Politics
Turkiye will never give Israel coveted ancient stone: Erdogan
Turkiye will never hand over to Israel a coveted Biblical-era ancient inscription that was found in a tunnel beneath Jerusalem during Ottoman times, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
He was referring to the so-called Siloam or Silwan inscription, a Hebrew tablet dating back 2,700 years, which is currently held in Istanbul’s archaeology museum.
The issue sparked a fresh bout of diplomatic sparring on Monday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told how his efforts to retrieve the artefact in 1998 were rebuffed— on the grounds that it would “outrage” the Islamist constituency headed by Erdogan, who was Istanbul’s mayor at the time.
Speaking on Friday, Erdogan accused Netanyahu of “spewing hatred” at Turkiye “for not returning the Silwan inscription, a legacy of our ancestors”.
“Jerusalem is the honour, dignity and glory of all humanity and all Muslims… yet he shamelessly continues to pursue the inscription: we won’t give you that inscription, let alone a single pebble from Jerusalem,” he said.
The inscription was discovered in the late 19th century inside the Siloam tunnel, an ancient aqueduct underneath Jerusalem.
The limestone tablet, which describes how the tunnel was built, was found in 1880 when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire and taken to Constantinople, now Istanbul, where it has remained ever since.
For Israel, the inscription is a key element of historical proof demonstrating Jewish presence in Jerusalem that it has wanted to obtain for years.
Speaking on Monday at the inauguration of a newly-excavated ancient road under Silwan, a densely populated Palestinian neighbourhood in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, Netanyahu described the inscription as one of Israel’s “most important” archeological discoveries after the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Relating a conversation with then Turkish premier Mesut Yilmaz in 1998, Netanyahu said he had offered him a wealth of Ottoman artefacts.
“I said: we have thousands of Ottoman artefacts in our museums.. Let’s do an exchange. And he said, no, I’m sorry, I can’t. I said: take all the artifacts in our museums. And he said, no, I can’t do that,” the Israeli leader recounted.
‘Turkish PM feared backlash’
He then quoted Yilmaz as saying there was “a growing Islamist constituency headed by Erdogan and it would cause “outrage” if Turkiye
“would give Israel a tablet that would show that Jerusalem was a Jewish city 2,700 years ago”.
“Well, we’re here. This is our city. Mr Erdogan, it’s not your city, it’s our city. It will always be,” Netanyahu said.
He appeared to be referencing remarks by Erdogan in a 2020 speech to lawmakers when he described Jerusalem as “our city, a city from us”, emphasising Turkiye’s historic ties to the city that spent two centuries under the Ottoman Empire.
Erdogan, whose relationship with Israel has nosedived over the Gaza war, hit back on Wednesday, dismissing Netanyahu’s “tantrums” and pledging: “We as Muslims will not step back from our rights over East Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem’s historic Old City houses holy sites revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians.
It is a frequent site of tension and violence, which is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Venezuela’s Machado gave her Nobel medal to Trump.
- Donald Trump says he intends to keep the medal.
- Original laureate recorded in history as prize recipient.
OSLO: The Nobel Peace Prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation that won it, though the medal can be given away, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, a day after last year’s winner gave her medalto US President Donald Trump.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her medalon on Thursday to Trump, who thanked her for it. The White House released a photo of Trump and Machado, with Trump holding up a gold-coloured frame displaying it, and a White House official said Trump intends to keep it.
Machado’s award also consists of a diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.19 million).
“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the award body said in a statement.
“There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items,” it added.
‘Inseparably linked’
The medal and the diploma are physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the prize, said the five-strong award committee.
“The prize itself – the honour and recognition – remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate by the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” it said.
The committee, which did not refer to Trump and Machado by name in its statement, said it does not comment on a laureate’s statements, decisions or actions after the prize is announced.
It was not the first time a Nobel laureate has given away the medal. In 1943, Nobel literature laureate Knut Hamsun gave his to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In 2022, Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov sold his medal for $100 million to raise money for the UN children’s fund Unicef to help Ukrainian refugee children.
In 2024, the widow of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan donated his 2001 Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma to the UN office in Geneva.
US President Donald Trump purchased about $100 million in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, his latest disclosures showed, including up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds just weeks after the companies announced their merger.
Financial disclosures posted on Thursday and Friday showed the majority of Trump’s purchases were municipal bonds from cities, local school districts, utilities and hospitals.
But he also bought bonds from companies including Boeing, Occidental Petroleum and General Motors.
The investments were the latest reported assets added to Trump’s expanding portfolio while he is in office.
It includes holdings in sectors that benefit from his policies, raising questions about conflicts of interest.
For example, Trump said in December that he would have a say in whether Netflix can proceed with its proposed $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, which faces a rival bid from Paramount Skydance.
Any deal to acquire Warner Bros will need regulatory approval.
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions and neither Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested.
Like many wealthy individuals, Trump regularly buys bonds as part of his investment portfolio.
He previously disclosed at least $82 million in bond purchases from late August to early October.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim of having stopped a war between Pakistan and India, while also saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked him for saving at least 10 million lives.
He made the remarks at the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald J Trump Boulevard in Washington on Friday.
“In a year, we made eight peace deals and ended the conflict in Gaza. We have peace in the Middle East…We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, two nuclear nations…The Pakistani Prime Minister said Donald Trump saved at least 10 million people, and it was amazing,” he said.
The US president further recalled that the Pakistani prime minister’s remarks were an honour for him.
Trump cited his administration’s foreign policy record and repeated assertions of brokering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan.
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