May 19, 2025
Last week, the world focused on President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and the Russia-Ukraine “peace talks”, and the rising death toll in Gaza.
Looking at the welcome extended to Mr. Trump and the deals made in the three Gulf nations, one cannot help but remember President Biden’s visit to the region in July 2022.
Okumaya devam etApril 28, 2025
President Trump likes being on the center stage at all times, prefers communicating his messages personally, and enjoys press gaggles. His messages, remarks, threats, and flip-flops are confusing and have introduced an element of unpredictability into US foreign policy on a wide range of issues, including the war in Ukraine. And he constantly berates his predecessors, blaming them for failures.
Okumaya devam etApril 21, 2025
Following President Erdoğan’s first use of it in early January after the arrest of Mr. Rıza Akpolat, the Mayor of the Beşiktaş district of İstanbul, “radish” has become the top word of the Turkish political lexicon. Once he used the word, Mr. Özgür Özel, the leader of the main opposition party CHP, reacted by calling it “a declaration of war”. Thus, while the world remains engaged in a tariff war, we are fighting an internal “radish war”.
Okumaya devam etApril 14, 2025
People aspire to democracy. Regardless of the level of respect they have for fundamental rights and freedoms, all regimes, including dictatorships claim to be democratic as this remains the ultimate source of legitimacy. People also aspire to economic development, higher standards of living, and a fair distribution of income.
Okumaya devam etMarch 23, 2025
When addressing international questions in my posts, I generally conclude by saying, “As for Türkiye,” and share a few observations on my country’s current challenges. Today, I would reverse the order and briefly start with Türkiye because we are going through tragic times, to say the least.
Okumaya devam etMay 29, 2023
The title of my last post on Türkiye was “An Election to Determine Türkiye’s Identity and Future”. And these were my concluding remarks:
“Pablo Neruda once said, “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”
“Let’s hope so…” [i]
Okumaya devam etMay 4, 2023
On May 14, Türkiye will hold what can only be defined as “the last exit to democracy” presidential and parliamentary elections. The AKP has been in power for two decades. Its early years in power inspired cautious optimism. Its last decade in terms of foreign and security policy, domestic politics, independence of the judiciary, the economy, and Türkiye’s internal peace and unity has been a disaster. In brief, the people of Türkiye will give marks to the AKP government, and the people of the world will give marks to the people of Türkiye.
Okumaya devam etMarch 7, 2023
On February 6, 2023, two major earthquakes struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. The international media correctly referred to them as the “Turkey-Syria earthquakes”. But for those familiar with the downturn relations between the two countries as a result of the Turkish government’s misguided leadership role in the regime change project in Syria, the title also had a political message: cooperation between neighboring countries is the dictate of reason no matter what. Twelve years ago, Ankara and Damascus were the closest friends, but then they became enemies. And the earthquakes united them in misery. The delays in getting international aid to quake-stricken regions of Syria were most unfortunate.
Okumaya devam etNovember 28, 2022
President Erdogan’s handshake with President al-Sisi has once again triggered criticism about the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leadership’s foreign policy U-turns. On the list were the relations with the UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Last Wednesday, in response to questions after the party group meeting, he said he could meet Presidents al-Sisi and Assad and there is no room for bad blood and rancor in politics.
Okumaya devam etOctober 31, 2022
This was a revealing month for the world.
In Beijing, President Xi Jinping presented to the Chinese Party Congress the report of the Central Committee in a two-hour-long speech.[i] Having secured a third five-year term as president, he is now regarded as China’s strongest leader since Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
Okumaya devam et
Diplomatik Yorum - Ali Tuygan 