The three-hour meeting between interim Syrian President Ahmed Shara and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara marked a historic moment in regional politics. Shara, arriving in a Turkish presidential aircraft from Damascus, was welcomed with full state honors, and the leaders discussed a wide range of issues from security cooperation
On the evening of January 16, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) Foreign Relations office made a brief but significant post on their X account. The English message was succinct: “United we stand, divided we fall. President Masoud Barzani met with SDF Commander Mazlum Abdi in Erbil.” The announcement came immediately after the meeting. The post
The mayor of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, Rıza Akpolat from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been arrested and suspended from his duties, marking a significant escalation in Türkiye’s political tensions. The Ministry of Interior announced Akpolat’s suspension from his position as a “temporary measure” following his arrest on charges of “membership in a criminal
Syria’s interim Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shibani met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 15 in Ankara, marking the first such visit since the recent regime change in Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also present at the closed-door meeting held at the Presidential Compound in Beştepe district in Ankara. The high-level meeting
In light of recent developments, the CHP Central Headquarters is running out of options: as consecutive lawsuits mount against its mayors, the party is force to spent all its energy on defending them. The latest example was the detention of İstanbul’s Beşiktaş district Mayor Rıza Akpolat on corruption charges. CHP’s pledge to take to the
When President Tayyip Erdoğan began reciting the opening verses of Surah Al-Fath in Arabic during his Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group meeting on December 25, amid chants of “Conqueror of Syria,” I wrote in my notebook “We’re going into Syria.” However, launching an operation against the PKK/YPG in Syria is one thing; conquest
The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Britain met in Warsaw on November 19th, hosted by Poland’s foreign minister. This followed an EU Foreign Ministers meeting the previous day. Although Britain is no longer an EU member, Europe’s most influential members chose to include Britain in making a joint statement against Russia. The
Turkish National Intelligence Organization’s (MİT) Legal Counsel Fuat Midas explains the concept of “Influence Espionage” through examples, without naming specific countries: “Consider a scenario where someone plans to assassinate a foreign national in a third country. They’re trafficking explosives and materials through our country from another country in the East. They intend to use our
President Tayyip Erdoğan delivered two significant speeches on November 10th, signaling Türkiye’s intention to launch a major political-military initiative in the “upcoming period.” The first speech was delivered on the 86th commemoration of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s death, the founder of the Turkish Republic. The second followed a Cabinet Meeting at Çankaya Mansion—the historic presidential residence
The rhetoric of a “new and civil constitution” and “liberation from the coup constitution,” frequently voiced by ministers appointed by President Erdoğan and AK Party officials since 12 September 2023, is not resonating with the public. The weakest point of Erdoğan’s discourse is the ambiguity regarding the reasons behind proposing a new and civil constitution.