Ankara is perturbed by the U.S. plan to set up observation points in northern Syria controlled by the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) due to concerns that it may lead to legitimizing the group's presence in the area.

The same day the congressional elections took place in the U.S., the State Department announced that it would offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of three major PKK figures, namely Murat Karayılan, Cemil Bayık and Duran Kalkan.

President Erdoğan has called on Western powers to stop trying to negotiate new Sykes-Picot style agreements in the Middle East and North Africa, and urges them to support Turkey's fight against terrorism

For the time being, Washington and Ankara find themselves in a favorable position to hold talks and the two must now take constructive, concrete steps regarding potential flashpoints in the region

After the 2018 midterm elections, the Democrats' focus will be more on domestic affairs, while Trump intends to pursue a more active foreign policy and use it as a political opportunity

The U.S. has decided to put a bounty on the heads of top three PKK terrorists. The step has been seen in Ankara as a belated move and insufficient to restore trust in ties, as Washington continues to back the YPG – the PKK's Syrian offshoot

Turkey has said it is resolutely committed to clearing the YPG terror threat from northeastern Syria and recently shelled YPG positions along its borders. Experts say Ankara will no longer wait around for the Manbij deal and will take any necessary steps to address the issue

Turkey's response to the Khashoggi affair has remained solid and serious since the very beginning and this stance has thwarted some from using the case as a political tool

The Khashoggi affair is a stark reminder for the White House of how important a partnership with Ankara is in order to be engaged with developments in the Middle East

A Turkish court released pastor Andrew Brunson from house arrest last week. His trial had brought Turkey-U.S. relations to a historical low. Over the last two years, the issue dominated the agenda of every meeting between the high-level officials of both countries.

Turkey is still the most significant regional actor enabling the U.S. to secure its credibility and reputation across the whole Middle East

The U.S. policy on Syria over the last seven years has been nothing short of an enigma...

President Trump's foreign policy approach and rhetoric suggest that the United States will stick to a particularly crude brand of unilateralism permanently.

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

Under the Trump administration, the United States will continue to ignore its global responsibilities.

If Ankara and Berlin can overcome the challenges of recent years, a new strategic partnership could be in the making

Almost everyone agrees that there is a need for serious change in the structure of the U.N. However, there is no agreement on the nature and the direction of this change