At the end of the day, Obama did not act and the people of Syria suffered. This will continue to haunt his foreign policy legacy

Iran is trying to establish its own area of influence before Trump is sworn in and points to Iran as the main other in the Middle East

There is a genocide going on in Aleppo in front of the eyes of the entire world; civilians are being killed indiscriminately, without a care for whether man or woman, child or adult, child, young or old

Focus mustly not on the ideological, but the practical benefits of keeping Washington on the agenda

Germany recognizing the 1915 Armenian incidents as genocide is another strategic move to push Turkey in a corner for the sake of the EU, with no regard for the chaos in the Middle East - proof that the EU is ideologically blind

Iraq and Syria will haunt Obama's legacy in the future and, for many, the emergence and rise of DAESH and failure to destroy the organization will also leave a stain

Criticizing Turkey has been a popular sport in Western capitals. It would appear that they will continue talking for some time. In April, their main focus will be charges of Armenian genocide, to which Turkey must respond with rational policies able to cut through the noise.

Since Erdoğan ended the old habit of the pro-West intelligentsia in Turkey, he has been portrayed as a sultan, and Turkey as an authoritarian state

During a visit to the United States that preceded President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, chief advisor to Turkey's prime minister, stated that "Our approach and principles are almost the same, very similar to the US on issues such as the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans and energy security.

The 2009 Gaza massacre is not the first incident where Israel has killed, pillaged and destroyed Palestinian lives. In 1982 the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) under Ariel Sharon allowed the killing of more than 2,000 Palestinians in two Palestinian refugee camps in Sabra and Shatila.  

Less than one week ahead of the US presidential election, Turkish-US relations and Turkey's role in its neighboring regions were the subject of a one-day conference organized by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

BBC covered the story as a "landmark visit to Armenia." CNN called it "football diplomacy." French President Nicolas Sarkozy applauded the visit as "courageous and historic."

Joe Biden was selected as Barack Obama’s vice presidential candidate largely because of his expertise in foreign policy.  Traditionally, in U.S. politics, Dick Cheney-like strong vice presidents are exception, not the rule. It is wiser to focus on Obama’s foreign policy outlook rather than Biden’s, which would benefit Turkey in the long run with its realistic tendencies. Biden’s voting pattern, as it is displayed in three different issues (Cyprus-Armenian Issue-Iraq) does not seem friendly to the Turkish position. However, Biden as a statesman would not create extra problems for Turkey at the expense of U.S national interests. In all of these issues, the person that should be watched carefully is Obama, not Biden. Spending more energy to analyze Obama’s geopolitical priorities can benefit Turkey in the long run.

"A momentous day." This is how Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described the decision by the Russian parliament to recognize the independence claims of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The Bush administration’s troubles in the Middle East and at home show no sign of diminishing. More and more Americans are coming forward to call the US policy in Iraq a total disaster. Their remedy is immediate withdrawal from Iraq. But there is more to US troubles than the mismanagement of an unjustified war. After much fanfare, the Bush administration’s “new  strategy on Iraq” turned out to be similar to shooting in the dark hoping that some shots will hit their target. Sending more troops to Iraq without pressuring the Maliki government to stop sectarian violence was received with more suspicion than ever.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül’s visit to the US is taking place at a crucial time. The items on the minister’s agenda are well known: Northern Iraq, PKK, the Kirkuk referendum and the Armenian genocide claims. Both sides have certain positions on the issues. Regardless of the outcomes of the minister’s visit, Washington will have to pay more attention to Turkey in 2007.