There is no shortage of important items on Turkey's political agenda. Ahead of Sunday's Istanbul rerun, the Turkish people are focused on Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's death, the United Nations Human Rights Council report on the Jamal Khashoggi murder, the start of drilling efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean, the sentences being handed down in coup trials, the latest polling numbers, Republican People's Party (CHP) mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoğlu's secret meeting with the moderator of the election debate and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan weighing in on the mayoral race.

Everybody knows that Sisi and the Egyptian army are merely the ostensible perpetrators in front of the curtain

Mohammed Morsi, the first and only democratically elected president of Egypt, passed away on June 17. He was unable to resist the suppression of the Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi regime and suffered a heart attack during his defense in court. Everybody knows that he was isolated in jail, only able to see his family a few times over the past six years. Many observers claim that he was poisoned and that it had killed him gradually. These claims are yet to be confirmed; however, we all know that his death was not natural. The el-Sissi regime killed him, directly or indirectly.

U.S. governments have been questioning the contribution of the NATO alliance for the last two decades. Although the U.S. pioneered the enlargement of the alliance, it mostly prefers to act unilaterally in its security policy, which creates problems for NATO.

The United States took its first 'concrete step' to encourage Turkey to rethink its plan to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Washington was going to exclude Turkish pilots from the F-35 fighter jet training program, Reuters reported last week.

The Saudi-UAE alliance's risky ventures, which designate Iran as an archrival and Turkey as an adversary, makes them vulnerable to demands from the U.S.-Israel axis and undermine their international credibility

Moscow should turn the current situation in Idlib into an internationally recognized political deal rather than another brutal victory for the Assad regime

Psychological edge is key to winning elections. Campaign strategists frequently attempt to promote morale among their supporters or dishearten their opponents. The same goes for the June 23 mayoral election in Istanbul.

The mayoral candidates of Turkey's major electoral alliances will compete once again on June 23. Provided that electoral volatility is low between rival camps, both contenders will primarily focus on maintaining their original level of popular support.

There are few democracies around the world with a domestic political debate as lively as the national conversation in Turkey...

Libya's civil war has devastated the country for the last five years and is escalating again with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's recent march to western Libya.

New developments fuel tensions between Washington and Ankara. Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's promises to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the phone, no problem has yet gone away. Quite the contrary, the foreign policy establishment and Congress continue to try and undermine bilateral relations.

Turkey's Supreme Election Council (YSK) has been reviewing objections to the unofficial vote count in Istanbul. The election watchdog found errors in the vote count as well as certain irregularities.

The Middle East has been experiencing turmoil since the Arab Spring uprisings and revolutions. A process of counterrevolution started with the military coup in Egypt in 2013. Much of the regional mayhem stems from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi-led efforts to reverse the democratization process initiated with the Arab uprisings and discourage any popular demands.

Although the recount of some ballots in Istanbul is ongoing, analysts have started to discuss the outcome of the local elections that took place in Turkey on Sunday. It will be hard to summarize the potential outcomes of the elections and their meaning but here are some critical points.

The government sees the post-election years as an opportunity to follow a more proactive foreign policy and implement structural reforms in the economy

All eyes in Turkey are set on this month's municipal elections, yet a significant transformation is underway in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump, whose Jerusalem move drew ire, recognized Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in a radical overhaul of U.S. foreign policy.