Author & Analyst
Barçın Yinanç
Foreign Policy Columnist
Biography
Barçin Yinanç is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering Turkish foreign policy, international relations, and regional geopolitics. She served as opinion editor and foreign policy columnist at Hürriyet Daily News.
Recent Articles by Barçın Yinanç
February 5, 2026
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos succeeded in angering both the government and the opposition with her stance towards the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025.
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January 29, 2026
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
The free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and India has reopened an old wound in Turkey–EU relations, once again exposing the long-standing impasse over trade integration with Ankara.
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January 22, 2026
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
One would expect the bromance between U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to reach new heights following the former’s recent disavowal of the PKK/YPG.
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January 15, 2026
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
What happens if Donald Trump were to send Delta Force to “get” Greenland? Would it be the end of NATO, as Denmark’s prime minister suggested? While the validity of NATO’s Article 5 is questioned, allies feel they can no longer rely on U.S. nuclear protection. In times of great power competition mid-size regional powers tend to forge alliances to consolidate their security.
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December 18, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
Russian and Ukrainian envoys in Ankara were warned not to wage their war in Turkish territory. The warning came as tensions in the Black Sea in the first half of December escalated to fresh peaks in the four-year-old war.
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December 11, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
“Israel can claim it is a democracy … but in this region, whether you like it or not, what has worked best is a benevolent monarchy,” said Tom Barrack, speaking at the Doha Forum in the first week of December.
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December 4, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
The collapse of the half-century-long Assad dynasty following the flight of Bashar Assad to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024 overjoyed pro-government circles here. Some even started to mention Aleppo as Turkey’s 82nd province, while the shares of cement and construction companies surged on the stock exchange.
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November 28, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
When Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in Ankara on Nov. 19, press reports had already started to make the headlines, revealing details of a peace plan drafted by the U.S. and Russia.
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November 7, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
In political terms, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is over, but in the socio-psychological dimension, it continues, according to the Armenian prime minister. 'When I talk about peace, it seems strange and even alien to many. Peace is an unfamiliar concept for Armenia and Azerbaijan,' Nikol Pashinyan said Nov. 4 at the annual forum of the Orbeli Center, which operates under the Prime Ministry.
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October 31, 2025
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy
Nearly a decade after the migration deal that was signed between the EU and Turkey under the leadership of Germany, the arrangement that succeeded in stopping migrants entering Europe via Turkey remains the backbone of the transactional relationship between Ankara and Berlin. However, although Turkey continues to be seen as a buffer zone stopping the migration flows, there is also a renewed discovery among European capitals of the country’s value as a strategic asset.
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