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.

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.

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.

For most people, the year 2020 will be remembered with negative developments, some of which have influenced many states and people throughout the world.

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.

Hardly anyone in Turkey thought they would bid farewell to 2020 amid a fresh controversy surrounding the Islamic headscarf.

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."

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality hosted a controversial ceremony to commemorate the death of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, known as Şeb-i Arus, last week. Addressing the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary meeting on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the recitation of the Quran and the call to prayer in Turkish at that event as "a return to the fascist practices of the 1940s." That practice, which violates the rules of the Mevlevi Order, serves as a reminder of the Turkification of religious rituals under the single-party regime.

In less than a month, the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States will take place. Joe Biden will take his oath and start his tenure as the new president. However, the events during the last week have demonstrated that this period may be the longest one month in recent U.S history.

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

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.

With the official announcement of Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, everybody has started to discuss what the new president's foreign policy will bring for the U.S.