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
Approximately one hour after Turksih President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated during the October 1 parliamentary opening that Israel has set its sights on Anatolia, American news outlets began reporting, citing intelligence sources, that Iran would launch a missile attack on Israel “within hours.” These reports included specificts about the types of Iran’s missiles, their estimated
Discussions about Türkiye-Iran relations often begin by emphasizing that the borders between the two countries have remained unchanged since the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab. This enduring stability is symbolic of the deep historical ties, political stability, and respect for the status quo despite centuries of fluctuating relations. Beyond the Sunni-Shia divide, these long-standing ties have
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on August 12 and, summarizing from the American State Department’s statement, asked Türkiye to use its influence to get Hamas to return to the negotiation table with Israel on August 15. Fidan, as I summarize from Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli’s statement, told him
No official statement has yet been made regarding how Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. However, several emerging scenarios are gradually taking shape. These scenarios primarily revolve around whether the attack was carried out from external or internal sources. On the
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish government officials issued strong condemnations following the assasination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureu, in Tehran, Iran. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his “outrage” and “denounced the treacherous assassination” on the social media platform X on July 31, calling it “a delibarate attempt to undermine the
February 9 might mark a beginning of a new era in relations with the U.S. and Türkiye, depending on the news about the F-16 sales expected from Congress. It would be prudent to be cautious, but the US State Department’s statement on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to Türkiye can be considered one of
On Saturday, October 14th, marches for solidarity with Palestinian people and condemning Israel for civilian deaths took place in Istanbul (and many cities in Türkiye), as they did in many cities worldwide. It was the 7th day of the bloody clashes that began with the October 7 attack by Hamas upon Israel. Crowds of tens
The number of those killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on the morning of October 7 was more than 600 from both sides as of the late hours of October 8. In some Israeli towns, clashes between Israeli soldiers and police and Hamas militants who had infiltrated the Gaza Strip continued. The Israeli army
President Tayyip Erdoğan’s day-long visit on September 25 to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan, bordering Türkiye, is important for changing the political and military balance in the Caucasus. Erdoğan’s visit, which was decided upon the invitation of Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev, comes on the heels of Azerbaijan’s military operation on September 19-20, which resulted