The Middle East Political and Economic Affairs: Reporting and analysis of major political and economic developments in the Middle East, Turkey being a key player in the region.
The government is holding the Turkish public opinion with agendas like reopening Hagia Sophia as a mosque, the debate about the Istanbul Convention against violence against women, internet bans. But this does not mean that nothing is happening in foreign policy; the usual subject to distract attention from difficulties in the economy. On the contrary,
Now that Libya’s Eastern and Western neighbours, Egypt and Algeria, have also declared their supports for Turkey and Russia’s call made on January 8 for a ceasefire in Libya from January 12, the prospect of war in the Mediterranean has been replaced by the prospect of the peace talks to be held in Germany.It looks
It appears Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan is feeling highly disgruntled and resentful of U.S. President Donald Trump for not notifying him in advance that they were going to shoot Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. He expressed his feelings on the evening of January 5 as such: “We had a conversation with Trump on that evening; this
In a rather strong statement, Turkish Foreign Ministry said on January 3 that the U.S. air operation which reportedly killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq could increase the insecurity and instability in the Middle East. “We are deeply concerned about the rising tension between the USA and Iran” the written statement said; “We
Killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani through a U.S. strike in Iraq could be the “beginning of new and bigger problems” in the Middle East, said Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on January 3. During a press conference in Ankara, Kılıçdaroğlu said that Turkey, as a neighbour of both
President Tayyip Erdoğan’s December 9 statement on the public TRT channel about the possibility of Turkey sending troops if the Libyan government requests it, has shifted the international attention from Syria to Libya. This claim preceded the December 14 presidential decree granting visa exemptions to Libyan passport holders who are “younger than 16 and older
Russian and Turkish soldiers’ joint patrol against the YPG militants along the Turkey-Syria border started on November 1. It was followed by two key developments. One was a bomb attack in the Tel Abyad marketplace, resulting in the deaths of 13 and injuries of 20 people. On the same day, on November 2, demonstrations took
Following the U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin not to allow the establishment of a Kurdish state in Syria; and Putin convinced Erdoğan to cooperate with the Syrian regime, if not personally with Bashar al-Assad. Two hours before the expiry of a 120-deadline deal between the U.S.
According to diplomatic sources who want to stay anonymous, Russia played a key role in the deal between Turkey and the U.S. on October 17 for a possible Safe Zone in Syria, as the deadline for U.S. to evacuate YPG/PKK militants from Turkish operation area in return ceasing the fire expires on October 22 night.
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