Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan along with a large delegation, including myself. The top two items on the agenda were the economic integration of the Turkic world and the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
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There was a time when you could have called Turkey's relationship with the U.S. a "strategic partnership."
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The Trump administration is destroying the system that the U.S. established in the wake of World War II by alienating its long-time allies
In the post-elections era, Ankara is set to follow a multi-dimensional independent foreign policy, facing both regional and global challenges by pursuing rational steps and strategies
Turkey and Uzbekistan have had tense relations for decades.
FETÖ is a new generation terrorist group with giant parallel organizations, strict believers, subcontracting in intelligence operations and acceptance of all kinds of efforts, regardless of how malicious they are, to achieve its goals.
The Gulenist Terrorist Organisation has an international support network. Unlike IS threats of "lone wolves" and its widespread alienation by the public, Gulenists benefit from a certain level of public legitimacy.
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The highlight of the congress will be Vladimir Putin's meetings with President Erdoğan and the messages that they will prefer to convey public opinion "between the lines.
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The next U.S. administration will be a new reset, perhaps a new Cold War, that is not so much nuclear - despite Putin's threats - but rather is cyber and may be more about Syria
The new format of deeper and comprehensive Turkish-Russian cooperation after Aug. 9 will include added military and geostrategic elements
Gülenist groups managed to form a massive web of human cells, over the years, placed in the higher echelons of the security establishment, intelligence institutions, the judiciary, bureaucracy, academia and the business circles in the country.
The policymakers in Ankara are required to accomplish a structural transformation program for socio-economic development, while fighting a low-intensity war in the southeast and overcoming the international repercussions of the crisis with Russia. Not an easy job for sure. But then, who said that politics was an easy job?
What Putin and the Kremlin elite have to clearly understand is that Turkey is not at all helpless against Russian bullying, on the contrary, it could employ numerous alternative options to fill the vacuum that will be created by the Russian absence in its diplomatic and economic network.
Turkey and China have forged a good economic and political relationship in the current decade. Both countries provide great economic, political, and strategic opportunities for each other in their own regions. Turkey and China have forged a good economic and political relationship in the current decade. Both countries provide great economic, political, and strategic opportunities for each other in their own regions. Despite Ankara’s effort to push for a more integrated Uyghur community in Xinjiang under the Chinese Administration, the current difficulties transformed the issue into a problem area between China and Turkey. Turkey’s reiteration of its one-China policy may motivate China to display certain signs of improvement on the conditions of the Uyghur people. There is still considerable need to strengthen the relationship between Turkey and China and transform it into a strategic partnership. Realization of this prospect requires more systematic effort from both countries.
Turkey might play a role in reintegrating the Iranian state into the international system. Turkey’s initiatives may have a moderating influence on the Iranian state and would, in any case, be a better policy route to choose rather than a direct confrontation.Turkey might play a role in reintegrating the Iranian state into the international system. Turkey’s initiatives may have a moderating influence on the Iranian state and would, in any case, be a better policy route to choose rather than a direct confrontation. It is a good sign for Iran and Turkey that the volume of trade between the two countries increased from $1.3 billion in 2002 to $10 billion in 2008. Iran is also be seen as a natural gateway by the Turkish state in order to reach into the markets of Central Asia and Pakistan. These kinds of Turkish political and economic initiatives will not only serve the interests of the Turkish and Iranian states but also have the potential to replace the aggressive military rhetoric of Western countries in dealing with Iran if the ultimate aim is to re-include Iran into the world economy and moderate its behavior. In addition, a more peaceful future for Iraq depends on reintegrating Iran with the rest of the world. Hence, the wiser course of action for western countries is to follow the Turkish example of engagement with Iran using diplomacy rather than issuing military and economic threats
One often gets this question from academics and experts: What will be the framework of international relations in the 21st century? Will it be determined by "hard instruments" such as energy, security and population?
I get this question all the time: how does Turkey do it? In international relations, Turkey wants to be a member of the European Union, continue its partnership with the US, have good relations with Russia and Iran, be fully involved in Iraq and the larger Middle East, increase its presence in the Balkans and central Asia and open up to Africa and Latin America. Domestically, Turkey wants to strengthen its democracy, improve its human rights record, continue its economic development, find a solution to the Kurdish problem and ease the tensions between religion and the Turkish state.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a Turkish world from the “Adriatic Sea to the Chinese Wall” became a new topic of discussion in Turkish policy circles. While Turkey tried to develop close political, economic and cultural relations with the newly independent Central Asian Republics, the mid and late 1990s witnessed a steady decline in the relations and failed to produce any concrete results. With its new foreign policy outlook, Turkey is seeking to increase its field of sphere in Central Asia by revitalizing its efforts to reconnect with the sister Turkish states. Security, economic cooperation, energy and civil society initiatives are the new dynamics of the Turkish-Central Asian relations.
Russia and the Islamic World explore various fields of co-operation in the context of a changing international environment wherein a search for new allies and strategic partners are an ongoing reality. In order to facilitate discussions on possible avenues of partnership, Group of Strategic Vision “Russia-Islamic World” consisting high level members from Russia and some OIV countries was formed few years ago. The Third Meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia-Islamic World” was convened on February 2-3, 2007 in Istanbul,