Etiket arşivi: Turkish foreign policy

Redesigning the Middle East

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February 3, 2025

Since his inauguration, President Trump’s speeches and remarks have only led to confusion and uncertainty regarding his administration’s foreign, security, and economic policies. Reacting to his continuing remarks about Greenland, Denmark announced last week that it would invest 2.05 billion dollars to boost its military presence in the Arctic. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply criticized Elon Musk’s backing of the right-wing parties in the European Union, calling it “really disgusting” and said it was hindering democracy in the bloc. As for his new tariffs, the frontrunner to be the next Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said his country will “stand up to a bully”.

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Toward a More Transactional Relationship

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January 27, 2025

President Trump’s inaugural address lasted for thirty minutes.[i] He said little about the guiding principles of Washington’s future foreign and security policy. He once again stressed that America would soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before and respected all over the world.

Since Washington always claims to be the leader of the democratic world and exceptional, one would have expected him to say a few words about promoting democracy.

President Trump used the word “democracy” just once.

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A Ceasefire in Gaza but Regional Challenges Remain

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January 20, 2025

The Hamas-Israel ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange agreement went into effect yesterday with the release of three Israeli woman hostages and ninety Palestinian prisoners, mostly women.

During the past fifteen months, nearly 47,000 Gazans were killed and more than 110,000 injured. The jubilations in the Strip show how desperate the Gazans are for an end to the war but this may not last as they return to their devastated homes.

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President Biden’s Foreign and Security Policy

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January 16, 2025

Last Monday, at the US State Department, Mr. Biden delivered his last foreign and security policy speech as president.[i] His remarks were only words of praise for the achievements of his four years at the White House.  The following from his speech reflects his broad assessment: “Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker, and we have not gone to war to make these things happen…  During my presidency, I’ve increased America’s power in every dimension… And now, America is more capable and, I would argue, better prepared than we’ve been in a long, long time.” 

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Türkiye in a State of Confusion

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January 9, 2024

Türkiye’s national agenda over the past decade-and-a-half has offered our people hardly any optimism. In recent months, two items took over all else: The negative impact of our continuing economic downturn on the low-income classes, and Türkiye’s Kurdish issue interlinked with developments in Syria.

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The New Year Begins with Uncertainties

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January 2, 2025

Toward the end of 2024, Germany and France were engulfed in domestic political problems. Romania’s constitutional court annulled the country’s 2024 presidential election. Georgia remained in political turmoil. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law created havoc, and the National Assembly impeached him in a second vote. The US and its European allies continued providing Ukraine with economic and military assistance. Their motto has always been “as long as it takes”. However, such references became increasingly questionable. Mobilization became unpopular in Ukrainian society. By contrast, Russia regained momentum. Though welcomed, the fall of the Assad dynasty created anxiety not only in Syria but also in the Middle East. The war in Gaza continued with no end in sight.

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Türkiye at an Inflection Point

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December 19, 2024

The history of Türkiye-West relations over the last fifteen years has been characterized by a lack of meaningful dialogue, unfriendly rhetoric, and confrontation despite a promising beginning.

In April 2009 President Obama came to Ankara on his first bilateral visit to Europe as president. He started his address to the Turkish parliament with the following:

“This morning I had the great privilege of visiting the tomb of your extraordinary founder of your republic. And I was deeply impressed by this beautiful memorial to a man who did so much to shape the course of history. But it is also clear that the greatest monument to Atatürk’s life is not something that can be cast in stone and marble. His greatest legacy is Turkey’s strong, vibrant, secular democracy, and that is the work this assembly carries on today…”

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The Year 2024 in Review

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December 16, 2024

People aspire to democracy.  Regardless of their respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, and the rule of law, all regimes claim to be democratic in some form because it remains the ultimate source of legitimacy to govern. Sadly, the year 2024 was not an inspiring year for democracy.

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The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Blitzkrieg

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December 9, 2024

After thirteen years of internal fighting, loss of life, and devastation, the five-decade-long Assad regime was swept away in barely two weeks. President Hafez al-Assad, the father, was the President of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He was Türkiye’s one and only regional enemy for years. For a decade, President Bashar al-Assad had the opportunity to transform Syria. Unfortunately, he was forced by the Syrian deep state to press ahead with his father’s autocratic rule, failed to moderate the regime, got Syria engulfed in the tremors of the Arab Spring, and caused much suffering. After all, democracy is not part of the Middle East’s political culture, but authoritarianism is. Nonetheless, he deserves credit for putting relations with Ankara on the right track in close cooperation with the AKP government.

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Türkiye’s Thirteen Years of Trouble in Syria

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December 4, 2024

The recent “rebel” offensive in northern Syria has brought multiple security challenges once again along our 911-kilometer border with our southern neighbor. The confusion it has caused is understandable because there are not only countries but many “rebel groups” with different interests. Relationships are intriguing and conflictual. As usual, attention is now focused on battlefield developments and the diplomatic flurry among the principal players. Nonetheless, how we got here is a lesson we, the people of Türkiye, should never forget as I have repetitiously underlined in earlier posts regarding Syria.

The following, with several minor grammatical corrections, is a blog post I published more than four years ago.

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