Eastern Mediterranean

NATO's critical Madrid summit and Türkiye

Türkiye emerges as a power that generates stability and security in its neighborhood – Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, the Gulf and North Africa.

NATO at the Crossroads

In this collection of essays, we discuss how NATO can overcome strategic challenges and recalibrate the strength of the alliance under the new geopolitical circumstances. The essays in this report focus on NATO’s transformations after the Ukraine war and attempt to understand Türkiye’s foreign policy alternatives within the context of its relations with the West, Russia, and NATO.

Making Sense of Türkiye’s Role in the Future of NATO

This paper consists of two main parts. In the first part, it explains the main priorities that NATO is focusing on by elaborating on the Russian attack on Ukraine, the China challenge, and the changing character of military and non-military threats. In the second part, the paper delivers a framework to make sense of why Türkiye particularly attaches unique significance to some issues. It concludes that Türkiye will continue to support NATO endeavors but the country expects its allies to cooperate on counterterrorism efforts and also expects calibrated and meaningful engagement in Greek-Turkish disagreements.

Aegean Tension Greece’s Policy and Legal Distortions

This analysis examines the reasons behind Greece’s policy of escalating tension and whether that policy has any legal ground.

The rising Turkey effect in the Gulf

As a provider of security and stability, Turkey has the potential to become the balancing power in the Gulf region

Disunited Western alliance in Ukraine

Western countries fail to stay united in the face of Russian power in the ongoing Ukrainian crisis

Pursuit of normalization in Turkey-Israel relations

The argument that Israel does not need to normalize its relations with Turkey, too, is quite weak. The Abraham Accords may have strengthened Tel Aviv’s hand, but a fresh nuclear deal between the United States and Iran stands to change the regional balance of power anew. In this sense, Israel would not want to be the last country to pursue normalization with Turkey.

De-securitizing Turkey's foreign policy agenda

With its new diplomatic engagements, Turkey will create further windows of opportunities to restore its foreign policy

Experts Respond: No Resolution Achieved from Ukraine Talks | What to Expect?

Diplomatic restoration for Turkish foreign policy

In the light of today's cumulative security challenges, Ankara is likely to give normalization processes with its counterparts more chance

Ankara's foreign policy agenda in the new year

Through Erdoğan's road map, Turkey will activate more effective foreign policy tools to strengthen its regional and global position

What's Turkey’s political agenda in 2022?

The opposition will not stop demanding an early election in 2022, while the current government will want to wait until the country's new economic model starts yielding results.

A lost year in Turkish-EU relations

2021 was not filled with many positive stories about Turkish-European Union relations. At the end of 2020, in a report published The Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), we assessed the conclusion of cautious optimism for 2021. While the side of caution prevails, the optimism has been delayed for yet another year.

Is Greece engaging in a frantic act?

Greece has been arming itself aggressively in recent years, attempting to add F-35 fighter jets to its inventory of Rafale fighters, Belharra frigates and corvettes. In 2021, Athens spent 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) on military equipment, quintupling its spending compared to the previous year. By next year, the Greeks will increase their military budget sevenfold anew.