The photos taken during Erdoğan’s meeting with Putin at the Shanghai Summit reveal a lot about Turkey-Russia relations and, beyond that, East-West relations. (Photos: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) I obtained the photos from the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram page. They are from the meeting between President Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on
The three-hour meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 at the Elmendorf–Richardson Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, bore some resemblance to the Yalta Conference of 1945, which marked the end of World War II. Eighty years ago, the United States, the Soviet Union (USSR), and the United
The US-brokered peace accord between Azerbaijan and Armenia, signed at the White House under President Donald Trump’s mediation, is being celebrated as a landmark in conflict resolution. However, beyond ending decades of hostility, it has created a rare geopolitical opportunity for Türkiye to advance its regional strategy and reshape the South Caucasus’ security and connectivity
The Ukraine-Russia ceasefire and Iran-Europe nuclear talks are being hosted by Türkiye this week in Istanbul, with a two-day interval between them. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations will hold their third round of talks this year on Wednesday, July 23, in İstanbul. The discussions will focus on ceasefire conditions, but the likelihood of reaching an
Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in İstanbul on May 16 for possible peace talks. These are the third round of negotiations between the two countries, since the Russian war on Ukraine started in 2022; the previous two were also held in Türkiye with the mediation of the Turkish government. This time, a high-ranking US delegation
On May 7, the European Parliament approved, by majority vote, the report of Türkiye rapporteur Nacho Sánchez Amor during its session in Strasbourg. The report largely reiterates concerns that have been voiced since 2018. It emphasizes that Türkiye’s democratic standards have significantly deteriorated due to its counter-terrorism legislation, the lack of cooperation between Turkish law
The return of Donald Trump to the White House has reshaped global geopolitics overnight. His administration’s reassertion of the America First doctrine, alongside public threats to reduce US commitments to NATO and pressuring European nations to shoulder more of their own defense costs, has placed the European Union at a crossroads. While Europe has long
Following a cabinet meeting on February 24, President Tayyip Erdoğan made provocative statements likely to irritate European Union officials already caught between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Erdoğan, “liberal democracy, the most captivating ideology of the last century, has entered a serious crisis and impasse.” He claims the resulting
Ukraine’s recent attempt to attack the TurkStream pipeline represents an alarming and perilous escalation. The fact that this initiative failed should not bring us comfort; after all, a similar attempt occurred in May 2023, and there is no assurance that future attacks will be thwarted. Should another assault take place, we would find ourselves unable
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler made significant statements about Türkiye’s armament program during his ministry’s 2025 budget defense at the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission on November 26. According to his statements, the United States, which had previously expelled Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, has apparently