By Mehmet Öğütçü and Rainer Geiger The Middle East, scarred by years of political instability and economic upheaval, finds itself at a critical juncture. The crises in Syria and Lebanon lay bare the region’s fragility in stark terms. Yet, within this profound crisis lies a unique opportunity to rebuild the Middle East anew. No single
Apart from the impulse to get out of the economic crisis, what other force, do you think, could have made President Tayyip Erdoğan visit Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with whom he had frozen relations calling him a “coup plotter”, and send him messages of friendship and cooperation? And don’t say for the sake of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a political master of disguise who has a unique boldness in making sharp changes in his politicking. While some could say Erdoğan is only doing things that are politically expedient without an actual ideology, he started to do better dealing with pressing foreign policy issues, because no matter how
Until last week, President Tayyip Erdoğan had not been utilising the US-bashing discourse. The foreign policy items such as demand for the F-16 fighter jets, the YPG issue in Syria, and the $100 billion trade volume prevented him from using the anti-US rhetoric that would have cemented his image as a world leader in the
After the 6 February earthquake disaster, many experts examined whether there will be an impact or change in our foreign policy as a result of the aid and support provided to our country by more than a hundred countries. While our country is healing its wounds, this assistance asserts the human element. Turkey has also
Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in order to postpone Türkiye’s energy debts, opposition leader Ahmet Davutoğlu said, describing Ankara’s foreign policy normalisation efforts as ill-timed and “humiliating,” aiming to compensate economic loss. “The government is drifting from controlled tensions based on domestic use
A favourite phrase by Turkish government officials these days is that they are “implementing a foreign policy with a 360 degree outlook which is cemented on friendship”. I’m assuming the message is that they are weighing every possible policy angle before making a decision but the ultimate aim is friendship. Actual policy and reality on
Turkey’s populist-driven foreign policies are coming back to bite us and Erdoğan’s government is unable to formulate solutions for the impasse they themselves created. This reality is especially urgent in Syria. Elections are coming up and one of the bigger determinants for voters is the economic and sociological costs of hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees.