Pashinian, a pro-American politician, could not strike a healthy balance between the Russian influence over his country and his government’s policy of closer cooperation with the Western alliance.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed a powerful message to European leaders, who will meet later this week, in reference to the Eastern Mediterranean. He called on the European Union to save itself from “strategic blindness” and not to let Greece and the Greek Cypriots use Brussels as a battering ram.

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has become the embodiment of the country’s fight against the coronavirus. He urged everyone last week to “declare their own state of emergency” – possibly suggesting that the Turkish government was not prepared to impose an official curfew yet.

It's fair to say the world is more than fixated on the COVID-19 outbreak. The fear of illness unites us all. We are watching the virus spread and adapting our daily lives by taking precautions accordingly. Society’s current concern over contracting the disease is unlike that of any previous security concern

No region will be safe or secure unless the Syrian regime brutality is put to an end

The NATO leaders' meeting went better than expected. In the alliance's final communique, released after talks concluded on Dec. 4, nations reiterated their commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, stressed the importance of financial burden-sharing and underlined their intention to seek a common position regarding migration, as well as a united front on cyber and hybrid threats. Noting Russian aggression as posing a possible threat, NATO members called for dialogue with Moscow on intermediate-range missiles. Furthermore, as per Washington's request, the organization hinted it would be turning its attention to the Asia-Pacific region, in a nod to Beijing's expanding influence.

There is an ongoing debate on Syrian refugees in Istanbul, who are being asked to return to the provinces where they were registered. The media extensively covered complaints by Syrians about the 30-day grace period.

The NATO Council and Mediterranean Dialogue Partners Meeting took place in Ankara earlier this week, at a time when Turkey and the United States are experiencing tensions over the former's plan to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Russia and disagreements on Turkish drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The normalization of Turkey-EU relations is a development that inspires hope, even as global concerns such as migration, populism, the trade war, security threats and so on grow more intense

Surprising developments are afoot in the world. A terrorist organisation that claims to be Muslim is shedding blood around the world, including in Turkey.

The future seems almost dark for Western values which are under attack by the revival of racism, populism, Islamphobia and xenephobia in societies

There is serious concern about the future of unity due to the exclusivist discourse in the U.S. society while 'House divided' murmurs are on a rise

Western leaders should stop confessing and try repentance instead. The world would be a better place if they refrained from making mistakes on purpose