The debate on Turkish foreign policy's "axis," "strategic autonomy" and "normalization" policy was recently revived by Parliament's approval of Sweden's NATO membership, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Cairo trip and Türkiye joining the European Sky Shield Initiative.

The Turkish aerospace and defense sector has achieved a significant milestone with the first flight of the indigenous fighter jet KAAN. The fifth-generation aircraft "reached an altitude of 8,000 feet and achieved a speed of 230 knots," according to a statement on the website of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the company producing KAAN. The flight lasted a total of 13 minutes.

In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, a call was made for the United States to start discussing the truth about Israel's nuclear capacity. The piece, signed by expert names in the issue of nuclear weapon proliferation, notes that American government officials have been following a policy of denying Israel's nuclear weapons' existence due to a secret presidential order in effect for 60 years. Experts argue that this policy has become increasingly meaningless, especially as Israeli politicians are making nuclear weapon use threats in Gaza, and it impedes America's ability to effectively handle regional conflict scenarios. While this kind of call is not new, such debates indicate a changing perception of Israel within the American public and a questioning of America's Israel policy.

For the last four months, Israel has continued to kill Palestinians, including babies, children, women, elderly people, innocent civilians, journalists who cover the Israeli attacks and even United Nations employees. The number of people killed by Israel has approached 30,000. Israeli forces bomb civilian apartments, hospitals, schools, ambulances, mosques, churches, refugee camps and U.N. facilities. So far, Israel has destroyed most of the Gaza Strip, the home of more than 2 million people.

Internal political disputes in the United States have reached a new phase, jeopardizing aid flow to Ukraine. Republicans, who announced they would not support aid to Ukraine until border security is ensured, deemed Biden's concessions on border security insufficient. More precisely, they stalled the issue at the behest of Trump to potentially exploit the immigration crisis in the presidential elections. Especially after this strategy was accepted in the House of Representatives, it was rejected by Senate Republicans. With the passage of a $95 billion aid package, the Senate shifted the responsibility of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to Trump-aligned Republicans. If the House of Representatives rejects this aid package under the pretext of the border crisis, it will mark a new phase in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Avoiding a choice between "war continuation" and "diplomatic solution" until the November elections and managing the current situation should not come as a surprise.

Türkiye and Egypt stand at a pivotal historical moment in the evolution of their bilateral relations. Following 12 years marked by rivalry and conflict, the visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Egypt has the potential to open a new chapter in Ankara-Cairo relations. This visit offers both nations the opportunity to forge a novel model of cooperative relations on numerous contentious issues. More importantly, it could herald the onset of strategic cooperation in the realms of defense and security, areas in which such collaboration was previously nonexistent. Before the joint news conference in Cairo, the two leaders signed the Joint Statement on the Restructuring of High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Meetings, signifying both countries’ readiness to recalibrate their relations.

Pakistan held its highly anticipated 12th general elections on Feb. 8, 2024. The polls took place amid a highly schismatic atmosphere, political fluidity, intense economic turbulence, and pressing security concerns. Despite some extreme political repressions and the absence of a level playing field, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan stole the show by claiming 93 seats out of 265 contestable seats. It left behind seasoned, traditional political parties like Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) with 54 and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (P) with just 17 seats in the National Assembly (NA). A simple majority in parliament necessitates a mandate of 169 seats, including 70 reserve seats, as per the strength of each party in the NA.

The remarks made by Trump, who is widely expected to run for president as the Republican Party candidate, regarding NATO once again underscored how fragile America's claim to global leadership is. Trump threatened to pressure certain NATO member countries to increase their military spending or face consequences. By stating that Russia could do whatever it wants with these countries, Trump escalated his anti-NATO rhetoric to new heights during his presidency. Trump's longstanding questioning of the concept of collective defense by the United States and his failure to protect a NATO member country practically spells the end of this military alliance. The loss of the deterrent effect of NATO's Article 5-based collective defense concept would not only undermine the alliance's guarantees but also signify the end of America's leadership within the Western alliance. As America engages in a global power struggle with Russia and China, it will become increasingly difficult for the country to conduct this struggle within the Western alliance without establishing unity.