Author: Dilara Aslan

The term “social decay” fell like a bombshell into Türkiye’s agenda at the end of 2023 during a coincidental street interview that started discussing the country’s economic situation and became viral once the interview was posted on YouTube. A woman was asked whether she could get by with her salary and answered: “There is social decay currently in Türkiye. The economy gets better with time as exampled by world history but social decay is much more difficult to fix.” The lady speaking was a sociologist, Zeliha Burtek, emphasizing the gradual loss of ethics caused by “global factors as well as…

It is a first in Turkish history that all parties involved in the process to eradicate the decades-long threat caused by the PKK are on the same page and supportive of the initiatives taken. The first sign that the ruling coalition of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) entered a new process and talks with the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) came when MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli shook hands with DEM Party deputies – a rare move – at the opening of Parliament’s new legal year. The continuation of this policy…

A visit by Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), to Ankara, is not an uncommon event – yet the timing of this trip is telling. As Türkiye and the Middle East are grappling with new challenges, Barzani and Erdoğan discussed several vital issues and displayed the continuation of close ties as well as coordination of policies between Ankara and Irbil. Amid the many topics, the two leaders especially focused on four main agenda items – the conflict in the region, the Iraqi Development Road Project, upcoming parliamentary elections in the KRG, as well as new circumstances within…

The Turkish political scene is usually brimming with rifts and polarization. Tuesday’s Parliament opening session has painted a different and unfamiliar picture. Just as we press members, foreign diplomats and ministers were heading to the gates to leave the grand hall of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan finished his speech on the opening of the legal year, a small crowd gathered among deputies and we stopped to watch. Devlet Bahçeli, chairperson of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) – an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) – shook hands with members…

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday took a step further in supporting the Palestinian cause by calling on the United Nations to consider enforcement measures to end the killing of civilians in Gaza and establish peace in the region. “In an environment where the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2735 is not implemented, coercive measures against Israel must be taken into consideration,” Erdoğan said during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “Israel’s stance has once again displayed that it is vital the international community develops a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians.” He also said that the…

Türkiye has been diversifying its foreign policy from a Western-centered outlook to a more comprehensive approach in the past 20 years, establishing and reviving ties with countries in Africa, East Asia and Latin America. However, ties with Southeast Asia, especially with like-minded regional allies such as Malaysia and Indonesia, have uniquely become prominent. As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put it on Wednesday: “As the world changes, as new power centers emerge in economy, production and technology, we have to adapt to this. There is nothing more natural than strengthening our cooperation with the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean geographies, among which…

Questions arose after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week called for the creation of an Islamic alliance for Gaza against Israel’s “expansionism,” with critics wondering what such an alliance’s framework could be and whether it is possible in the first place. “The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries,” Erdoğan said at a vocational school association event near Istanbul. He also said that the recent steps that Türkiye has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing…

“Law is a necessity, it is an order, it is a must and it is the consciousness to live as a community,” were the words of Ömer Kerkez, president of the Court of Cassation, as Türkiye this week opened its legal year. The court system in Türkiye can be classified into three main categories, namely, judicial, administrative and military, while the legal system follows the civil law model, which was adopted once the republic was founded. The current system is influenced by Ottoman law, the Swiss Civil Code and European legal systems. Constitutions have changed several times. Constitutional democracy, as…

The world is increasingly becoming uncertain, where arms races have restarted and states question their security measures. In this context, the EU Informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers, also dubbed “Gymnich,” has come together, and this time, it is also inviting Türkiye. Ankara last attended Gymnich in 2019, after which years of turmoil followed in Türkiye-EU relations. So, why was Türkiye invited this time? Three main reasons can be pointed out as to why Türkiye was invited, particularly this year. The deteriorating security atmosphere, the uncertainty of U.S. elections and a decrease in tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. The European…

Kirkuk is an ideal and small-scale mosaic of Iraq itself, representing the complex social and political landscape of the federal state. The latest provincial elections as well as the appointment of a new Kurdish governor once again threaten to risk renewed ethnical tensions. Iraq’s provincial council elections, conducted in December, had not been held for around a decade due to the struggle against Daesh and internal problems. Kirkuk itself has not witnessed elections for 18 years. This has led the December elections to become a ruthless race of high importance in which Kirkuk’s groups endeavored to come forth in the…