Turkey

Israel’s attempted assassination of the Hamas political leadership in Doha, Qatar, has shaken the Gulf region, which hitherto believed that Qatar’s status as a US ally and official mediator in the Gaza war shielded it from such an attack. Considering this willingness to attack Hamas in Qatar, Israel could conceivably …

On June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in al-Sham (ISIS), was recorded on video speaking at the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. (“Al-Sham” is the traditional Arabic name for the Levant.) He declared himself to be the caliph or divinely inspired absolute ruler of …

Syria’s civil war broke out in March 2011, in reaction to the brutal crackdown by the regime of Bashar al-Asad of popular protests that were part of the wider Arab Spring. In supporting the Syrian rebels, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially used the language of humanitarian intervention, claiming to …

Turkey’s Syria policy didn’t materialize in a vacuum. Rather, it was a reaction to the Arab uprisings that began in January 2011, known as the Arab Spring, which Turkish policymakers interpreted as a providential opportunity. The fall of entrenched dictators (in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and, eventually, Syria) would, the …

In late July, Turkish defense contractors used the 2025 International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) to showcase the latest additions to the country’s arsenal. Headlining the event were two striking developments: the “Tayfun Block-4” hypersonic ballistic missile and the “Gazap” bunker-busting, non-nuclear thermobaric bomb. Both weapons, now within the Turkish military’s …

In a notable shift with wide regional implications, Israel launched recent airstrikes targeting key Syrian army sites in Damascus and Suweida, claiming the strikes were necessary to “defend the Druze” amid fierce clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suweida. This escalation, according to analysts, places Turkey in …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for full support of the disarmament of Kurdish militants that began with a handover of the first batch of weapons by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces, a step he said opened a new page for the country. Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons …

In recent days, relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have entered a new phase of unprecedented tension due to several incidents and shifting geopolitical dynamics in the South Caucasus. These tensions hold significant implications not only for Baku and Moscow, but also for Turkiye, a close ally of Azerbaijan and a …

Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group have begun to lay down arms at a ceremony in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, marking an end to its armed struggle against Turkey in one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies. The Friday ceremony was held in the morning at the …

Viewing Turkey–Israel dynamics through a zero-sum lens risks fuelling strategic miscalculations and regional instability. The post–7 October realignment in the Middle East has recalibrated threat perceptions and strategic opportunities for both Turkey and Israel. The recent ‘12-Day War’ has further accelerated this shift. While both Turkey and Israel seek to …