The failure of the ‘Friends of Syria’ platform – a Turkish initiative – and the formation of the Syrian National Council (SNC) over the summer of 2011, following Turkey’s warning that called on Syria to make urgent reforms after Turkish Prime Minister Davutoǧlu’s trip to Damascus on 9 August 2011, were instrumental in empowering the […]
Continue readingThe collapse of the Turkish-Kurdish peace process[1] in July 2015 and renewed fighting seemingly pushed the situation back to square one. What led to this failure? Despite incredible progress toward a resolution, the two sides proved unable to bridge the enormous gap between them. On the one hand, the government of Turkish president Recep Tayyip […]
Continue readingThe rivalry over disputed region Nagorno-Karabakh has begun since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The conflict lasted about three years, costs the life of more than 30.000 people from both sides while the territory was illegally occupied. Although a ceasefire agreement has been reached between both of sides in 1994, the conflict has not […]
Continue reading“Libya needs a strong government” tweeted the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Martin Kobler on 20 January 2016. Yet the Government of National Accord that was announced on 19 January and that emerged out of the signing of the UNSMIL sponsored Libyan political agreement in Morocco in December 2015 is precisely […]
Continue readingThe New Turkey: Quiet Revolution on the Edge of Europe. By Chris Morris. Granta Book, London, 2005. ISBN 13: 978-1-86207-865-9. 258 pages. Chris Morris, BBC correspondent, took me to a long “journey” with his short, but fair and comprehensive book, The New Turkey: The Quiet Revolution on the Edge of Europe. Throughout his acknowledgeable study, the author sets out a broad […]
Continue readingGlobal Security Watch: The Caucasus States by Houman A. Sadri (Praeger; California, 2010). 270 pages. $49.95. ISBN: 0-31337-980-7 Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, and nearly three since the war between Russia and Georgia brought the region onto the world’s TV screens, the Caucasus remains understudied and misunderstood. Too often it is written off […]
Continue reading“Aware that development and progress in real terms can only be achieved in a lasting peace and stability environment, Turkey places this objective at the very center of her foreign policy vision” reads out the very first paragraph of the website of the Turkish Foreign Ministry in the section devoted to the “Zero-Problem policy”. It has […]
Continue readingCurrently, the United States and its oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Moncrief Oil and others are widely and rather actively involved in the extraction of oil and gas resources from the Caspian Sea, which is one of the major alternatives to its oil import sources, such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf region countries. For instance, ExxonMobil and […]
Continue readingRumor has it that when asked “who is the best player in your team?”, legendary Germany coach Helmut Schoen replied “Gerd Mueller, of course”. Then the same journalist asked “who is the worst player in your team?”. Helmut Schoen replied “but Gerd Mueller, of course”. The diminutive forward was one of the best inside-the-box players […]
Continue readingIn this essay, I analyze contemporary Turkish foreign policy (TFP) according to three major perspectives in international relations theory: realism, liberalism and identity. I focus on TFP after 2002, because 2002 represents a turning point when AKP (Justice and Development Party) came into power and subsequently shaped the contemporary Turkish perspective on international relations. It […]
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