Turkey

Due to the increased activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, Transcaucasia, and the Black Sea basin of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, and the apparent reduction of Europe’s role in the Middle East, the balance of EU policy in relations with Turkey has increasingly shifted from attempts to influence Ankara to timid opposition to the current…

In addition to the United States and Qatar’s active development of relations and cooperation, observers’ attention is drawn to the growing ties between Qatar and Turkey, which are perceived ambiguously in the region. Today, Turkey and Qatar are militarily, intellectually and ideologically intertwined. A security cooperation agreement signed…

The standoff taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean, despite attempts on the part of the international community to reduce its intensity, is unfortunately not calming down. In the beginning, in September, the first preconditions arose for Ankara to tone down its demonstration of intransigence in its efforts to gain access…

Turkey’s great, imperial past, and the ideas associated with neo-Ottomanism, are quite popular and widespread in various strata of Turkish society. This all forces its political elites, and the country’s leadership, to proceed from the point of this sociopolitical dream, and act more decisively to try to revive this project of neo-imperialism. This course, as politicians see…

Recently, the activities performed by Turkish President Erdogan and his outspoken “neo-Ottoman” policy have been eliciting increasing concern not only in the Middle East, but also in the United States, Europe, and among NATO allies. The European “partners” are particularly apprehensive about Ankara’s actions and military provocations…

For several months now, information on the events taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean continues to persistently occupy a prominent position in the newscasts. Despite the measures taken by the international community, tension among Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and NATO continues to revolve around this region. Different media outlets…

When Turkey’s Erdogan recently hosted Hamas leaders, including the US-designated ‘terrorist’ and ‘wanted’ leaders of the Palestinian resistance, it did not ring bells in Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi or Riyadh. On the contrary, Erdogan’s meeting illustrated how Turkey is planning to respond to the new regional configuration which puts Israel at the heart…

Despite attempts made by the international community to de-escalate the ongoing confrontation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the crisis in the region continues to intensify. In response to a “seismic survey” being conducted by Turkey’s Oruc Reis research vessel in a region also claimed by Greece, and to satisfy demands made by Athens and Cyprus, the European…

September 2nd, 2019, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lays claim to roughly half of the Aegean Sea in what has been dubbed “Turkey’s Blue Homeland.” In November the Turkish president went a step further in an appeal to the United Nations for Exclusive Economic Zones in the Eastern Mediterranean. He ended that month…

While Turkey’s military adventures have roots in the ‘Neo-Ottoman’ project that Erdogan is relentlessly pursing and accordingly changing the country’s both internal and external orientation, a lot of what Turkey is doing on the external front—Syria, Libya and the Mediterranean—has to do with the progressively degenerating NATO and its decreasing…

Turkish lira, as of recently, has been in a freefall, indicating the overall health of Turkish economy. Since the beginning of 2020, Lira has fallen by 20 per cent against US dollar. Its adverse impact on the economy and politics has, however, been largely absorbed by the euphoria of Hagia Sophia and the intense symbolism of return to Ottoman glory. Whereas Turkey’s Erdogan…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has clearly decided to launch an offensive on multiple fronts, taking advantage of what he clearly perceives as a geopolitical vacuum. From his recent call to Islamic prayer at the Haga Sophia in Istanbul, to his breaking of the arms embargo to back the Tripoli regime against the advance…