The meeting of the Russian and Turkish heads of state at the SCO summit in Astana did not resolve all existing issues, but showed ‘progressive development’ of bilateral relations…

“A bad peace is better than a good war,” so says a Russian proverb. “If the Turks speak of peace, prepare for war,” so says a Greek proverb. So, what kind of peace is Turkey offering in the Russian-Ukrainian case?

Over the past two decades, Turkey has pursued and is pursuing an increasingly active and interventionist foreign policy in line with geopolitical transformations and structural challenges of regional conflicts. With fewer internal restrictions, the Turkish political apparatus and, above all, the President of the Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had enough room for manoeuvre and flexibility to formulate an ambitious foreign policy, which has at times led to an aggravation of relations with both global and regional players…

Turkey’s advantageous geography makes it an attractive participant in important international organisations, which strengthens the country’s sovereignty. BRICS is gaining geopolitical and geo-economic momentum and Ankara is considering with whom and in which direction it should go…

Ankara’s promotion of its UAVs on the African arms market played a major role in strengthening Turkish influence on the continent. The Bayraktar TB2 model, which, with a wingspan of 12 metres and a flight time of 27 hours, carrying 4 laser-guided missiles, has become not only a symbol of Turkish weaponry in many parts of the world, but has also become an effective tool of Turkish foreign policy.

Turkish engagement with the continent, the African Institute for Policy Studies of the Federal Republic of Germany notes, is based on economic development, military co-operation, humanitarian aid, cultural and religious ties, and the training of African personnel…

World history shows that an independent policy of a charismatic leader of an important state often leads to a foreign interference, i.e. a coup d’état and the overthrow of the undesirable ruler. When all the “arguments” of diplomacy and economic pressure fail to achieve their goals, they use covert operations of special services and subversive organizations under their control to carry out a coup d’état as legitimate or illegitimate removal of the current leader from power. In this regard, Türkiye has quite a lot of experience in internal political intrigues and external interventions with successful and failed attempts to overthrow the legitimate government.

At the beginning of the 21st century, faced with serious delays in joining the EU, Turkey’s military and political leadership began to realise the need to fundamentally rethink its foreign policy priorities. It was within this paradigm that it began to view the African continent as a region where it could expand its presence and influence and find new partners to pursue an ambitious, independent foreign policy “without looking to the West”…

Ankara wants to outline the contours of a new relationship with Washington, while the White House is looking for an opportunity to engage with a recalcitrant Erdoğan and strengthen its regional and global influence in today’s era of growing great power competition…

The security of the state includes many components with energy security playing a special role. The degree of development and security of the energy sector determines to a large extent the economic, social and defense aspects of the state. The availability of a country’s own natural energy resources (in particular, oil and gas) and technologies (green energy production, nuclear energy, processing plants) naturally creates both competitive advantages and a sufficient level of energy security and independence…

It is no secret that since the times of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish diplomacy, especially after the onset of the decline of the Sublime Porte at the beginning of the 19th century, commenced adapting to the international conjuncture and ‘maneuvering’ between different centers of power (in particular, between Britain, France, Germany and Russia). This tendency, on the one hand, was determined by the weakening of Turkish…

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan is expected to pay an official visit to the United States in early May this year, with a full agenda of talks with President Joseph Biden. One of the key issues on the Turkish-American agenda will be the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and options of settlement. What can the summit in Washington shed light on? It is well known that Turkey at first officially took the position of a peacemaker in the situation in Ukraine…