The ongoing military conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is leading to a new wave of tension in the Middle East. While Israel is supported by a strong defensive wall of Western allies led by the US and Britain, the Palestinians, despite the inability of Muslim nations to present a united front of the Islamic world, nevertheless has the strong support of Iran. Ever since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, triggering the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict…

Most politicians and experts would agree that over the past 15-20 years relations between Turkey and Iraq, even leaving aside the historic Mosul issue, have had their ups and downs, mainly as a result of three different problems. The first of these is Turkey’s military presence in Iraqi Kurdistan, the second is the sharing of water resources in trans-boundary rivers, and finally there is the issue of Kurdish…

Much remains uncertain about the prolonged Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, not least how long hostilities will continue and what political mechanisms could help bring about a settlement. Against this backdrop, Turkey, or, rather its President Recep Erdoğan continues to accuse Israel of committing war crimes and other atrocities against the Palestinians…

The issue of European integration and Turkey’s eventual accession to the EU remains a strategic prospect for Ankara. However, these plans are still far from reality due to the special position of some key EU players. Perhaps the position of a united Europe will change after the next European Parliament elections. However, Turkish politicians are hardly naive in their calculations for a speedy resolution of the issue of Turkey’s EU membership…

I needed some fresh mindful thinking on Turkey a paradigm shift after the recent Turkish local elections, and what they mean, if anything. It is now clear that Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has suffered an unprecedented defeat that represents more than an election defeat, and a win for the so-called more “progressive” West. This news may be a game changer, for both Turkish domestic politics and its foreign policy…

The Scottish aristocrat and British Prime Minister (1963-1964) Sir Alec Douglas-Hume once said: “There are two problems in my life. The political problems are insoluble and the economic problems are incomprehensible.” His words also reflect very closely the economic realities of modern Turkey. Recep Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 amid an economic crisis and widespread criticism of the economic policies of the previous government, led by Bülent Ejavit, which had seen the country’s GDP fall by 10 percent…

Turkey is planning a massive ground operation in Northern Iraq with the aim of liquidating the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq, which it designates as a terrorist organisation. According to Hürriyet, a publication with close ties to the Turkish government, the operation is scheduled for this summer and will be supported by the intelligence services in Baghdad and Erbil, which will also take measures against PKK activity in Sulaymaniye and Sinjar. The operation aims to close off the Turkish-Iraqi border completely…

Against the backdrop of the secondary sanctions adopted by the United States against countries that violate the embargo regime imposed on Russia, since the beginning of 2024 Turkey has started to take actions that are inconsistent with the course of the strategic partnership (at least in the sphere of trade and economic relations), willingly or unwillingly. In particular, we have witnessed the refusal of Turkish banks to accept payments from Russian legal entities and now from Turkish exporters of goods to the Russian market (except for agricultural products). Finally, some Turkish terminals have been refusing to accept…

Turkey, currently strengthening its position in the international arena, is seeking to bring about a multipolar world, with itself as the leader of the Turkic pole. As part of its Turan project, Ankara is now focusing its attention on the southeastern area of the post-Soviet space. Technically, it could be said that the relevant international pan-Turkic structure already exists, in the form of the Organization of Turkic States…

From the very beginning of Zelenskyy’s presidency, Ukraine was (and still is) both a window of opportunity for Turkey and an extremely delicate area of manoeuvring between Russia and Western countries. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meets regularly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president has travelled to Istanbul or Ankara once a year since 2019 (with the exception of 2022), while Recep Erdoğan visited Kiev in 2020 and twice in 2022…

In recent months, the Horn of Africa has become one of the world’s most active sources of political news. No sooner have analysts discussed the reasons for the signing, possible ways of implementation and possible consequences of the Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland, than new stories have appeared on the agenda. In particular, we are talking about the agreement signed between Turkey and the Federal Government of Somalia on 22 February 2024. Formally, the Turkish side undertook only to provide…

There can be no permanence in relations between states (even more true for those with imperial pasts) due to the nature of conflicting interests and “changeable weather” in geographical latitudes (simply put, geopolitical conjuncture). In this respect, Turkey and Russia are an example of both convergence and divergence of approaches. Naturally, such a shift is predominantly determined by the objective state of the Russian state’s power. If Russia demonstrates strength, Turkey tries to maneuver and gain benefits. If the Kremlin loses its power, Ak Saray tries to finish it off in alliance with our main adversaries in the West…