Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean: Maritime Disputes and Geopolitical Competition

Recent tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have multiple drivers including the race for exploitation of energy resources, long-standing maritime disputes, and the broader geopolitical competition between regional powers. While Turkey’s recent assertiveness of her rights in the Eastern Mediterranean drew renewed attention to the region, this round of confrontation has been long in the making.

More
Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Disputes and Geopolitical Competition
What Greece wants from Turkey

What Greece wants from Turkey

One of the main reasons for Greece’s anti-Turkish policies is the dramatic change in the balance of power between Turkey and Greece. Turkey began to play in the upper league and became a major regional power. Therefore, Greece has been trying to prevent the further rise of Turkish power in the region, and for this reason, it is insistently trying to provoke Turkey and push it over its limits.

More

The recent tension and crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean are turning into a coordinated campaign to contain Turkey in an energy-rich strategic region. Turkey is the country with the longest shores in the Mediterranean and has been calling on international actors to negotiate a fair deal on the entire Eastern Mediterranean region based on mutual interests.

Turkey’s most recent steps in Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean raised questions in foreign capitals about that country’s international standing. As Americans grappled with President Donald Trump’s call to delay the 2020 elections, the European media went berzerk over the Hagia Sophia’s reclassification as a mosque. On the one hand, they called on European leaders to respond to “Sultan” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom they charged with neo-Ottomanist expansionism. At the same time, European reporters appreciate that Erdoğan has been filling the power vacuum that the United States left behind, empowering his country in the process. They also understand that the Turkish president, as an experienced leader, does what his European counterparts fail to do and takes his country to a new level of agency.

Turkey and Greece have been in conflict for the last several decades. However, mainly due to a series of anti-Turkish moves made by the Greek state and the transgressed explanations made by Greek officials, tensions between the two countries have risen dramatically in recent years. As a reaction to Turkey’s improvement of its defense industry and its effective interventions in regional crises, Greece has been trying to exploit every opportunity to produce anti-Turkish policies.

There is a significant responsibility for the European Union and NATO to facilitate finding a fair diplomatic solution to the recent efforts that try to contain and exclude Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean.

South China Sea the new center of gravity in global geopolitics

Some observers of Asia Pacific politics regard the region as the most unstable in the world – a sticking point that could lead to clashes between China and other countries. The increasing military activity of China in the South China Sea has raised concerns in a number of Western capitals. The U.S., too, has increased its own military activity in the region since the Barack Obama administration and made numerous statements on the status of the islands.

More
South China Sea the new center of gravity in global
What's going on between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Tovuz region

What's going on between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Tovuz region?

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which officially belongs to Azerbaijan. Like the former Soviet Union, the United Nations also recognizes the region as part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, all steps taken by Armenia violate the main principles of international law and Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. The occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia is similar to the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights: The occupier wants to control a strategically important region to take advantage of its foe.

More

Shortly after the Council of State annulled a 1934 decree that converted Hagia Sophia into a museum, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday issued a decree to open the facility to worshippers. After decades of calls "to break the chains and open Hagia Sophia," the people finally got what they wanted.

History states that the Rohingya represent a distinct ethnic community that has evolved over the centuries in the Rakhine state of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Once, the Rohingya were a predominant feature of socio-political life in the country, yet successive military governments in Myanmar have consistently carried out a well-crafted coordinated campaign of brutal persecution and the dehumanization of the community – presumably with a view to wiping it out entirely.

Ankara-based think tank head comments on recent developments in Libya, recent government victories against warlord Haftar

What are the driving factors behind the conflict in Libya? What is Turkey’s strategic objective in Libya? What are the future scenarios for Libya?

Libya's government is supported by Turkey, the only country providing the nation with weapons to fight putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by many regional and global powers – such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Russia and France. Although European Union countries officially support the legitimate government of Fayez al-Sarraj, a number strongly support its illegitimate rival, Haftar, on the ground.

United States President Donald Trump recently called the World Health Organization (WHO) "China-centric," blaming the organization for failing to stop the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to cut U.S. funding.

The March 5 agreement between Turkey and Russia put an end to the military confrontation in Idlib, Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shook hands on that deal to de-escalate what had become serious bilateral tensions. The 2018 Sochi agreement has thus been updated.

Turkey faces growing pressure to retreat from three locations: Idlib, where Turkish forces are trying to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe; Libya, with which the Turks concluded a defense pact; and the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey is defending its rights under international law.

The Syrian crisis is one of the best examples of this approach. The Bashar Assad regime has killed more than half a million innocent civilians by using prohibited weapons of mass destruction, including barrel bombs and chemical weapons..

The 'Deal of the Century' announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 29 has been handled by the global media in a way that can be considered novel. That discourse, the like of which we have seldom ever encountered, was reflected both in written content and in photos. Images provided by global news agencies like Reuters and AP revealed content that can be viewed as "critical of Israel." Various mainstream media organizations ranging from The Guardian, Washington Post and BBC to The New York Times have published pieces and opinions criticizing the "Deal of the Century."

Even though the Syrian crisis continues to influence politics in the Middle East and the global balance, the European Union and major European powers, like the U.K., Germany and France, have continued to be the most reluctant and ineffective actors dealing with the crisis.

The Syria civil war has been a test for the international community since it began almost nine years ago. The world has failed to respond and stop the bloodshed as the worst humanitarian tragedy since World War II unfolded under its watchful eyes.

After U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he will release his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, known as the "Deal of the Century," Middle Eastern observers started to discuss the proposal. The plan, which reflects the vision of the Trump administration toward the Palestinian-Israeli question, was drafted by a commission established by President Trump. The team was led by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and his adviser for the Middle East. Trump has declared that he will reveal the plan on Jan. 29 after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz.