Author: Muhittin Ataman
The dissolution of the PKK and laying down its arms is a historical turning point in the political history of Türkiye. It is an indication of the increased strategic autonomy of the country and a result of the normalization of Turkish domestic politics. With the latest decision made by the PKK, Türkiye gets rid of an important and long-time political fault line. It is a huge step taken for the initiation of the “Century of Türkiye,” declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan several years ago. Many internal and external factors and dynamics contributed to the PKK’s decision to lay down…
In order to correctly interpret recent developments in the Middle East, we first need to answer the following questions: Who wants chaos in the region, and who is creating it? Who benefits from it, and how can the region be cleared of it? Looking at the ongoing genocide in Gaza, it is clear to everyone that Israel and its global supporters, the leading Western governments, want chaos in the Middle East, creating it in the region. As chaos increases in the Middle East, the possibility of external intervention also increases. On the contrary, as stability increases in the region, the…
During his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States’ signature from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had been signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany). After he returned to power in the last election, President Trump forced Iran to sit at the negotiation table to discuss the future of the Iranian nuclear program. Iran has lost much of its political and military power in the Middle East after the al-Aqsa Flood. There are three main reasons for the Iranian loss of…
The fourth edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was held on April 11-13 in Antalya, Türkiye. This year’s theme was “Reclaiming Diplomacy in a Fragmented World.” There is an urgent need for such a platform at a time of the return of power politics, the growth of geopolitical conflicts and global rivalry, and the erosion of international institutions. The international order has collapsed and no global power is making an effort to maintain the system. As mentioned by Hakan Fidan, the chief Turkish diplomat,…
The Middle East has been suffering from the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and Israeli aggression against regional countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The Israeli government has violated the cease-fire and intensified its attacks against innocent and defenseless Palestinians. It is clear that Israeli policy aims at rendering Gaza uninhabitable and forcibly displacing the Palestinians living in the region. So far, two-thirds of the region is depopulated. Let’s not forget that Israel has continued these unlawful policies with the support of the majority of the Israeli people and most of the Western governments, and the indifference…
Donald Trump has made a fast start to his second term as the president of the U.S., the strongest state in the world. Naturally, not only Americans but also the world’s states and nations immediately reacted to this government change. One day after the inauguration of Trump, the leaders of the two rival countries, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, held a virtual meeting. Trump threatened both countries before he was sworn into office. While Trump threatened tariffs on China, calling Beijing “an abuser,” he warned Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Putin and Xi,…
A three-phase cease-fire was reached between Hamas and Israel last weekend, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The first phase began last Sunday when Israel released 90 Palestinians from prison in response to Hamas’ release of three Israelis. The Israeli forces ceased their genocidal attacks on the Gaza Strip and the Gazan people breathed a sigh of relief, at least temporarily. Israel promised to allow the entrance of 600 aid trucks daily and to reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on the seventh day of the agreement and at the last phase, to withdraw its forces from Gaza.…
The year 2024 has been recorded as one of the most brutal years for the Palestinian people and the Middle East. Israel insistently continued its genocide in Gaza and its expansionist and aggressive policies toward other regional states. Furthermore, it continued to recklessly violate the basic principles of international law and human rights. It seems that the year 2025 will not bring any change for the Palestinian people. Their destruction and resistance will continue. Israel has been targeting the Gaza Strip for more than 450 days. It has been killing about a hundred innocent Palestinians on a daily basis. However,…
The year 2024 has been recorded as one of the most critical years of modern times for the Middle Eastern region. It was full of conflicts, wars, humanitarian and economic crises, political devastation, mass killings and even genocide. The regional political developments were largely under the influence of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its expansionist and aggressive policies toward other regional states. In other words, other developments were derivatives of Israel’s aggressive and expansionist policies. In this article, I will highlight the three most significant developments in the Middle East in 2024. The most crucial event in the Middle East…
The collapse of the 61-year-long Baath regime initiated a new political process for the Syrian state. The Syrian opposition led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Bashar Assad’s regime on Dec. 8 when they took control of the capital city of Damascus. The opposition took over the administration from the Assad-era prime minister. There are many discussions going on about the future of the state. At the same time, some claim that the despotic regime is over and a bright future awaits the Syrian people. Some others have concerns about the future of the state since there are different…