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
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
The path to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was opened for senior Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioğlu. On December 3, the OSCE Permanent Council, which convened in Vienna, unanimously decided to submit Sinirlioğlu’s position as Secretary-General for approval by the OSCE Foreign Ministers to be held on November 5-6 in Valetta, Malta.
Like many others, I have been watching Türkiye’s policies regarding immigrants, refugees, and foreigners, especially the citizenship process, with growing concern for a long time. The lack of transparency, ambiguous statistics, and the failure to clearly articulate the purpose of the pursued policies have transformed this process into one of the worst examples in the
Turkish Defense Minister Güler stated that due to shifting geopolitical dynamics, the US could reinstate Türkiye in the F-35 program despite its possession of Russian S-400 missiles. Turkish National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced that the US might readmit Türkiye to the F-35 sales program despite its possession of Russian-made S-400 missiles, confirming that a
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 second Donald Trump era begins in the United States. He said “America’s golden age” had begun in his victory speech. President Tayyip Erdoğan celebrated by wishing for a “more just world.” Preliminary assessments suggest that one of the most important factors in the Republicans winning the election with Trump was the Democrats’ inability to
On October 30th, the European Commission published its annual report assessing the candidate countries’ progress over the last year. Türkiye is still among them. At the very beginning of the report, it is stated that Türkiye is a candidate for membership. However, Türkiye is not seen as such. Every time Commission President Ursula von der