Turkey's urgent UN agenda
There are three items on President Erdoğan's agenda: Turkey's request for support regarding the fate of Syrian refugees, Erdoğan's commitment to setting up a safe zone in northeastern Syria and his emphasis on injustices in the current world order. I believe that the Turkish president will touch upon those issues in his address to the U.N. General Assembly as well as bilateral meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. Erdoğan's recent remarks about nuclear weapons relate to the search for a new world order, as encapsulated by the maxim: "The world is bigger than five." After all, revealing one's intention to become a nuclear power makes little sense if one indeed means it.
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Has the Iran war already begun?
This week's attack on the facilities of Aramco, Saudi Arabia's national oil company, was no mere skirmish among proxies. Iran has allegedly fired missiles, loaded on drones, to strike at the heart of the Saudi oil industry. Although Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed the attack, already some fingers are pointing to Tehran. Hence a series of questions: have tensions in the Gulf, which have been escalating since May 2018, already spun out of control? Is the policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran giving way to war? Why did U.S. President Donald Trump escalate tensions right after sacking John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser? What will be the Trump administration's military response to an attack that it considers a casus belli? As world leaders pack their bags for the United Nations General Assembly's opening session, the world is still trying to answer those questions.
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Experts discuss consequences of possible unilateral intervention by Turkey east of Euphrates River
Last week, two developments in the U.S.-China relations demonstrated the intricacy of their ties and signaled the future trajectory of the Great Power rivalry.
The second half of September will be a busy season. Turkey, Russia, and Iran will hold a trilateral summit on Sep. 16. Five days later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will fly to New York for the U.N. General Assembly's opening session.
Rethinking Turkey-US ties in light of the Idlib crisis
A new conversation with strategic perspective, realistic goals and achievable outcomes needs to be restarted between Turkey and the U.S.
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US-China trade war puts future economic order in question
The complicated trade war between the U.S. and China poses a danger for the entire global economic order, causing ripples across the whole international system
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Six years ago this week the Bashar Assad regime used chemical weapons against civilians in Ghouta. More than 1,400 people lost their lives and thousands were injured by the most well documented chemical weapons attack in human history..
Turkey and the United States are setting up a joint operations center at Şanlıurfa in Turkey under a recent agreement. That U.S. European Command (EUCOM), as opposed to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), commanders are involved in negotiations reflects both sides' commitment to the deal.
After three days of intense negotiations, Turkey and the U.S. reached an agreement on the proposed safe zone in Syria. Both sides issued written statements to announce the establishment of a joint operations center and reaffirm their commitment to addressing Turkey's security concerns.
Negotiations between Turkish and U.S. military officials regarding a safe zone in Syria ended this week with an agreement. This discussion has been going on at least seven months, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
When the discussion started between Turkey and the U.S. regarding a 'safe zone', many considered it a possible turning point in relations. The mutual mistrust in Syria and an escalating divergence of opinions between the two countries throughout the Syrian civil war had derailed relations more than any other issue in the last decade.
James Jeffrey, Washington's special representative for Syria, visited the Turkish capital Ankara last week to hold talks on the proposed safe zone in northern Syria..
Last week, one of the most significant developments in regards to Turkish-American relations was the meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with dozens of Republican senators. Reportedly, during the meeting President Trump tried to convince the senators in regards to the potential negative impacts of adopting sanctions against Turkey to the U.S. and its bilateral relations.
The Pentagon removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's earlier comments about Ankara being treated unfairly over its move to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. That Congress favored Turkey's removal was no secret either. It remains to be seen whether the United States will levy sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
After months of deliberations, Turkey began to take delivery of the Russian S-400 missile defense system last week.
Pesident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan marked a new chapter in the S-400 dispute. A textbook example of leader-to-leader diplomacy, that meeting paved the way for Trump lending support to the Turkish position on Patriot missiles, the Russian air defense system and the F-35 jet fighter program.
The leader-to-leader diplomacy between the U.S. and Turkey at the G20 summit was crucial in defusing the S-400 dispute and turned it into a potential communication tool for bilateral ties
Since the beginning of Trump's presidency, the two leaders have pretty regularly communicated with each other in face-to-face meetings or through phone calls. This has been an important factor in determining bilateral ties in the last two-and-a-half years.
World leaders gathered in Osaka this week for the G20 summit. The summit will witness important side meetings between different heads of states on matters related to critical areas. One of those critical meetings will take place between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump. Given the looming crisis in the relations between the two countries, various unresolved issues in bilateral relations will be discussed in this meeting.
