Reasons behind increased activity in Turkey’s political arena

With allegations of a coup d’etat in the making and claims of an early election in the works, there is increased activity in Turkey’s national political arena, as rumors circulate around competing electoral alliances.

More
Reasons behind increased activity in Turkey s political arena
The Libyan crisis quo vadis

The Libyan crisis, quo vadis?

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean may have de-escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Libyan crisis continues to deepen. ExxonMobil, Total and ENI stopped drilling in blocks 6 and 10 due to dropping oil prices. That decision could contribute to the Turkish solution as Ankara offered to dispatch its navy and three drilling vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean for a fair distribution of local hydrocarbon reserves.

More

It has become increasingly clear that the post-COVID-19 world will set the stage for fierce competition. The pandemic’s negative economic impact, rather than the outbreak itself, will trigger fresh crises. After all, the world’s leading nations, which could not join forces against the coronavirus, cannot seem to manage the resulting economic crisis either. They stick to largely national responses against a global problem.

Turkey has been following a two-track foreign policy for the last two decades. On the one hand, Turkey has been following an Ankara-centered and relatively independent foreign policy. After the collapse of the bipolar world, Turkey, similar to many other countries, has been trying to increase autonomy in its foreign policy.

We have moved to the second stage in the fight against COVID-19. This stage, which Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has dubbed "controlled social life," is not a return to normal. "The rules of the new normal" are being created in consideration of the possibility of a second wave of infections.

In the last couple of weeks, significant developments have been happening in the Libyan civil war. The Government of National Accord (GNA) and militia forces loyal to the GNA made remarkable military progress in their offensive in the western part of the nation's capital, Tripoli. Armed drones provided by Turkey conducted effective attacks against Haftar forces. Those drone attacks played critical roles in the GNA's military advances in those areas of the country. The GNA also increased its attacks to take back the Watiya Air Base from Haftar's militia.

US moves toward elections amid COVID-19-induced changes

Last week this column addressed how the coronavirus can change the debates and domestic dynamics of the U.S. elections. The crisis management and leadership in handling the outbreak, the economy – in particular, unemployment rates – and the state of the health care sector in the U.S. were cited as potential issues that may arise or be amplified as a result of the pandemic.

More
US moves toward elections amid COVID-19-induced changes
Coronavirus and the US presidential elections

Coronavirus and the US presidential elections

If the coronavirus crisis were not at the top of the public agenda, today the most significant topic would be the U.S. presidential elections, with President Donald Trump having actually launched his campaign even before the outbreak.

More

The Donald Trump administration insists on offloading blame for the COVID-19 pandemic on China.

The current United States government, which has been remaining indifferent to global developments and has been following unilateral policies, undermined the coronavirus as long as its impact was limited to China and before it was declared a pandemic.

Since the unfolding of the coronavirus crisis, there has been an increasing number of questions about the future of Sino-U.S. relations.

Libyan warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar is taking a new moves after suffering a series of military defeats in recent weeks. On Monday evening, he announced the formation of a new government, claiming to have a “popular mandate.” Haftar leads the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), which on paper, serves the House of Representatives and the High Council of State in Tobruk, a port city on Libya’s Mediterranean coast.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis a lot of countries and international institutions failed in the test of containing and managing this crisis. Among these, were the most advanced nations, economic powerhouses of the world and the most sophisticated regional organizations.

Turkey’s top imam, Ali Erbaş, faces criticism for stating that “Islam condemns homosexuality” and warning that adultery is haram, or forbidden, in his Friday sermon. It is no secret that homosexuals around the world seek recognition and all Abrahamic religions view homosexuality as “perversion.”

The coronavirus pandemic has many different aspects that need to be scrutinized. Economic and political consequences and the problems concerning public health and medical services are being discussed and evaluated more frequently since the spread of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated some global phenomena such as global rivalry, economic protectionism and (ultra-)nationalism. The liberal world order that was established by the United States and liberal Western European countries is increasingly under heavy pressure since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on world politics remains a subject of heated debate. Everyone seems to agree that its impact will be significant, but few expect a turn for the better. Instead, most experts believe that the pandemic will expedite history to deepen existing competitions and conflicts.

Ignore The New York Times’ smear campaign against Turkey’s COVID-19 response. The United States tops the list of the world’s most unsuccessful countries in fighting the coronavirus. U.S. President Donald Trump, who previously dismissed the possibility of a second wave in the fall, was at odds with medical experts and walked back his comments during a news conference. If the virus were to come back, Trump said, his country would easily defeat it.

"Money Heist (La Casa de Papel)," a Spanish crime thriller, has become one of the most-watched series on Netflix in the last few years. In addition to the ingenuity of the planning of the robberies, the crisis during the implementation of the well-designed plan and the dynamics among the different members of the gang attracted a massive audience from different parts of the world.

The coronavirus pandemic has had many social, economic, political and strategic implications. Individuals, societies, states and international organizations will be dramatically influenced by the pandemic. Today, I want to briefly discuss the possible impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the future of international institutions.

In Dan Brown’s thriller, "Inferno," the enigmatic, crazed billionaire geneticist Bertrand Zobrist drafts a plan to disseminate a deadly pathogen to the world in order to deal with the issue of the planet's out-of-control rates of population growth. According to Zobrist, in order to save the world, it is necessary to take a “bold” step and thus introduce a new plague capable of killing millions, if not billions, of people. The city he chooses to start this process is discovered by the hero of the series, Dr. Robert Langdon.