The Fall of Maarrat al-Numan to Syrian Regime Forces

SETA Security Researcher Bilgehan Öztürk commented on the fall of Maarrat al-Numan to Syrian regime forces on TRT World.

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The Fall of Maarrat al-Numan to Syrian Regime Forces
The War in Syria

The War in Syria

Bilgehan Ozturk, Researcher at the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, on Syrian regime forces entering the rebel stronghold of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a diplomatic offensive since the Berlin conference, visited Istanbul on Friday. The wide range of topics on her agenda included bilateral trade, the European Union, the situation in Idlib, the proposed safe zone, the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya and refugees, all of which stressed the importance of strengthening German-Turkish cooperation.

Public scrutiny of foreign policy is the backbone of democracy. Criticism, when firmly rooted in a rational analysis of the balance of power and national interest, can be constructive. However, when critiques resort to populism, however, they become ideological.

SETA Security Radar attempts to anticipate the course of major security issues Turkey faces and how to develop and enhance sound and relevant responses within this increasingly challenging regional security environment.

Turkey is exerting a huge diplomatic effort to allow the fragile cease-fire in Libya to blossom into a lasting peace. Italian Prime Minister Conte visited the Turkish capital Monday, immediately following Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. At the same time, Turkey's foreign minister, defense minister and intelligence chief spent the day in Moscow to facilitate talks between Libya's various warring factions.

Libya, Idlib and the Turkey-Russia partnership

With tensions between Iran and the United States de-escalating for now, there is talk about cease-fire agreements in Libya and Idlib.

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Libya Idlib and the Turkey-Russia partnership
2020 The state of play

2020: The state of play

The year 2019, which set the stage for extraordinary developments, has now ended. Living the fast life must be the distinguishing feature of modern times. Over the last year, the world talked about Brexit, NATO's future, U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment, Israeli expansionism, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, protests in Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, France and Bolivia, trade wars, the S-400 deal, Turkey's local elections, the Syrian civil war, Operation Peace Spring, the assassination of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Aramco attacks, Turkey's new indigenous car, Kanal Istanbul, U.S. sanctions, economic recovery, the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya.

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Insight Turkey, one of the leading academic journals in Turkey, in its latest issue entitled as “Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: A Quest for Autonomy,” resonates on the importance of Turkey’s increasing role and effectiveness in the international realm.

The U.S. Congress, acting under the influences of anti-Turkey sentiment in Washington, is back in the game.

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.

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.

With its anti-terror operations, Turkey thwarts emergence of terror corridor near its borders, says think-tank chief

Turkey pledges not to change its humanitarian priorities in the region and continues to stand against the self-serving approaches of other actors

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump has contributed positively to bilateral relations. Their commitment to working together and continue negotiations was one of the meeting's concrete outcomes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump went exactly as expected. It was a very successful meeting in symbolic terms, allowing the two countries to reaffirm their commitment to working together, mend their strained relationship and keep negotiating. Turkish and U.S. officials found an opportunity to listen to each other at length.

There were too many controversial issues on the table in President Erdoğan’s recent visit to Washington and the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington's continuing support for the People's Protection Units (YPG); the S-400 missiles; the situation with the F-35 fighter jets; Washington’s policy on the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and other sanction bills against Turkey are urgent issues for Turkey that need to be tackled constructively by the American authorities. Only a reset in Turkish-American relations can assure a significant change, but the circumstances are not conducive to a reset. For the moment the Democratic Union Party (PYD) issue seems to be the biggest problem leading to constant tensions between the two countries.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, November 13. Kadir Ustun, Executive Director at SETA Foundation DC, discusses Erdogan-Trump summit, what President Erdogan has achieved in this visit.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in Washington, D.C. today for a highly anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. There are many issues on the two leaders' agenda, including Turkey's procurement of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Washington's relationship with the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian branch and the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday announced his decision to visit Washington. He reached that decision following a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, who invited him.

Turkish-American relations are experiencing the heavy burden of Washington's alliance with the People's Protection Units (YPG), as the YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group, which Turkey has been struggling against for the last four decades. This vision will not change any time soon despite Washington's denial of the PKK-YPG connection. There are many other significant obstacles to the normalization of Turkish-American relations but Washington's flirt with the YPG is the most controversial one.