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Guest Voices May 29, 2026

TRUMP’S BOARD OF PEACE MAY HAVE FATAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TURKEY

This year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC) held lively discussions on the global security environment, especially in Europe, and the collapse of the rules-based international order. Strained transatlantic relations, the Ukrainian War, and Iran, all burning matters for Turkey, were on the agenda. Figures such as Marco Rubio, Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached global audiences from the MSC. Turkey was not heard.

Editorial Team

Guest Voices May 29, 2026

MERZ: A CHANCELLOR IN SEARCH OF STABILITY

Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara marks a new phase in German-Turkish relations — the trip served domestic power dynamics in Berlin in political terms rather than through concrete agreements. The chancellor did not come because Turkey has fundamentally changed, but because Germany finds itself in deep economic and political uncertainty. By Ozan Demircan

Editorial Team

Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy Oct 31, 2025

STARMER’S $10.7 BILLION JET DEAL AND MERZ’S EU MESSAGE: DIFFERENT TACTICS, SAME DISTANCE

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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Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy Oct 24, 2025

BERLIN’S DEFENSE TURN WARMS TIES WITH ANKARA, COOLS CONCERN FOR DEMOCRACY

Turkish democracy is the casualty of Europe’s rediscovery of Turkey’s strategic value. To better understand the context of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara next week, one has to go back to the end of the Cold War. Whereas European countries have benefited from the peace dividend, the contrary happened for Turkey in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain. After enjoying the relative stability of the bipolar order of the Cold War era, Turkey found itself in the midst of several conflict zones. While most European countries downsized their defense budgets, Turkey had no such luxury. The fight against separatist terrorism, the turbulence created by the Gulf War, and regional conflicts like the ones in the Caucasus dictated the maintenance of a big and well-equipped army.

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