background of a thaw in relations between Turkey and Egypt, due consideration must be paid to Egypt as a gas hub and the founder of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF). For example, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in June last year between the EU, Egypt and Israel to export Israeli gas to Europe via two Egyptian LNG plants.

By the same token, there is no logical reason why Cyprus should not serve as the conduit for the transport of Eastern Mediterranean gas via Turkey to Europe. As Egypts ambassador to the United States, Motaz Zahran, has explained the EMGF is the perfect example of a regional approach to address the Israeli-Palestinian issue and regional economic integration.

The same could apply to the Cyprus issue and the standoff in Eastern Med.

In the process, a number of camels will have to be swallowed, but according to Hatem Zadek, a professor at Helwan University, Mediterranean gas can fix what politics has spoiled.

The writer is an international adviser at RIEAS (Research Institute for European and American Studies) in Athens.

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Standoff in Eastern Mediterranean: Erdogan is barking up the wrong tree - The Jerusalem Post

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is to embark on an official visit to Turkiye following an invitation by his Turkish counterpart and recently re-elected President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

News of Sisi's visit was disclosed by Ambassador Salih Mutlu Sen, who currently serves as Ankara's charge d'affaires in Cairo, Daily Sabah reported on Friday.

According to diplomatic sources, cited by broadcaster NTV, Erdogan extended the invitation to Sisi after the latter called him to congratulate him on his election victory. The Egyptian president is said to have welcomed the invitation, and may visit Ankara shortly after Eid Al-Adha, which starts on 28 June.

The latest diplomatic developments between the two countries follows an agreement to upgrade relations late last month by exchanging ambassadors, following years of strained ties, since Egypt's 2013 Saudi and UAE-backed military coup, which overthrew the late President Mohamed Morsi, who was a close political and ideological ally of Erdogan.

Since the democratically-elected Morsi government was overthrown, diplomatic relations between Ankara and Cairo have been mutually maintained at the level of charge d'affaires.

Back-door diplomacy between the two countries gained traction in November of last year, after Sisi and Erdogan met and shook hands at the sidelines of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

OPINION: Normalisation between Egypt and Turkiye: The winners and losers

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Egypt's Sisi to visit Turkiye at Erdogan's invitation - Middle East Monitor