Turkey

Ankara is using the cover of Ukraine’s war to weaken the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and associated groups in the region. Turkey’s military has launched a spate of strikes on Kurdish-run parts of northeast Syria over the past week as world attention is focused on Ukraine. At least four artillery …

If the West and NATO remain united during the long war in Ukraine, Turkey’s policy of straddling between Kyiv and Moscow would be unsustainable. “It is the only game in town,” a Turkish ambassador said in a self-aggrandizing fashion at an international conference recently. Turkey secured the first and only …

Turkish intelligence apprehended two Daesh terrorists in Syria planning to carry out an attack against Turkish forces in Syria, reports said Monday. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) carried out an operation to determine the whereabouts of Daesh terrorists Orhan Moran and Mustafa Kılıçlı and nabbed them in Syria. The terrorists …

On March 15, 2022, Turkish journalist Aytuğ Özçolak published an article titled “Russian Oligarchs In Turkey: Initiatives, Relations, And What They Own.”[1] Özçolak reviews the assets and investments in Turkey of Russian oligarchs including: Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Vladimir Lisin, Vladimir Potanin, Alexy Mordashov, and Mikhail Fridman. While Western media …

Lavish Ramadan gatherings by Turkey’s ruling party have fueled public outrage amid staggering inflation and skyrocketing prices. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits different households during the holy month of Ramadan. This year, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) special focus is on the youth, as the youth vote …

Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ankara’s foreign policy is set to undergo major changes. Being the most valuable ally the West has in the region, without Turkey’s support any Western strategy will fall short of achieving concrete results in stopping Russia in the long-term. Turkey’s foreign policy in the …

Turkey, which has become a frequent destination of foreign dignitaries amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hosted another surprise guest today. Amberin Zaman broke the news that Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani was visiting Turkey today. Barzani met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in …

Ukraine is using its Turkish-made armed drones to deadly effect against Russian forces. Turkey’s president benefits too. Given its effectiveness against Russian forces, it should come as no surprise that Turkey’s Bayraktar TB-2 armed drone has its own Ukrainian ‘war song’ on YouTube, with more than half a million clicks. …

Turkish minister Cavusoglu also raised the question of whether the sanctions against Russia will be lifted in the event that the Kremlin withdraws its soldiers from Ukraine. On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey will not join the sanctions of the European Union against Russia and will …

Fears are mounting about a looming humanitarian catastrophe amid concerns that Russia will close the last border crossing through which UN and NGO aid passes to reach millions of needy in north Syria. The Syrian Response Coordination Group (RCG), an Idlib-based humanitarian nongovernmental organization assisting the displaced in northwestern Syria, …