Author: Dilara Aslan
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…
The main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has entered a period of change since the March 31 local elections and will make further significant decisions on its party charter during its congress in September. After the CHP won most major cities and made big gains in the country’s rural heartland in the local elections, surpassing the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) share of the popular vote for the first time in more than two decades, both parties engaged in soul searching while trying to understand the evolving demands of voters. The main opposition saw the first major…
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh being assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday has dealt a heavy blow to peace negotiations to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza strip after months of fighting and thousands of civilian deaths. Before the strikes, there were some hopes that Israel and Hamas might have been nearing an agreement to pause the war. The negotiations were mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Haniyeh was among the negotiators. Can killing the negotiator lead to a peaceful solution? The answer is probably no, indicating that Israel’s strategy is against achieving a peaceful solution…
The Presidency’s Directorate of Communications yesterday celebrated its sixth anniversary through a range of events and panels, reminding us of the crucial role of a national communications strategy and the challenges faced by journalists today. Established in 2018, the directorate has gradually tackled several issues and widened its departments to include public diplomacy and disinformation. In the past few decades, strategic communication for nations has become a field for geopolitical competition and a race for handling perceptions. Supremacy in discourse proves vital in championing narratives as well as the truth. The conflicts between Ukraine and Russia or that between Israel…
The much-anticipated meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian leader Bashar Assad is expected to take place in Moscow, sources said. Since both countries’ leaders have implied intentions to support normalization and hold a series of talks in the past months, discussions have been ongoing over where to hold the critical meeting on the level of presidents. Erdoğan recently said that he plans to offer to hold the talks in Türkiye, inviting Assad, or a third country. On the other side, Iraq recently voiced its own intention to host the talks in the capital Baghdad. “The first meeting between…
An 18-hour-long meeting yesterday revealed how deeply divided Turkish society is currently on solving the problem of stray animals. Parliamentarians negotiated the entire proposal on amendments to the animal protection law regarding stray animals. The debate was heated and even saw shoes being thrown at opposition politicians. Now negotiations will begin on the articles and the commission will meet again Monday. The issue, which continues to be a challenge throughout the world, has stirred up the people with human health and safety rising as the main concerns on one hand while preserving the lives of innocent animals lies on the…
Nine months into the war in Gaza and Israel’s continuing attacks on the strip, the fear and chance of the conflict spreading into the region is still high. The divided island of Cyprus, in the meanwhile, has found itself as one of the central points of possible escalation. Two weeks ago, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, during a televised interview, reiterated his warnings that the war risks spreading into the region. “We have been underlining this from the beginning and now, especially Lebanon coming to the agenda and actors from Lebanon threatening the Greek Cypriot side, are now harbingers of this.”…
In the past days, Syrians living in the northwestern regions of the war-torn country have been attacking Turkish troops and tearing down Turkish flags, angered by Ankara’s contact with the Damascus regime of Bashar Assad. For the first time, Assad openly voiced “Syria’s openness to all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Türkiye, based on the sovereignty of the Syrian state over all its territories on the one hand and combating all forms of terrorism and its organizations on the other hand.” Early 2023 witnessed similar rapprochement efforts with the Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers as well as…