A HISTORY YOU CAN HUM
Some countries remember politics through monuments, trials, flags and anniversaries. Turkey, more emotional and dramatic, rather like its world-famous TV series, also remembers it through songs.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
THE STATE AND THE STAGE
Foreign policy has always liked theater, costumes and masks. Peace conferences, state visits, summit handshakes, seating plans, flags, solemn declarations. All belong to the choreography of international life.
U.S.-MADE USV WASHES ASHORE ON BLACK SEA COAST
An unmanned surface vessel manufactured in the U.S. was found washed ashore in the Ünye district of Ordu, on the Black Sea coast, on March 21. An unmanned surface vessel (USV) of unknown origin struck the Altura, a Sierra Leone flagged tanker which is owned by a Turkish company, Pergamon Maritime, on March 26 in the Black Sea, 15 miles off the coast of the Bosphorus Strait.
SYRIA SHIFT PUTS TURKEY’S PEACE PROCESS UNDER PRESSURE
Turkey joined Damascus, welcoming the victory of Syrian government forces and the defeat of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which further strained the ongoing peace process. Tensions in the political arena rose after a Turkish flag was brought down during the DEM Party’s group meeting in the border town of Nusaybin, neighboring Qamishli. The name of the person who brought down the Turkish flag was not shared by the government, but an investigation was launched, while the DEM Party described the incident as a provocation, recalling similar instances from the past.
ASELSAN MOVES DRONE-BUSTER DRAGON INTO PRODUCTION
Aselsan, the flagship defense contractor, is moving its anti-drone system Ejderha (Dragon) into production, adding to elements of the planned Steel Dome missile shield.
KEDİ
The word of the week is kedi, or cat, the agile, intuitive feline who is supposed to have nine lives. The Turkish word kedi ultimately goes back to Late Latin cattus (“cat”), with an intermediate form in Byzantine Greek gati (γ α τί, “kitten”) from which it passed into Ottoman Turkish as kedi. So why is it the word of the week? Because of the Istanbul Biennial, the must-see flagship event of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) that continues until the end of November.
TEKNOFEST OPENS WITH “BLUE HOMELAND” THEME
Teknofest, Turkey’s flagship defense and technology festival organized by the T3 Foundation — whose board is chaired by Selçuk Bayraktar, son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and head of Baykar — kicked off this year with a maritime focus under the theme “Blue Homeland.”