Kos’s visit was interpreted both as a response to the government’s statements and initiatives aimed at rapprochement with the EU, and to the call made by the Turkish business community—through an advertisement published in the Financial Times in recent days—that in the new global imbalance, the EU needs Türkiye more than ever. Updating the Customs
Should the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye extend the “right to hope” to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, this practice would also cover Selahattin Demirtaş, Osman Kavala, and all prisoners in similar situations. On the evening of 5 February, after confirming this information in Ankara’s political circles, I was granted permission to report it on the
US and Iranian delegations are expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday, February 6, at Türkiye’s initiative. If it goes ahead, the talks between US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will be hosted by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. This would mark the first
On January 31, the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) published a full-page advertisement in the Financial Times. The ad was titled “An Open Letter from the Turkish Business Community to EU Leaders.” It was addressed to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, European Council President Antonio Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Beneath
The longer version of the headline is straightforward: Why are letters addressed to Brussels no longer effective—and why does the European Union need a new story with Türkiye? When I first came across the open letter prepared by the Turkish business community through DEİK and published on 31 January as a paid announcement in the
“Casus belli” is one of the hundreds of terms Latin has contributed to international law. When pronounced in Turkish exactly as it is written, it takes on a completely different meaning. Unfortunately, some high-profile television hosts and so-called strategy analysts—whose credibility is often self-proclaimed—continue to look for a “spy,” as if they were in a
In mathematics, when solving systems of equations with multiple unknowns, there is the concept of a “temporary variable,” or in the terminology of statistics and economics, a “dummy variable.” If the number of equations you need to solve exceeds the number of variables, you invent variables to fill the gaps in the matrix. Once a
U.S. Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said that his country no longer needs the SDF as the “primary ground force” in the fight against ISIS in Syria, and that its original purpose has “come to an end.” In a long message published on his X account (*) following his January
After the Syrian army pushed back SDF forces during a military operation that has been ongoing for the past two weeks, Syrian President Ahmed Shara announced on the evening of January 18 that a ceasefire had been reached with the SDF in northeastern Syria. According to the ceasefire agreement, the SDF will hand over
The most perilous moments are not when harsh words are exchanged, but when silence lingers. In international politics, vacuums do not remain empty. They are filled by the other side’s confidence, incremental moves, and faits accomplis that, over time, harden into a new reality. This is precisely the threshold the Aegean now stands upon. As