The U.S. is meddling in Türkiye’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Ankara’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed on Friday. Speaking to CNN Turk, Soylu weighed in on the decision by presidential candidate Muharrem Ince, who leads the opposition Homeland Party, to drop out of the race on Thursday ahead of …
Read More »Navigating complex maritime security challenges in the Black and Mediterranean seas: Insights from the updated EUMSS
In March, the European Union announced an update to its 2014 Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS), identifying both new and persisting threats to European security at sea. Undoubtedly, Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine helped influence the updated EUMSS approach to the Black and Mediterranean seas, with implicit and explicit …
Read More »Turkey’s 2023 Elections: Perspectives on a Critical Vote
It is a cliché for politicians to claim that an upcoming election is the most critical vote in the history of the country. In Turkey’s case, however, the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 are indeed the most consequential ever. The prospects for Turkey’s democratic future are at stake. …
Read More »Turkish Elections and Foreign Policy: Change for the Better or Continuity?
Every national election is a pivotal moment for any country, but some can be truly historic turning points. This was so for the 2002 election which brought Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP into power, and it is so for the 2023 election, which might very well mark the end …
Read More »Turkey Elections: As rallies conclude, Erdogan defends Putin, slips in polls
Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are wrapping up their campaigns; Russia became an issue in Friday’s rallies. With less than 40 hours to go until Turkey’s closest elections in its modern history, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his top rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu are …
Read More »Kemalism Vs Kemalism In Turkish Elections – OpEd
Turkish presidential election Sunday goes down to the wires From a geopolitical perspective, the Turkish presidential election on Sunday may appear to be one of the most crucial non-violent political events of this year. But appearances can be deceptive in Turkish politics. In the surcharged polarisation of “West versus Rest” …
Read More »Egypt-Turkey normalization: Ankara’s perspective
On March 18, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mavlut Cavusoglu paid the first visit of its kind to Cairo in a decade. This move reciprocates a recent visit by his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukri, to the Turkish city of Mersin on February 27, which was in response to the devastating earthquake that …
Read More »Angry Ankara
Türkiye is raising the heat on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, denouncing its ties with the Syrian Democratic Forces. After a helicopter carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters crashed in Duhok on March 26, Türkiye imposed a ban on all flights to and from Sulaimaniyah through its airspace. It did so because …
Read More »Iraq asks Turkey to resume oil exports as firms in Kurdistan region scale back
Turkey has still yet to restart oil flows from northern Iraq following a controversial court ruling despite efforts by Iraqi and Kurdish authorities. The stoppage is threatening the Kurdistan Region’s oil sector. Iraq’s state oil company has officially asked Turkey to restart its oil pipeline with the Kurdistan Region, Kurdish …
Read More »Turkey Elections: Kilicdaroglu outreach to US, NATO hindered by Russia ties
Even if victory for the opposition reinvigorates Turkey’s relations with NATO, analysts say there’s no chance Ankara will break off ties with Russia. The emergence of a credible challenger to the two-decade rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised a glimmer of hope in Washington for a potential revival …
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