Author: Dilara Aslan

“I think Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria,” were the words of the United States’ incoming president on the new realities faced by the two allies and the beginning of a new chapter. In 10 days, Donald Trump will take office, launching what many call “Trump 2.0.” Bearing repercussions for every continent, countries have for some time now recalibrated their policies to prepare for Trump’s return. What is expected are new approaches as well as a continuation of the trade wars and maximum pressure policies that we saw in his first term. Trump’s incoming has undoubtedly also…

The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara on Tuesday launched a series of events that will continue throughout 2025 to mark the 75th anniversary of bilateral ties with Türkiye as the two countries grow closer by the day and expand cooperation in several fields. Expressing that the two countries’ partnership has grown stronger over the decades, Jakarta’s Ambassador to Ankara Achmad Rizal Purnama said: “Together, we have strengthened our trade relations, celebrated our rich cultures and confronted our global challenges. Our nations have stood by each other. This spirit of solidarity shone in moments of need when Türkiye extended its support during…

2024 was a year in which Türkiye managed a turbulent Middle East while endeavoring to widen the scope of its foreign policy by focusing on several regions and actively participating in global platforms ranging from BRICS and the G-20 to the Conference of Asian Political Parties. Having normalized with a good deal of actors in the region, Ankara finds itself with new opportunities for cooperation and peace amid some of its immediate neighbors. Here is a look at its primary focus for 2025. Syria The most crucial development for Turkish foreign policy has undoubtedly been the fall of Bashar Assad.…

In October this year, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli made a pioneering yet striking call on the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to come forth and announce the end of PKK terrorism. However, more than two months later, the process seems to have stalled. Although initially, all significant parties were on board, supporting Bahçeli’s call, silence prevailed on one side while the calls became less bold. Let us have a look at the developments that have taken place since. The pro-PKK Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) – one of the most important actors in this process…

Israel, through launching a war on Gaza that killed tens of thousands and destroyed buildings and infrastructure in the strip, has forcefully created a one-state reality, an expert said. “The two-state solution is dead. The Israelis killed the two-state solution by continuing to build and colonize the West Bank, destroying any possibility for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. So, the Israelis have created a one-state reality,” Andrew March, an expert on Islamic political thought and modern political theory, told Daily Sabah. “The only question is whether that one-state reality will be humane, whether it will not involve the further…

Representatives from the media, government, private sector and nongovernmental organizations came together on Monday to work on a communications strategy for the fight against violence against women – an enduring problem that affects the everyday life of millions of women in Türkiye. A workshop organized by the Ministry of Family and Social Services in cooperation with Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University and led by Oğuz Göksu, head of the Press and Broadcasting Department of the Directorate of Communications, focused on creating a road map for the upcoming years and generated heated discussions in several areas. The working group on media,…

Neither Ankara nor the people of Syria or the new transition government will allow the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG, to act on its own or gain more room in Syria from now on, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said. Speaking to representatives of the media in the capital, Ankara, Güler said: “Our primary agenda is the dissolution of the PKK/YPG.” He said that Ankara conveyed the issue to the U.S. and awaits Washington to reevaluate its position. “The U.S. had a certain stance in Syria, yet the setting has changed,” Güler said. “From now on, everyone has to accept the…

The developments in Syria were quick to leave the attacks on Gaza in the background as the international community’s focus shifted away from the ongoing atrocities in the strip to a recurring conflict of 13 years. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group previously part of the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group that was renamed later, as well as several opposition groups, including the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), launched a military operation against the forces of the Bashar Assad regime on Nov. 27. The groups took the main northern city of Aleppo last week and have since pushed…

The International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) met this year under the theme “A Quest for Peace and Reconciliation” in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, bringing once again together significant politicians, members of the press and more. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was the sole party participating from Türkiye with a delegation headed by its Foreign Affairs Chair Zafer Sırakaya, who took part in the general assembly, which is organized every other year. I also accompanied the Turkish delegation to last weekend’s conference, participating in the ICAPP Media Forum. Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Foreign…

There is no room for complacency in Türkiye’s fight against the PKK, Fahrettin Altun, head of the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said, as Ankara entered a new process to solve the long-standing problem of terrorism. “We have never wavered our conviction on fighting against the PKK/KCK terrorist organization in a rule of law-compliant manner. The latest attack on TAI has once again shown that there is no room for complacency in countering this terrorist organization,” Altun told Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview. Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics have prompted the first bid in a decade to end…