Under the strategic framework agreement for joint cooperation, which the two countries inked in Baghdad, their bilateral relations have been elevated to the level of strategic partnership with a “qualitative leap.” The Turkish and Iraqi governments created a road map for future cooperation. Their commitment to solving problems and elevating their cooperation to the highest level rests on the “win-win” principle. Accordingly, the Turkish delegation, which included eight Cabinet ministers, focused on a broad range of issues, including counterterrorism, cross-border waters, security, the defense industry, trade, health care, communication, education, energy and transportation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official one-day visit to Iraq on Monday. He was accompanied by a large delegation, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, Energy Minister Alpaslan Bayraktar, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdülkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumaklı and Minister of Industry and Technology Fatih Kacır. Many high-ranking Turkish officials also accompanied President Erdoğan.

The debate on Turkish foreign policy's "axis," "strategic autonomy" and "normalization" policy was recently revived by Parliament's approval of Sweden's NATO membership, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Cairo trip and Türkiye joining the European Sky Shield Initiative.

The Middle East rang in the new year with assassinations and terror attacks. Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas' political bureau, was assassinated in Beirut last Tuesday. The following day, two bombings in Kirman, Iran (for which Daesh has claimed responsibility) killed 103 people. As those attacks shifted everyone’s attention to Israel, Iran and Hezbollah pledged to exact “revenge and a heavy price.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday as part of his tour of the Gulf states. Over the course of four days, he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) with a focus on investments and commercial relations. However, it is possible to argue that Erdoğan’s trip goes beyond strictly economic relations and marks the beginning of a new chapter in Türkiye’s relations with the Gulf.

Considering the devastating effects of new-generation weapons, global powers cannot launch direct wars against each other. Therefore, they prefer to engage in indirect battles, as the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, did during the Cold War. Their proxies fight each other; they control the tide of the war from behind closed doors by procuring military equipment and by providing economic and financial assistance to wage war.

The Syrian regime is using earthquake diplomacy to gain more legitimacy and accelerate the normalization process in the region. Following the earthquake, Egyptian Foreign Minister Shukri met with Assad in Damascus and delivered humanitarian aid to Syria through the regime. The day after the visit of the UAE Foreign Minister al-Nahyan, who is trying to lead the normalization process with Syria, Assad allowed UN aid teams to cross into opposition-controlled areas of Syria. It is no secret that many Arab countries, including the UAE and Egypt, prefer normalizing ties with the Syrian regime. Although the American administration has expressed its opposition to normalization efforts with the Assad regime in the region, there is no indication of serious pressure being exerted on this issue.

Natural disasters, wars, and economic collapse tend to seriously undermine social order and make it impossible to address even people’s most basic needs. During such periods, it becomes difficult for communities to feed themselves, find shelter, receive medical attention, relocate, and communicate with others. Individuals and communities have provided emergency assistance to such individuals, without expecting anything in return, to address basic needs like food, shelter, and medical treatment throughout history.

Lies on social media, racist accusations and destructive political allegations are what consist of the 3 radical discourses that have emerged right after the disaster

The disaster in Türkiye has once again shown how states with problems in bilateral relations forget their hurdles when faced with a humanitarian crisis

With the world's attention diverted by the Russia-Ukraine war throughout the year, the Middle East was not at the top of the international political agenda in 2022

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spent two days in Astana, Kazakhstan earlier this week to attend the 6th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia and the Türkiye-Kazakhstan High-Level Strategic Cooperation meeting. On the occasion of that visit, Ankara and Astana concluded 20 agreements that will take their relations to the next level.

U.S. President Joe Biden paid a three-day official visit to the Middle East between July 13-16 in order to renew its engagement with the region and strengthen its strategic partnership with the regional allies.

Türkiye’s influence has been growing, globally and regionally, as a balancing power. In this sense, Ankara must refrain from becoming a party to regional polarization while remaining active in the region.

Ankara seeks to properly synchronize the simultaneous normalization processes with its partners for a strategic balance of power in the region

'One could expect normalization between Ankara and Riyadh to occur as quickly as the process between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates'

It may not be easy for Turkey and Saudi Arabia to open a fresh chapter quickly, but both have already taken good steps toward it