Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Tom Barrack, now appointed as special envoy to Iraq in addition to his ambassadorial role in Turkey and special envoy role in Syria, described Iraq, Syria, and Turkey as 'the strategic fulcrum upon which any enduring Middle East stability must pivot,' calling for a single, consistent point of American contact across the three nations.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, known for his intensive diplomacy and negotiation efforts on Middle East cases, particularly Syria, has embarked for the first time since taking office on a lengthy Asia-Pacific tour, visiting four countries in succession.
The war in Gaza has already changed the dynamics in the Middle East. Before the region was able to digest all these changes, another front emerged: the confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran that expanded in geographic and political scope.
Pope Leo XIV, spiritual leader of 1.5 billion Catholics, is making his first overseas trip to Turkey since his May inauguration. The visit, which began Nov. 27 in Ankara, will continue through Nov. 30. The Pope’s trip aims to commemorate a key Christian anniversary and send a message of peace amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine and ease tensions in the Middle East.
Turkey wants NATO to address threats from all directions — including from Middle Eastern countries — during the Ankara Summit on July 7-8. 'We are reminded that what happens in the south does not stay in the south,' said Ambassador Mehmet Burçin Gönenli, director general for International Security Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, speaking at the 18th Istanbul Security Conference organized by Başkent University and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
The US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack is under attack in Turkey and the United States for saying Middle East countries require “strong leadership.”
The Middle East is no longer simmering — it is boiling over. The genocide being carried out in Gaza, the attacks on the West Bank, the incursion into Syria, and the devastating assault on Lebanon have cemented one uncomfortable truth that much of the world is now willing to state openly: Israel has become the primary driver of instability in the region.
The poet Nazım Hikmet writes in his poem The Postman: “The news of humankind, of the world, of the homeland / The news of the tree, the wolf, the bird / At dawn or in the middle of the night / I carried to people in the middle of my heart...”
The war on Iran has once again revealed the confusing complexities of Turkey’s geostrategic positioning as a middle power between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
NATO has launched efforts to establish a second headquarters in Turkey, adding to the alliance’s presence and strengthening its posture against threats from the Middle East.
In Turkey, çubuklu pijama, or striped pajamas, means much more than bedtime. It’s the uniform of the “baba”: the modest patriarch who comes home, trades his jacket for cotton stripes, and settles in front of the evening news. A garment of thrift and decency, it once stood for the steady comfort of the lower middle class.
When the AKP came to power it had to prove to the outside world that it was not an Islamist party. The way to convince Western capitals went through luring in Israel and the Jewish lobby. By 2008, the party had consolidated power internally and received a high degree of acceptance from the Western capitals, which led to overconfidence. When the Arab Spring began, the AKP did not have to hide its true ideological leaning. Convinced that the moment for political Islam had finally come, the AKPs ruling elites did not hide their ambition to lead Muslim Brotherhood to power in Middle Eastern countries.