Turkey gained its 13th president today, May 29, the day of the 570th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire. In the second round of the presidential election, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan scored a hard-fought victory over his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, with just over 52 percent. A similar scenario of Erdoğan’s success was noted in expert assessments. Thus, the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) extended his rule for another five years, which is a historical record for republican Turkey in terms of uninterrupted rule for a quarter of a century. Erdoğan will apparently equal Sultan Osman Ghazi in terms of his period…

Turkey’s political future is a matter of great interest for the rest of the world. And its 2023 general election has been the subject of much comment in many countries, not least Russia. A key reason for the international interest in the elections is the question of Turkey’s foreign policy course under its new government: will it keep step with the West, headed by the USA, or will it follow a more independent course while retaining its partnerships with such major powers as Russia and China? As for China – let’s leave that question for the Chinese themselves to consider…

The 49.51% vs 44.88% distribution after the first stage of the presidential election maintains Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s apparent prospects of triumph over his rival, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Perhaps the incumbent president of Turkey could have snatched the victory on May 14, too, for the authorities could have counted 0.49% of the votes differently (for instance, in terms of invalid ballots). But Erdoğan, an experienced politician, decided not to test the reaction of his internal and external opponents, to show himself as a supporter of “mature democracy”…

The interest of foreign world powers in the presidential elections in Turkey is not just idle curiosity, but is connected to the potential for future bilateral relations between Turkey and the countries in question. And in this, Russia is no exception. Attitudes to President Erdoğan vary, with some leaders seeing him as a friend, while for others the relationship is governed purely by his status, but he remains the leader of an important state, and that accounts for a great deal. And international interest in Turkey will remain unchanged if his challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu becomes the new leader. Politicians typically make an effort…

On May 10, an earlier announced meeting of the foreign ministers of the Astana format participants – Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria – took place in Moscow. It should be noted that this summit of representatives of the Quartet took the baton from the heads of defense departments. The latter shows that Russia, as the initiator of the Middle East dialogue on the settlement of the Syrian crisis, demonstrates a systematic approach covering all important aspects of the remaining contradictions between Damascus and Ankara. Accordingly, the meetings of the heads…

After more than a year of behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Syria’s membership in the Arab League of States (LAS) was finally restored when Arab foreign ministers reached a consensus on an issue that has been causing sharp divisions since the start of the Syrian crisis 12 years ago. On May 7, the Arab League’s foreign ministers…

The parliamentary and presidential elections held on May 14 this year in Turkey, to which the special attention of external observers is riveted, nevertheless did not surprise with their results. First of all, the elections confirmed the high tension and the state of an almost proportional split in Turkish society into supporters and opponents of Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu, East and West, radical Islamic and moderately secular, imperial-independent and republican-pro-Western path of development of the country…

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan is notable for his acumen and his particular pragmatism. Like Kemal Atatürk in his time, he has achieved a fairly advanced partnership with Russia in the field of economy, politics, and security. The fact that Turkey, being a NATO member, still tries to maintain an independent course towards Russia, to develop mutually beneficial economic relations with it (especially in the field of energy, transit communications and tourism), not to participate fully in the anti-Russian sanctions of the collective West, not to rule out the possibility of new agreements with Russia on military-technical…

Observing the electoral process in today’s Turkey provides information that experts could not previously have guessed (or they were making their own assumptions without being able to confirm them). This refers to topics of primarily external nature rather than just to internal political interactions between the ruling party and the opposition bloc. The author is reminiscing on private discussions he had with knowledgeable analysts regarding the nature and patterns of relations between Turkey and its biggest NATO partner, the United States. At the time, despite direct consultations with members of the American political…

The custom of intensifying expert analysis before general elections is an unavoidable political procedure. Expert opinions can both diverge and converge at the same time, leading to non-standard conclusions in one case and vice versa in the other. However, readers and observers are only interested in these analyses when they are backed up by compelling evidence. Because of the peculiarities of current world affairs and local politics in this country, a considerable number of analysts are interested in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey. Due to the growth in our relations, the sizeable and ambitious projects of partnership…

Many Middle Eastern experts are increasingly focused on how the outcome of Turkey’s pivotal elections in May could alter the regional order. Turkish citizens will vote in presidential and legislative elections that might be pivotal in the country’s volatile national politics and ambition for regional prominence. At the same time, the May 14 twin elections could determine the fate of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power for more than two decades. Erdoğan and his party face…

The destabilization of the military-political situation and the provoked civil war in Syria, which has been going on since March 2011, have become another consequence of the US regional policy of reformatting the Middle East region and establishing its own monopoly. The strategy of “controlled chaos” with the use of radical forces and internal political contradictions was a hackneyed product of American diplomacy and intelligence. The Syrian conflict is an echo of the “Arab Spring” and a reflection of multi-layered ethno-religious contradictions…