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
The NATO foreign ministers meeting on Dec. 1 and 2 presented initial signals that the stance of U.S. president-elect Joe Biden’s administration to Turkey will be tougher than outgoing Donald Trump. And it is understood that the impact of an approaching big storm in U.S.-Turkey ties will not be limited and it will also affect
Just one day ahead of the crucial Dec. 1-2 meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO countries, Turkey announced that the Oruç Reis seismic research ship, whose presence in the eastern Mediterranean has turned into a crisis, has left the debated field. The Energy Ministry said the Oruç Reis ship returned to Turkey’s Mediterranean
While politics in America is witnessing the rise of the far-right, few in Turkey are paying attention. Turkish policymakers and the public are focused on the election of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States and its potential externalities on American foreign policy. In the meantime, in the United States, the rise
President Tayyip Erdoğan reproaches the party members at his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) provincial congresses, asking “Where is that old storm of applause?” as he says every once in a while that “We see our self as part of Europe” and these are for a reason. Because the 10-day “Storm December” is coming.