Iran is developing an active foreign policy
In their assessments of Iran’s foreign policy after the 1979 February Revolution, experts often tend to have a one-sided and biased perception of Tehran’s diplomacy. In particular, a certain stereotype has emerged, according to which Iran, as the main Shiite Islamic state by religion, is the flagship of world Shiism, strives for absolute hegemony in the Islamic...
Iranian-Israeli tensions are doomed to escalate in the absence of Russia
After the collapse of the USSR and the weakening of Russia, Israel started to believe in its own exclusivity as the US’s main ally in the Middle East. In the interests of national security and unity in the face of an external enemy, the Israeli leadership (particularly under the right-wing Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu)...
Symbolism in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Politics
In he practice of political figures symbolism frequently manifests itself as a commitment to certain historical traditions established in national society and as an expression of consistent steps toward the future. This is a practice that can be found in both Eastern and Western politics. As the Ottoman Empire’s successor, modern Turkey holds the idea of reviving imperial status...
The anticipation of a retaliatory strike is even worse than the actual strike…
A real war always begins unexpectedly, even if the parties have been preparing for it for a long time. However, it is not uncommon for “big wars” to be provoked by small countries in the hope of becoming part of the clientele of major powers (allies). The recent provocations in the form of airstrikes against Iranian military facilities...
And Iran will neither capitulate nor give in…
Kamikaze drones struck Iran from the air again on the night of January 28-29, 2023. A number of cities, including Rasht, Khoy, Hamadan, Ban, Karaj, Tabriz, Mazandaran, Mahabad, and especially Isfahan, where nuclear research facilities and military factories are located were targeted. The sounds of gunfire and air-raid sirens rang out in Tehran itself, Javanrud, Rasht...
NATO and Turkey: an expulsion or a warning?..
All international political alliances (particularly military-political ones) are formed on the basis of shared interests and threats to two or more international relations subjects. In other words, there is something that unites and something against which the alliance is formed. NATO’s formation in 1949, led by the United States, signaled the beginning of a new era in international...
Iran and Saudi Arabia – rivalry or partnership?
Iran and Saudi Arabia stand out among many Middle Eastern states in terms of their status, historical content, natural resources, and scale. The regional security of the Middle East is also affected by the state of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, because each of them represents one of the Islamic world’s currents (Shiism and Sunnism), and their unique geographical...
The Kurdish issue in Turkish-American relations
The topic of this article, of course, is very complex, profound and ambiguous, which requires more fundamental case studies. The author does not claim to have comprehensive coverage of this issue but will nevertheless try to outline the main features of Turkish-American relations taking into account the Kurdish issue. The Kurdish issue remains...
Erdoğan – “Europe’s Sick Man”?…
As the date of the Turkish presidential elections approaches, the contours of outside interference in Turkish society become clearer. In the first month of 2023, John Bolton, former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, said that if incumbent Turkish President Recep Erdoğan remains in power, the question of suspending Turkey’s membership in NATO...
Operation “Gladio” as a new form of confrontation between F. Gülen and R. Erdogan
Over the past 20 years of the new century, for various reasons, relations within the NATO alliance have undergone certain transformations. It should be acknowledged that after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR, for some time the threat of nuclear confrontation between the leading powers was lessened...
Unrelenting Turkish-Greek tensions
Centuries change, epochs succeed one another … It seemed that antagonistic contradictions between peoples and states should be a thing of the past, that a historical decision should lead to the formation of civilized relations between former adversaries and enemies. However, not only does time have no power over collective memory, but sometimes...
2023 presidential election: Turkey’s fate in the hands of its citizens
Turkey, by virtue of its objective geographical position, occupies an important position in the Middle East, has a key influence on regional developments, remains relevant on NATO’s southern flank and controls strategic communications at the junction of three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa). Consequently, many processes...