West Asia is living tectonic shifts at all of its corners, from the Palestine conflict over the Iranian-Israeli tensions, from Turkish-Iraqi agreements to rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus and its repercussions in the Ukraine conflict. We asked Ismail Hakkı Pekin, retired lieutenant-general of the Turkish Armed Forces and former Head of Intelligence at the General Staff, on his evaluations. Let ...
The US’s delivery of air defense systems to the PKK/YPG/PYD terrorist organization in northern Syria sparked reactions in the Turkish public. The Turkish Armed Forces made a statement condemning the US. The National Security Council provided important evaluations on terrorism, Syria, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and developing relations with African countries. Meanwhile, 102 athletes from Türkiye compete at ...
By Onur Sinan Güzaltan Some claim that the phrase “May you live in unusual times” is a Chinese malediction. Some say that the original Chinese saying is, “better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.” Let’s leave the truth to the linguists. Trump’s ear and maledictions What is left to us is ...
By Edvard Chesnokov On July 25, 2024, the Turkish authorities arrested and deported to Moscow the Russian national Evgeny Serebryakov, an alleged terrorist who had exploded the car of a high-ranked Russian Army officer in Moscow and fled to Bodrum the very previous day, July 24. Assumably Serbebryakov followed the commands of the NATO-backed Ukrainian secret services. Does it indicate ...
By Gürkan Demir, Tehran, Iran The normalization process between Ankara and Damascus, which had been suspended for a while, has been revived following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent statements. As the two countries are taking steps towards normalization, Tehran’s position continues to be a matter of curiosity. Dr. Hamid Roushencheshm, a Political Science Department lecturer at Islamic Azad University in ...
By Mehmet Perinçek Recently, the long-awaited and necessary developments in Türkiye-Syria relations have begun to surface. The announcements made in Ankara and Damascus are promising. However, for these positive signals to materialize and lead to concrete results, there are some critical points that need to be addressed. The aim: Strategic cooperation Firstly, the aim in Türkiye-Syria relations should not merely ...
Türkiye experienced a busy agenda last week. On the anniversary of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, there arose strong voices from leading political figures against the US for its continued support of FETÖ. Another significant topic is the normalization signals between Türkiye and Syria. Last week was also the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. Messages to the ...
By Mohamed Sabreen, Cairo / Egypt There is no doubt that Turkish-Syrian reconciliation is “inevitably coming.” Rather, we are witnessing a frantic race by the Turkish opposition to snatch the reconciliation card from the government’s hands and outperform Erdogan in the matter, head start to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is surprising that Erdogan is rushing reconciliation, and ...
Turkish President Erdoğan called it a “threat to national security” and added his country would not permit the establishment of a “Terroristan”. He referred to a planned referendum in the Northeast of Syria, east of the Euphrates. The self-declared autonomous entity here, militarily, politically and financially supported by the United States and led by the PKK’s Syrian branch, had announced ...
Both the weather and the political agenda are hot in Türkiye. President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the main opposition CHP’s headquarters for the first time in 18 years and met with his counterpart, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan participated in the BRICS meeting held in Russia at a time when Türkiye expressed its interest ...