Turkey and the European Union seek a positive agenda. It would serve the interests of both parties if the European Council’s meeting on March 25-26 transforms that pursuit into a concrete policy. After all, it is high time that the Turkey-EU relationship undergoes a strategic assessment.

Policymakers in the United States are trying to transform President Joe Biden’s campaign pledge – 'America is back' – into the Biden doctrine.

Iranian foreign policy orientation is defined by three complementary contexts, namely national, Shiite and Islamic. Naturally, as a nation-state, the national level thinking determines the main orientation However, the sectarian context has been competing with the national one as the dominant political discourse in Iranian foreign policy orientation.

The Middle East is not a foreign policy priority for U.S. President Joe Biden – just as it wasn’t for his predecessors Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Turkey mourns the death of its 13 unarmed citizens, who were executed by the PKK terrorist organization in a cave on Mt. Gara, northern Iraq. The most recent security operation, during which three Turkish troops lost their lives, not only demonstrated anew the PKK’s bloodthirsty nature but also revealed the unbearable double standards that apply to the condemnation of terror attacks at home and abroad.

Before the European Council's leaders' summit two months ago, experts and journalists in Turkey discussed the European Union's possible sanctions. The frozen EU agenda came into the Turkish public's focus with the sanctions threat. Both sides knew that sanctions were illogical and would not contribute to bilateral relations.

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.

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.

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.

Sharing similar concerns in the region, Ankara and Baghdad have opened a new page in cooperation, which is particularly bad news for PKK terrorists

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 ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its chairperson, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have completed their 18th year in government. It is an exceptionally long period for continuous rule by a single-party government in electoral political systems.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s emphasis on “a fresh mobilization for the economy, the law and democracy” energized the country. The scope, nature and sustainability of “the new chapter” and “reform” remain unclear. For now, there are a number of reform packages on the table that are intended to restore faith in Turkey’s justice system and to attract foreign investors.

To be clear, Turkey is actively involved in not just regional but also global issues. Ankara intends to remain part of those conversations, too. The driving force behind Turkey's actions is the challenges of geopolitics and the responsibilities they entail – as opposed to ideology.

A French high school teacher, Samuel Paty, was brutally murdered by a young, Russian-born Muslim of Chechen descent, Abdoullakh Abouyedovich Anzorov. This heinous terrorist attack caused outrage in French society. The murder of Paty was not the country's first such incident. France had also previously suffered Daesh violence and the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack. Many leaders, including those from Muslim countries, demonstrated solidarity with France in the aftermath of those acts but Muslim communities and institutions were still put under surveillance and heavy pressure.

People trying to put labels on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strong reaction to French President Emmanuel Macron’s Islamophobic provocations make plenty of accusations – all part of a broader, ideologically charged campaign to distort the truth. Critics accuse Erdoğan of waging a "culture war" and contributing to the radicalization of Muslims by promoting an atmosphere of violence. Others question why the Turkish president seeks to write a new, anti-Western story.

It’s a joke when President Macron says ‘We are one’ while excluding Muslims, human rights activist tells Anadolu Agency