Galip Dalay | 26 December 2015
Turkey needs to strike a fine balance between establishing public order in PKK-occupied places and avoiding military overreaction.
Basheer Nafi | 23 December 2015
Turkey's past tussles with Russia offer no guarantee of similar outcomes today, while geopolitics, rather than history, also holds lessons for Egypt
Dimitar Bechev | 18 December 2015
Before the downing of the jet, Turkey failed to reap significant trade benefits from the Western sanctions on Russia.
Mesut Ozcan | 08 December 2015
With the increasing involvement of Russia in the Syrian conflict, relations between Turkey and Russia have also soured, and a bitter taste has been left with the recent downing of a jet. As Assad's regime has weakened, Russia has begun directly intervening in Syria and Turkey has begun interpreting the relationship between Russia and Syria as a return of the Cold War years. Russia’s involvement in regional conflicts in general and in Syria in particular led people to establish similarities with the 1950s, as it benefits from the chaos in the region and aims to fill the gap left by the disengagement of the US.. In those years, as a new member of the NATO alliance, Turkey was very concerned by the ideological and military connections between the Soviet Union and Syria. With the longevity of the conflict in Syria and increasing involvement of Russia, there is the danger of a similar scenario—possibly in a different form—emerging in Turkish-Syrian relations.
Al Sharq Strategic Research | 06 December 2015
More than 50 intellectuals, experts, activists and politicians gathered Saturday for the launch of the Common Action Forum, a Madrid-based NGO aimed at providing a research and development platform for ideas and practical steps to make political and international systems more fair and equal.
Al Sharq Strategic Research | 02 December 2015
Turkey, with its massive military power and lucrative developing economy, and Qatar, with its large amount of natural gas resources and effective diplomatic prowess, are two emerging powers in the Middle East as vigorous countries in conflict resolution processes and claiming for the gradual regional transformation. They took similar positions towards the Arab Uprisings. Both countries have been supporting popular movements against the pro-status quo regimes. They have been backing the Syrian opposition against the Assad regime and have been searching for an Assad-free Syria.
Dimitar Bechev | 27 November 2015
But with Turkey and Russia more friend than foe, is it a battle royale or pissing match?
Galip Dalay | 24 November 2015
After its electoral comeback, the AK Party has to deal with crises in Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan and negotiating with Europe over the refugee issue.
Galip Dalay | 12 November 2015
Beneath the euphoria and much vaunted hype of Kurdish unity as a result of the Kurdish fight against ISIS, the seeds of discord and dangerous rivalry have been planted. This rivalry, which is reminiscent of the old bloody and perilous rivalries in Kurdish politics, is taking place along two axes: on the regional setting between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK), and within the context of the KRG between the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Galip Dalay | 12 November 2015
The fight between Kurds and ISIS has engendered some new trends in Kurdish politics in Near East. These trends are likely to bear impact on the course of Kurdish politics in upcoming years. These trends can be grouped under the following headings: The emergence of a common Kurdish public sphere; the emergence of a fragile common Kurdish politics; the emergence of a non-state actor, ISIS, as Kurdish political identity’s constitutive other; the enhanced emphasis on the secular nature of Kurdish politics; the enhanced need for a security sector reform in KRG.
