Partner Links: Learn Hebrew • Travel to Israel • Live Kotel Camera • Israel Pharmacy • Cellphone Rentals in Israel • Israel Relief Campaign

Thursday, May 2, 2013
Iyyar 22, 5773
6:06 am IDT
Site updated 15 minutes ago

The Times of Israel

The one-stop news site
covering Israel, the region and
the Jewish people worldwide

Founding editor:
David Horovitz

Fair, fresh and fast

The Jewish world's
fastest-growing
news site

Writer: Christopher Torchia

February 2, 2013
11:33 pm

Elevated view of the side entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device on Friday Feb. 1, 2013. (photo credit: AP)

Turkey: Embassy bombers cling to Cold War ideology

Some speculate that the DHKP-C targeted the old ‘imperialist’ nemesis of leftist radicals everywhere, in efforts to oust Assad

By Christopher Torchia

November 28, 2012
8:24 pm

In this 2012 file photo, a land mine expert works in mined land in the Karkemish archaeological site at the Turkey-Syria border in Gaziantep province, Turkey (photo credit: AP Photo/File)

Syrian war clouds Turkish plan to clear 600,000 land mines

Ankara seeded Syria border area in an effort to prevent smuggling in the 1950s, and again in the 1980s during the war with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party

By Christopher Torchia

November 8, 2012
11:10 am

This is a Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, of the South Gate of the Inner Town of Karkemish seen in Gaziantep province, Turkey (photo credit: AP Photo/Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition, File)

Archaeologists explore Biblical site on battle-plagued Syrian-Turkish border

Karkemish, ancient metropolis and site of a Egyptian-Babylonian battle mentioned in Jeremiah, is opened for excavation for the first time in 90 years

By Christopher Torchia

October 3, 2012
10:19 pm

Smoke rises over Saif Al Dawla district in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. The U.N.'s deputy secretary-general says U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made a strong appeal to Syria's foreign minister to stop using heavy weapons against civilians and reduce the violence that is killing 100 to 200 people every day. (Manu Brabo/AP)

Turkish military fires into Syria, raising fears of regional conflagration

NATO, UN Security Council convene emergency meetings following deadly exchange of fire along Syrian-Turkish border

By Christopher Torchia and Elizabeth A. Kennedy

September 28, 2012
11:55 am

Tourists visit the pyramids in Giza, near Cairo, on Thursday (photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

Film protests hurting Egypt’s tourism industry

Egyptian tourism revenues, which fell 30 percent in 2011, had started to recover before the outbreak of anti-US rallies

By Christopher Torchia

September 16, 2012
12:06 pm

Newly arrived Syrian refugees, who fled the violence in their country, demonstrate at the border in Reyhanli, Turkey. (photo credit: AP)

Syrian refugees in Turkey test infrastructure, resources, patience

Government asks some who have left official refugee camps to return in order to ease tensions

By Christopher Torchia and Mehmet Guzel

August 29, 2012
11:22 am

A Turkish military truck transports a mobile missile launcher to the Syrian border, in Iskenderun, Turkey, on Wednesday. (photo credit: AP Photo)

Turkish military a key player in Western response to Syrian civil war

NATO member Turkey has had a tense relationship with the US regarding military issues

By Christopher Torchia

June 29, 2012
5:13 am

Egyptian army soldiers guard the entrance of Egypt's stock exchange in Cairo. Egypt's budget is undisclosed to the public. (photo credit: AP/Nasser Nasser, File)

Egypt’s generals eye Turkish model

Military seeks to wield power, while allowing civilian democracy to emerge

By Christopher Torchia and MAGGIE MICHAEL

June 28, 2012
12:48 am

An Egyptian couple walks past a mural depicting military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on the left side of the face and ousted president Hosni Mubarak on the right side, with Arabic that reads, 'Who assigned you did not die, No for gas export to Israel, the revolution continues,' at Tahrir Square in Cairo. (photo credit: AP/Nasser Nasser)

Egypt’s generals take a page out of Turkey’s history books

Military and Muslim Brotherhood are believed to be negotiating a power-sharing deal behind closed doors

By Christopher Torchia and MAGGIE MICHAEL

June 16, 2012
7:54 pm

The Parthenon in Athens, Greece. (photo credit: CC BY-SA Charles P., Flickr)

All eyes on Greece ahead of critical elections

Vote will determine the country’s relationship with the EU and the Euro

By Christopher Torchia

March 25, 2012
4:30 pm

Syrian rebels take position during clashes with Syrian Army forces in Idlib, northern Syria. (photo credit: AP/Rodrigo Abd)

Talk of Syria intervention grows as diplomacy withers

Turkey takes lead in suggesting less-amiable alternatives

By Christopher Torchia

February 24, 2012
4:26 pm

An honor guard soldier stands during a ceremony at a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, next to a monument bearing the names of Jews killed 70 years ago when the SS Struma, the ship they were on as refugees on the way to Palestine, was sunk by a Soviet torpedo. (photo credit: AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

SS Struma anniversary underlines the complexity of Turkey’s Jewish narrative

On Feb. 23, 1942, Turkey towed the vessel to the Black Sea and set it adrift. A Soviet torpedo sank it the next morning. 750 Jewish refugees died

By Christopher Torchia