Author: Turkiye Scoop

Nation branding has gained pace in Türkiye in recent years with a special emphasis on diplomacy, culture and defense besides the already popular tourism sector. Being a strategy that results from an effort to stand out on the international scene, the upcoming years will see Ankara focus on enhancing a positive perception while branding its strengths. Although Türkiye currently ranks 37th out of 60 countries in the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index of 2023, the country is set on increasing its rank and has created the Türkiye Brand Office within this scope in 2022. Ankara’s branding effort can potentially boost economic…

Having been the predominant lands of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, Türkiye and the Balkans region enjoy significant historical and cultural ties. However, in the past decades, these two old partners have forgotten how to healthily advance mutually beneficial cooperation and must reexplore dialogue. In the early years of the republic and following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Türkiye refrained from engaging in any kind of territorial claims in the Balkans but rather started to establish official ties with the new states. In 1934, it also signed the Balkan Entente with the focus of ensuring regional peace, restore stability…

For the first time in over a decade, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is heading to Egypt on Feb. 14 for a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that could normalize long-strained ties and ultimately help ease increasingly alarming tensions in their immediate region. Intensifying communication and cooperation between Türkiye and Egypt, the two power players of the Middle East, would both help reduce regional tensions and establish a permanent, sustainable framework for true regional stability, according to Ferhat Pirinççi, an expert on the Middle East, Turkish foreign policy and a professor of International Politics at Uludağ University. “Normalization is…

A crucial visit by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Libya highlights the continuing importance Türkiye attaches to the North African country and that it aims to reinvigorate efforts for unification. Türkiye’s Libya policy entered a new phase after normalization processes with several countries that had been involved in the oil-rich country. Especially the resuming of ties with Egypt, which shares a 1,115-kilometer (693-mile) border with Libya, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which sponsored Gen. Khalifa Haftar, in recent years, have significant implications for future policies. Noteworthy is also that following Fidan’s visit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit these…

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) election manifesto on Tuesday, building on the party’s years of experience in municipality works and emphasizing a vision for future challenges. The AK Party’s understanding of municipalism dates back to Erdoğan being elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994. His success in the metropolitan city opened the path for Erdoğan to become his first prime minister in 2003 and eventually, president in 2014, after which he could convey his experience in municipal works to a country-wide level of services. After Türkiye switched to the presidential system, strengthening the…

Ankara’s and Tehran’s parallel stances regarding the ongoing war on Gaza are unlikely to spread into other fields of cooperation as the two countries’ geopolitical rivalry lingers and ideological differences constitute barriers. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday agreed on the need to avert the Israel-Hamas war from engulfing the entire Middle East region. The conflict has already spread across the region. Aside from Gaza, the theater of conflict with the widest international repercussions has been the Red Sea, where the Houthis have repeatedly targeted shipping they say is bound for or linked to Israel.…

As the critical March 31 local elections near, Türkiye’s political parties try to form alliances or other cooperation models to increase their votes in provinces. Yet a dispirited and disunited opposition raises questions on a possible victory for opposition voters while strengthening the ruling alliance’s hand. The core of the race for the local elections will be the three metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Voters’ eyes have turned especially toward the country’s economic and cultural capital, Istanbul, which also faces the pressing risk of an upcoming earthquake in the near future. Ekrem Imamoğlu, 52, the current mayor of…

Türkiye could act as a mediator should a recent controversial port deal between Ethiopia and the self-declared Republic of Somaliland spiral into a regional crisis, according to an expert in international politics. The two sides signed a deal on Jan. 1 to grant landlocked Ethiopia commercial and military access to the Red Sea in return for recognition of Somaliland as an independent nation. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s stated ambition to secure access to the Red Sea is a source of tension between the Horn of Africa nation and its neighbors. It has raised concerns of a fresh conflict in…

As Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza continue to claim civilian lives by the day, the world and especially societies in the Middle East are losing hope in universal values and a global justice system championed by the West so far. Months have passed, and more than 20,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza, mostly children. However, despite the mounting number of civilian deaths and war crimes committed by Israel, neither the U.S. nor the EU have raised their voice enough to stop and condemn the attacks. Hamas’ attack on Israel can be condemned while Israel’s attack on Gaza is…