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Dr Elif Selin Calik

CalikSelin

Dr. Elif Selin Calik is a London based scientist specializing in renewable energy and sustainability, with advanced training in energy and environmental science from Harvard and Oxford. As a founding member of Anadolu Agency’s In-Depth News Department, she also served as an observer at the United Nations Climate Change Summit COP23. Dr. Calik holds MAs from the International University of Sarajevo and SOAS, University of London, where she earned her PhD.

 

Items by Dr Elif Selin Calik

  • Turkiye’s energy outlook and achieving energy independence

    “This century will be, to a large extent, about energy. Energy security is a theme where NATO is in the process of defining its added value. Protection of critical energy infrastructure,” these were the words of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former NATO secretary-general, they were delivered during a...

  • Global energy markets apocalypse in 2022

    The year 2022 saw the energy topic return intensely to the attention of media, political leaders and public opinion after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Russia’s war has had huge impacts on the global energy system, disrupting supply and demand patterns and fracturing long‐standing trading relationships. Each energy crisis...

  • COP27 has shown we need a new taxation order in the world

    For three decades, world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions and greener energy sources. This year, COP27 finished with an agreement for an historic “Loss and Damage Fund”. In negotiations that went down to the wire over the weekend, countries reached...

  • IEA World Energy Outlook 2022 and energy transition following global energy crisis

    This week, the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2022 was published, highlighting the UN Climate change Conference (COP27) and energy transition in the age of the Ukraine war. The 524 page IEA report IEA speaks of the need for a 38 per cent fall in CO2 emissions to 1.5...

  • Russia gas and Turkiye

    To produce energy takes ages, but setting up new diplomatic ties, changes day by day. Even 24 hours are too many to follow all these changes in the 21st Century’s energy wars. Literally, we have seen this in 2020 during the energy price war between Mohammed Bin Salman and...

  • Aegean Sea tensions threaten NATO’ s unity

    For the first time in its long history, NATO’s unity is under threat as a result of the rift between two of its members; Turkiye and Greece and their manoeuvres in the Aegean Sea. The latest crisis between the two began in August when Turkiye accused its neighbour of...

  • Queen Elizabeth II and Turkiye

    The United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II died last Thursday, aged 96. The flowers for her funeral will apparently be shipped from Turkiye. This is not as unusual as it first appears. In 2008, during her first visit to Turkiye after more than 30 years, the Queen delivered a speech...

  • Why Africa needs Turkish drones

    After NATO countries, African countries are also knocking at the door of Turkiye for collaboration with the defence industry. With Turkiye’s Bayraktar TB2 Drone, Turkiye has been experiencing high demand on collaboration with African countries. In Africa, the TB2 Bayraktar model is in high demand after it was used...

  • Ukrainian refugees should be resettled and empowered before it’s too late

    At least 12 million people have fled their homes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN has confirmed. More than five million are refugees in neighbouring countries, while seven million others are believed to be internally displaced within Ukraine itself. If there is no ceasefire, the UN High Commissioner...

  • Four special projects in the MENA region leading the way to NET ZERO 2050

    As I highlight in my newly published book “The Renaissance of Smart Energy”, the Middle East region is more than the Syrian war or visits to Dubai for super-posh expensive shopping. The following are four landmark green innovative projects that can make the Middle East sustainable: Saudi Arabia: NEOM FUTURISTIC...

  • When the dust settles, how Africa will help the EU energy crisis

    Europe is grappling with an unprecedented energy crisis. And its options are few and far between. However, Africa has emerged as, perhaps, the most viable alternative source of energy. But just how did Europe get here? It started with the crippling economic sanctions it imposed on Russia over Moscow’s...

  • The Middle East can help resolve Europe’s energy crisis with green energy investments

    Despite the many political crises that plague the Middle East, the region still has the capacity to become energy independent. The East Mediterranean Gas Forum formed by Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine in 2019, is an encouraging indicator that the countries of the region can...

  • Turkiye is getting caught between NATO and Russia

    Reacting to the ongoing tension within NATO after Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that it is important to note that no other NATO member state had suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkiye; and that NATO’s borders with Russia will double...

  • Davos myth: Unchanging poverty and changing climate

    The main takeaway from this year’s Davos conference was best expressed by the US Vermont independent senator and former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders when he said; “The oligarchs party and the poor suffer.” While some billionaires, including Bill Gates and Elon Musk, have been focusing on technological solutions driven...

  • Economic crisis in Turkey triggers racist acts

    In Turkey, the release of the short film, “Silent Invasion”, which was commissioned by the Head of one of the opposition parties, the Victory Party, Umit Ozdag, circulated widely on social media last weekend and was watched by more than 2 million viewers. It, however, incited the masses against...

  • Palestinian human rights should not be a diplomatic tool in the game of nations

    After nine Turkish activists were killed by Israeli commandos who boarded Turkey’s humanitarian ship the MV Mavi Marmara in 2010 in international waters (a tenth activist died of his wounds later), the international community did not condemn categorically this brutal human rights violation; nor did it offer to mediate...

  • Can the UK’s Energy Security Plan be a substitute for Energy Relations with the Middle East?

    The ongoing war in Ukraine has prompted the UK to set up a new energy security plan for energy independence from Russia. Last week, the Johnson Government announced an “Energy Security Plan” to challenge rocketing energy bills and transition away from Russian fossil fuels after the invasion of Ukraine....

  • What will be the future of global energy post-Ukraine war?

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise video appearance at Qatar’s Doha Forum last Saturday, stressing the need for the energy-rich nation and others to shift their production from Russian based energy into renewable energy to counteract the loss of Russian energy supplies. This emergency call from the president...

  • History is repeating itself: From Bosnia to Ukraine

    On 5 March 1992, Aida woke up to bombing and shooting as the Serbian army opened fire from the iconic Holiday Inn Hotel and killed two women protesting on the Vrbanja Bridge. In order to continue her medical studies, she had to escape from her beloved city Sarajevo to...

  • Europe's dilemma over the Russia-Ukraine conflict: Caught between economic interests and war

    Did Germany’s “unofficial” Russia policy help prepare the ground for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Putting aside the Nord Stream 2 agreement between Germany and Russia, there were other important areas of cooperation that can be traced back to the Georgia conflict. In the autumn of 2008, when Moscow threatened war...

  • Crisis within crisis: Refugees’ energy crisis

    While Europe has been witnessing the severe consequences of its refugee crisis for more than a decade, anti-migrant politicians have been fuelling tensions with their hate-filled rhetoric. Life for most refugees will become worse as Europe faces one of its worst energy crises in years. In a newly published...

  • Can Qatar save Europe from a cold winter in the event of a Russia-Ukraine war?

    Any war scenario between Ukraine and Russia would undoubtedly imperil European energy security. Existing energy supplies in the region are still not enough, filling only 38 per cent of Europe’s storage capacity, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe. But the shortfall compared with previous winters is narrowing, and prices are...

  • Turkey’s balancing act between Russia and Ukraine  

    Turkey’s military-industrial partners are on the verge of war. The war scenario between Russia and Ukraine is testing Turkey’s balancing policy, especially in the defence industry. Both countries are important partners for Turkey in terms of sales and purchasing of defence equipment. This situation creates positive as well as...

  • Turkey’s drones diplomacy in Africa

    When assessing Turkey’s military involvement over the past few years – including in Syria, Libya and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – one thing must be highlighted: the significant capabilities of its military drones. During the last 10 years, the export of Turkish weapons has been directly linked to the country’s economic...