The London Energy Club - Chair
Despite the considerable excitement surrounding Turkey’s potential BRICS membership, the outcome has yielded little of substance. Alongside Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, Turkey has been designated merely as a “partner” within BRICS. The anticipated full membership, which sparked debates about a possible shift away from the West,
We are growing increasingly tired of repeating the same refrain. The world is indeed undergoing a profound transformation in its energy landscape. Countries across the globe are striving to reduce carbon emissions, driven by a shared desire to safeguard our planet and future generations. Global attention has shifted towards lessening dependence on fossil fuels—oil, natural
Discussions about Türkiye-Iran relations often begin by emphasizing that the borders between the two countries have remained unchanged since the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab. This enduring stability is symbolic of the deep historical ties, political stability, and respect for the status quo despite centuries of fluctuating relations. Beyond the Sunni-Shia divide, these long-standing ties have
As the world rapidly returns to a period defined by traditional power balances and violence, it is imperative that we strengthen ourselves across all domains, from the economy and military power to science, technology, art, culture, and the quality of human capital. To achieve this, we must urgently resolve our internal issues and focus on
The Middle East has long been a stage for wars, assassinations, massacres, and occupations. As long as I can remember, the region has been ensnared in a spiral of violence, with no signs of improvement in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, the question arises whether the Third World War will be ignited from this
Israel is neither Libya nor Armenia, as President Erdoğan suggests, and Turkey is not Saddam’s Iraq, despite the unfortunate comparison made by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Understanding the increasingly tense and potentially dangerous dynamics between these two countries, which were once firmly aligned in this region, requires setting aside nonsense and adopting an action-oriented
Artificial intelligence technology, the escalating severity of climate change, new types of hybrid warfare, the rollback of globalization, the mobilization of culture, art, and civil society, international terrorism, and the re-division of the world into new poles are driving us toward a vastly different world. In such a world, just as war is too important
At the recent NATO leaders summit in Washington, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea were described as the “hostile camp” to the Alliance in harsher terms than ever before, sharpening fault lines. The decision to hold the 2026 NATO Leaders Summit in Türkiye was perhaps the most important decision for us. The joint statement also
Last week there were news reports about a possible meeting between President Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, where Erdoğan was present as a dialogue partner. His meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was of particular importance but Erdoğan met with leaders of a number of