In a letter to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, Turkey-US Business Council (TAIK) Chairman Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ said that sanctioning Turkey could harm economic relations between the two countries and more trade could help to ease the political tension. Yalçındağ, who is also known for his friendship with former U.S. President Donald Trump, congratulated Biden in
I asked main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu during a live interview on Olay TV late on Dec. 17 a question that has been avoided for a long time due to the political polarization in recent years. Could the CHP and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) amend the
Journalist Bahadır Özgür discusses why Tümosan AŞ, the designated engine producer of Turkish tank project Altay, has been split into two companies, even extending the saga of the ongoing domestic defense bid. Albayrak Group, a Turkish holding company not to be confused with the businesses of the family of former minister and President Erdoğan’s son-in-law,
Understanding what President Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to do is actually not that complicated. Like many other leaders, he foresees that political and economic relations and power balances will begin to be redefined in 2021. We are on the verge of a give-and-take process that only compares to what came after large-scale wars. Erdoğan aims
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that sanctions will be imposed on Turkey in accordance with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) of the U.S. The justification is Turkey’s insistence on not giving up the S-400 missile systems it purchased from Russia. The fact that four bureaucrats were highlighted in the
As expected, the European Union (EU) avoided endorsing though sanctions against Turkey at the Dec. 10-11 summit, while postponing the issue to March, 2021. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems to be content with the summit conclusions as he praised, without naming them, certain countries for acting with “common sense.” No doubt that he was
The government officially admitted on Dec. 10 that it had been hiding the facts on the coronavirus Covid-19 disaster from the public for months. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of citizens infected since March 2020 was 1,748,576. This figure was announced for the first time, proving everyone who accused the government of hiding
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed on Dec. 11 the European Union decision not to sanction Turkey, a demand introduced by Greece and France due to eastern Mediterranean sanctions. “Our rights must be granted. There are now many rights that EU member states must grant Turkey,” Erdoğan told reporters after Friday prayers. “Reasonable countries in the
What Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his Victory Parade speech at the Azadliq Square in Baku on Dec. 10 is noteworthy: “They have always told us that there would be no military solution for this [Karabakh] issue. We have proved that there is a military solution to this issue. Would we wait for another
President Tayyip Erdogan’s targeting of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has reached an alarming level. Erdoğan’s efforts to expel Kılıçdaroğlu, his leading political rival, out of politics should not reach a level that would endanger his security. And I’m not just talking about his silence to insults and threats of criminal