Capitol storming spotlights democracy crisis in US
The United States is going through a particularly interesting period. The two-month presidential transition allowed for a flare-up of tensions unseen in two centuries.
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Capitol protests: The state of the union
We have seen similar scenes previously only in the movies. In TV series, such as "Designated Survivor," there was an attack on the heart of the democracy in the U.S. – the U.S. Congress.
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Fear, terror, concern and shame – those were the words many Americans used to describe what happened at the U.S. Congress, where five people lost their lives last week.
llegations of a coup dominated Turkey’s political arena before the Muslim headscarf controversy could be put to bed. From a journalist’s dream of “a great natural disaster” to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to a former military commander claiming that the 1960 coup could have been avoided if an early election had been called, to the attempted birth of an opposition movement over the appointment of Boğaziçi University’s new rector, Turkey is dealing with a range of fierce debates. All of these conflicts attest to the resilience of the idea of Kemalist tutelage, which simply refuses to respect popular will.
2020 was a difficult year for everyone. The two avalanches in the eastern province of Van and a major earthquake in the western province of Izmir aside, the COVID-19 pandemic altered our lives so remarkably that we could not adapt to the “new normal” – embodied by face masks and social distancing. We could not even mourn those who lost their lives. As the vaccine against the coronavirus becomes more widely available, we dream of reuniting with our friends and loved ones.
For most people, the year 2020 will be remembered with negative developments, some of which have influenced many states and people throughout the world.
Turkey at heart of crises, power competition
The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the year 2020, as the world encountered a great test on health care, economy and humanity. Several countries confiscated each other’s personal protective equipment (PPE) and went down in the history of shame. Against the backdrop of all the chatter about “the new normal” and “nothing will be the same again,” the truth is that power competition in the international system has escalated even further.
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Turkish politics and discussions on Islamic headscarf
Hardly anyone in Turkey thought they would bid farewell to 2020 amid a fresh controversy surrounding the Islamic headscarf.
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2021 will be an essential year for Turkey's foreign policy agenda and practice. Reforms, renewal and forward-looking perspectives are likely to be the focal points of Ankara's foreign policy this year. However, Turkey's structural challenges and diverging issues with key allies like the United States and some European countries are unlikely to see immediate resolutions.
A year ago, the world was expecting different things from the year 2020. There were already too many unknowns about world affairs. U.S. President Donald Trump and his presidential style generated too many uncertainties about U.S. foreign policy and international relations.
2020 was really an interesting year. It has influenced almost every aspect of life, including international politics. Overall, 2020 has caused vital damage to all states; no state escaped from its detrimental effects.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reciprocated Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier remarks about him being "a man of his word who would go all the way for his country." He, too, described Putin as "someone who speaks his mind and keeps his promises."
