ICC ruling on Israel: Test for 'America is back' policy

Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled it would extend its jurisdiction to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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ICC ruling on Israel Test for 'America is back' policy
Biden's bumpy road in US foreign policy

Biden's bumpy road in US foreign policy

U.S. President Joe Biden recently made his first foreign policy speech since his inauguration on Jan. 6. In an approximately 20-minute address to State Department personnel, there was not any unexpected move or position.

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TurkStream remains one of the main projects for Turkey, the LNG trade with the US is expected to continue under Biden Administration.

If Biden cannot renew miscalculated U.S. foreign policy, there is no way to talk about a positive future for relations with Turkey

Optimism and utopia are what we need to avoid when talking about the new president's 'transition to democracy' strategy

Turkey is focused on reforms at home and fresh starts in the international arena. Ankara’s efforts to repair its relations with the United States, the European Union, France, Greece and certain Middle Eastern nations, however, are not necessarily about making revisions or getting soft. The current process is of interest to all capitals, including Washington. All players are doing their homework with the sense that the world is on the brink of a new era.

Hard times in American democracy

Donald Trump's election as U.S. president, a man known to most as a xenophobic, populist, far-right, ultra-nationalist, radical conservative personality, has brought to light many aspects of the country's politics that previously may have been overlooked. In this piece, I want to highlight a few of the critical problems the United States has faced since the last presidential elections.

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Hard times in American democracy
Erdoğan's new political steps and CHP

Erdoğan's new political steps and CHP

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairperson of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), regularly complains about Turkey’s “artificial” agenda, but that did not stop him from starting a polarizing war of words by referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “the so-called president.” With voters unimpressed by his rants about the economy and coronavirus-related problems, the main opposition leader turned to verbally abusing Turkey’s president – the staple of his rhetoric.

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Joe Biden will officially become president of the United States this week. Washington, D.C., has been on high alert, even in the final days of the controversial transition period. The National Guard, which has been stationed at the Capitol Building to prevent a second attack by outgoing President Donald Trump’s supporters, became the latest symbol of America’s deeply divided democracy.

The blockade and isolation of Qatar, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), began in June 2017 and ended with a declaration at the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit on Jan. 4 in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ula province.

The Qatar blockade, also known as the Gulf crisis, broke out in 2017 due to the aggressive attitude of the "alliance of the globe" toward the country. The alliance was established by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first official visit to Saudi Arabia.

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.

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.

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.

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."

The wave of democratization, which began with the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, took down the authoritarian leaders of Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Whereas the uprising in Bahrain was crushed thanks to Saudi Arabia’s military intervention, Iran and Russia ensured the survival of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.

The United States reached its long-anticipated decision on sanctions over Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia. Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump imposed Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions on NATO ally Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) under pressure from U.S. Congress. The sanctions, as they stand, are not necessarily severe, although there is the possibility of additional steps being taken. However, what is important is that there is now room for the incoming U.S. administration to reengage with Turkey.

As predicted, the administration of Donald Trump has announced sanctions against Turkey because of its procurement of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems. Sanctions were imposed against Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) and four individuals, including SSB head Ismail Demir.

Iran's ruling elite has translated a poem that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recited in Baku, Azerbaijan, into political tension. While politicians made aggressive statements, Iranian media outlets accused the Turkish leader of pursuing a leadership role in the Muslim world and a policy of Ottomanism and pan-Turkism. Others claimed Ankara was fueling separatism in Iran, putting the country's territorial integrity at risk.

The question of whether the United States and the European Union will apply sanctions against Turkey has finally been resolved. U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on a series of sanctions against Turkey, and over the next few weeks, we will find out which of the 12 Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions Trump will impose on Ankara.