At the recent NATO leaders summit in Washington, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea were described as the “hostile camp” to the Alliance in harsher terms than ever before, sharpening fault lines. The decision to hold the 2026 NATO Leaders Summit in Türkiye was perhaps the most important decision for us. The joint statement also
What put Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s trip to China on the global agenda was neither Türkiye’s desire to attract investment and economic cooperation from China nor the fact that he was the highest-ranking Turkish official to visit Uyghur Turks in China’s Xinjiang province after 12 years. It was the BRICS issue, sparked by a report
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the Financial Times on April 28 that negotiations were continuing with the US energy giant Exxon Mobil for 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth 1.1 billion dollars. The Minister was talking about Türkiye’s need to diversify its resources to avoid being dependent on “a single supplier”;
Very early this morning, I talked to the Dubai-based Gulf Intelligence, one of the world’s leading energy think tanks, about the latest developments in the world, our region and Turkey. What follows is a succinct summary of what I elaborated. Accelerating the energy transition is a “fantasy” Green energy transformation is, of course, a process
Since the bloody attack on the concert hall in Moscow, I have been speaking with sources from the intelligence, security, and diplomatic circles. The point they all converge on is that the March 22 attack of the ISIS Khorasan province branch, (ISIS-K) which killed 139 people in Moscow, differs from known ISIS actions in terms
Following the partial construction of the 4GW reactor at the Mersin Akkuyu nuclear power plant, news is circulating that a new tender will be awarded to the Russian Rosatom for the construction of Türkiye’s second nuclear power plant in Sinop. Giving the green light to a new nuclear project, which will cost another 25 billion
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
After President Tayyip Erdoğan signed and sent the approval for Sweden’s NATO membership to the Turkish Parliament, U.S. President Joe Biden also notified Congress for the sale of 40 F-16 fighter jets and 79 upgrade kits to Türkiye for $23 billion. A 15-day process has commenced. To prevent the opposition in Congress from blocking the
Türkiye has approved Sweden’s participation in NATO’s Steadfast Defender 2024 military exercise, which is due to start this week, even though the nordic country is not yet a member. Steadfast Defender 2024, which starts this week and will last for three months, will be NATO’s largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War.
President Tayyip Erdoğan is on the verge of one of the most difficult decisions of his political life. He has to take this strategic step with high political risk not only as a president but also as a rulnig Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Parliament’s winter recess ends