Turkey 'has pushed back' any challenge in region to itself or Northern Cyprus through Libya deal, says analyst

A new alliance is forming in the Eastern Mediterranean Region aiming to strike against Turkey's rising influence and naval power in the region. Economic arguments are being used to form a political alliance against Turkey.

Ankara and Washington should work together to overcome mutual problems and the U.S. needs to respect Turkey's national security concerns, experts said Wednesday.

With the recent Libya deal, Turkey signaled that it will not step back from defending its regional rights against other actors in the Eastern Mediterranean

NATO, a 70-year-old military alliance, faces new strategic questions. The challenges that the organization encounters are diverse. Russian cyber-meddling in Western democracies, China's move to buy European infrastructure, Washington's reckless effort to undermine the liberal order, the rise of populism in Europe, terrorism and the refugee crisis are among them. At the same time, there is the question of "what kind of ally" Turkey is.

The primary purpose of the Turkish operation is to drive out terrorist groups threatening regional security and secure the area in line with international law

With Parliament back from summer recess, Turkey's political scene is heating up. The Good Party (İP), part of the opposition-led Nation Alliance, announced that it will leave the alliance if the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) joins it.

Pesident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in New York this week, leading a delegation, to attend the U.N. General Assembly's 74th session. After meeting civil society leaders and think tanks Sunday, Erdoğan held a series of talks with world leaders on Monday. Yesterday, he addressed the General Assembly, delivering a speech akin to his 2014 address. .

There are three items on President Erdoğan's agenda: Turkey's request for support regarding the fate of Syrian refugees, Erdoğan's commitment to setting up a safe zone in northeastern Syria and his emphasis on injustices in the current world order. I believe that the Turkish president will touch upon those issues in his address to the U.N. General Assembly as well as bilateral meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. Erdoğan's recent remarks about nuclear weapons relate to the search for a new world order, as encapsulated by the maxim: "The world is bigger than five." After all, revealing one's intention to become a nuclear power makes little sense if one indeed means it.

The second half of September will be a busy season. Turkey, Russia, and Iran will hold a trilateral summit on Sep. 16. Five days later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will fly to New York for the U.N. General Assembly's opening session.

Tensions between Turkey and the United States de-escalated thanks to a recent agreement on the proposed safe zone in Syria. If Washington sticks to the deal, joint steps could follow in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey is hell-bent on neutralizing the terrorist threat next door. Neither the threat of sanctions nor the endlessly reheated Daesh story will convince the Turks to abort this mission

As expected, the National Security Council's most recent statement reiterated Turkey's commitment to combating terrorism. The communiqué made references to Turkish military operations in northern Iraq and the assassination of a Turkish diplomat in Erbil, criticized Interpol over the cancellation of arrest warrants for PKK leaders, urged NATO to act in line with the spirit of alliance and stressed Turkey's commitment to protecting its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

There is a growing tendency among Western media outlets; they seek to answer what the West must do, given President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will remain in power for another four years. Believing that the risk of "losing Turkey" is higher than before, they advocate the "carrot and stick" approach. Let me say at the outset that this is a fruitless endeavor.

James Jeffrey, Washington's special representative for Syria, visited the Turkish capital Ankara last week to hold talks on the proposed safe zone in northern Syria..

Turkey's foreign policy at the moment is full of hot topics, including the S-400 air defense system agreement, the country's removal from the F-35 fighter jet program, potential U.S. sanctions, the Eastern Mediterranean and northern Syria. How those issues are resolved could determine the next four years of Turkish policy.

Most regional and global powers have been oscillating between different positions and facing dilemmas in their foreign policy in the Syrian crisis due to the current comprehensive regional and global transformation.