Although Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş recently criticized the lack of cohesion and disorganization in the Islamic world regarding the struggle of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, there is still significant activity in the Middle East by pro-Iranian forces against Israel. The Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon are among the groups at the forefront of the pro-Palestinian movement. They have been carrying out attacks on Israel and its allies in the region, which is creating a new reality in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since November 2023, the Houthi militia…

The Republic of Türkiye is currently at a political crossroads. Throughout the post-war period, Turkey has sought to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures. However, it has also developed very strong relations with Russia and Iran over the past decades. The Russian special military operation against the Kiev regime has significantly complicated Turkey’s foreign policy maneuvering and divided public opinion. The tension was evident during the Turkish presidential campaign, as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won with only 52% of the vote, even after the second round. Turkey’s current situation necessitates caution…

In the first quarter of the 21st century, Turkey has demonstrated a confident and resolute policy aimed at changing its age-old status of a regional state towards a super-regional power and one of the centers of the multipolar world (in particular, the leader of the Turkic world). In principle, the strategy of imperial revanchism has never left the political thinking of the Turkish elite after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. Under the leadership of Kemal Atatürk, Turkey was forced to accept the status of a regional state due to its defeat in World War I and the loss of key territories in the Balkans…

The issue of Sweden’s accession to NATO has once again acquired new facets of Turkish-Western (or rather, as the Jewish anecdote goes, Turkish-American) contradictions. Since May 2022, i.e. since Stockholm approached NATO for Sweden’s admission, Turkey has become the main obstacle to a positive resolution of the issue. Initially, Ankara’s demands included the Kurdish issue (more precisely, the fight against Kurdish terrorism and separatism), which was viewed rather liberally by the Swedish democracy. Turkey demanded to toughen Swedish…

The 44th summit of the Supreme Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Doha was a significant event in several respects. The session was the first to be held outside Saudi Arabia since 2018 and the first hosted by Qatar since the signing of the Alul Declaration in January 2021, ending a three-year diplomatic rift between a number of Arab countries. The summit was held under special circumstances as the region is witnessing many unfortunate events, most notably the ongoing carnage in the Gaza Strip. These are extremely important developments that have many implications for the GCC and regional security…

It is no secret that politics is a concentrated expression of economics. This thesis is most relevant for Turkey’s foreign policy course, which changes its direction mainly depending on rising financial flows. The Turkish economy, which has been in deep recession in recent years, is heavily dependent on foreign currency interventions and various kinds of credits and loans. It should be recalled that President R.T. Erdogan put his own state in a debt hole by adhering to a conservative economic model that envisaged…

More and more Israeli newspapers are printing articles accusing Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of failing to ensure the security of Israel and its people. Israel’s main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, regularly makes headlines with his harsh criticism. In calling for the resignation of Israel’s prime minister over the colossal intelligence failure of 7 October, Yair Lapid echoed the growing mood of right-wing extremist discontent among the Israeli population and even within his own government over the actions of the current president. “One who failed in this way cannot continue his activities…

Since June 2023, when Recep Erdoğan was reelected as president, Turkey’s economy has, once again, been going through difficult times. Given the scale of the financial crisis and the consequences of February’s devastating earthquake, Recep Erdoğan was forced to appoint technocrats with degrees from US business schools to the government’s financial team. The two new appointees, Mehmet Şimşek (Minister of Treasury and Finance and Treasury) and Hafizeh Gaye Erkan (Governor of the Central Bank), in a bid to stabilize prices, have pushed through a number of tough…

In early November this year, after the visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Ankara, the media announced that the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would be visiting Turkey in late November to meet with President Recep Erdoğan. Some sources were even more specific, claiming the visit would take place on November 28-29. But that visit did not take place – leading to suggestions that it may have been postponed. So, what can have happened in relations between Iran and Turkey over the last few weeks to cause this meeting between two key Middle Eastern countries to be cancelled or postponed?

The latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict has once again focused the attention of media and politicians around the world on the situation in the Middle East. In the second month of the ongoing war, it is evident (as on previous occasions when protracted hostilities broke out between Palestine and Israel) that the international community is divided in its assessments of and reactions to the situation. The US and most European countries are still unequivocally pro-Israeli, both in terms of their statements and their more tangible support. The Islamic world, as far as its verbal declarations…

Anti-Israel sentiment is rising globally in light of the events in the Gaza Strip and the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing disproportionate strikes on civilian targets, including hospitals, in the name of combating Hamas. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy, declared the end of diplomatic ties with “Bibi”, charged Tel Aviv of “war crimes”, and pledged to do the necessary research and gather proof to present to the appropriate international bodies. So, as Erdoğan’s words should not contradict his actions, the Turkish leader…

Media reported that on the 47^th day of the current Palestinian-Israeli war, the parties reached a deal for a four-day pause in fighting. This truce deal is aimed primarily at the exchange of hostages and the supply of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. “We will have to make difficult and important decisions regarding the hostages in the coming days,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on 21 November after visiting the headquarters of the army’s Gaza division…