Pashinian threatened to turn Nagorno-Karabakh into the next Syria in order to fuel fears in Russia, Iran and Europe.

The second U.S. presidential debate took place on Thursday in Tennessee. The disastrous first presidential debate between the two candidates lowered the bar, with some calling for the cancellation of future debates and many analysts declaring it the lowest point in U.S. politics.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the new campus of Ibn Khaldun University – an amalgam of Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican Turkish architecture. With a greater ratio of international students than any other institution in Turkey, currently 30%, Ibn Khaldun is a next-generation university with a firm commitment to the idea of intellectual independence.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which erupted on Sept. 27, have now entered the fourth week. Although the two warring sides reached an agreement declaring humanitarian cease-fires twice, they could not maintain the truce. The Armenian side insistently broke the cease-fires and continued its attacks on both the Azerbaijani military and civilians.

After a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks, many observers and experts have started to talk about a possible second wave of the outbreak, and this should not come as a surprise.

Once again, Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, started a new debate over early elections. This time around, he urged Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairperson Devlet Bahçeli, whose movement is part of the pro-government People’s Alliance, to say “enough is enough” and lead the country to elections. Kılıçdaroğlu’s message was an obvious, yet timid, response to Bahçeli’s earlier call on the Good Party’s (IP) Meral Akşener to return home. Former Finance Minister Ali Babacan, who currently chairs the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), echoed the same sentiment, in a meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu and claimed that Turkey’s current system of government would not last until June 2023.

The latest clash in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is in its third week. Observers witness that Azerbaijan, which is defending its territories, is the dominant power on the ground. Unlike the previous fights, the Azerbaijani armed forces have begun to free some parts of the occupied lands from Armenia's control for the first time in 30 years. It seems that Baku has increased its military capacity and from now on, it will be increasingly difficult for Yerevan to maintain its control over Azerbaijani territory.

The ongoing military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues to escalate despite the recent calls for a cease-fire.

The latest escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh reignited anti-Turkey rhetoric in the international arena. Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership, threw its weight behind Azerbaijan to help the country reclaim its Armenian-occupied territories.

The move by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to "spread the war" and to ensure the intervention of great powers into the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has come to nothing.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the standing and popularity of major economies around the world. None of the top three major economies handled the pandemic well. China, as the epicenter of the pandemic and its failure to inform the world about it; the EU, as the second epicenter of the pandemic and its failure to help member countries; and the United States, as the third epicenter of the outbreak and its failure to contain the crisis, all lost credibility.

There are only 25 days left to the most significant and consequential elections in recent U.S. history. Mail-in and early voting have already started across the country. According to the latest statistics, almost 7 million people have already cast their ballots, which signals that this could be the election with the highest turnout in U.S. electoral history. It seems that instead of suppressing voting, COVID-19, through mail-in and absentee ballots, may increase the voting in many states in the U.S.

The aftermath of Nov. 3, however, remains a mystery for U.S. politics. The current level of uncertainty is arguably unprecedented. As the Turkish saying goes: Live long enough and you'll see everything.

Today, the blame cannot be placed on Azerbaijan for the recent clashes when it is defending its own territories, and the Azerbaijani government's call for a complete Armenian withdrawal is a legitimate request. The international community should be putting pressure on Armenia to withdraw from the region and normalize relations with its neighbors.

French President Emmanuel Macron is back on the stage with more of the outlandish claims we have come to expect. In a seeming attempt to make up for his failure to get the European Union to sanction Turkey, the Frenchman launched a fresh attack against Ankara. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel stresses the importance of interdependence and a constructive relationship, Macron continues to threaten Turkey with sanctions.

The ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan – which began with the former's recent aggression – has escalated rapidly since Azerbaijan retaliated in kind. Baku has indeed turned Yerevan's miscalculation into an opportunity to regain lost territories. So far, Azerbaijan has made some remarkable military gains to liberate some of its territories from the Armenian occupation.

There is a general consensus around the globe that 2020 will be a unique year in history. The COVID-19 pandemic put its mark on the year from the very beginning, and the developments that took place in the U.S. demonstrated that the year will continue to surprise and shock us until the very end.