Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ismail Yasha
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Will Erdogan hand the refugees back to the Syrian regime?
Last week, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar met with his Russian and Syrian counterparts, Sergei Shoigu and Ali Mahmoud Abbas respectively, in Moscow, in what was the first official contact between Ankara and Damascus at the ministerial level in eleven years. The heads of Turkish and Syrian intelligence were...
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What does Turkey gain from gifting Lithuania a drone?
Lithuania launched a popular campaign to collect donations to buy the armed Bayraktar drone from Turkey to gift to Ukraine. The required amount was raised within days, but Turkey’s Baykar, the company that manufactures the drones, announced that it is gifting one of the drones to Lithuania and asked...
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There’s more to the gas crisis between Iran and Turkey than meets the eye
Iran has announced that it stopped the flow of natural gas to Turkey for ten days, starting from 20 January, due to a “technical failure”. This resulted in an electricity crisis for factories in Turkey. Questions have been raised about the validity of the Iranian justification and the reality...
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Erdogan's upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his intention to visit Saudi Arabia in February, at the invitation of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz. The announcement came in Erdogan’s answer to a Turkish businesswoman’s question about the undeclared Saudi ban on Turkish goods and her demand that this problem be solved....
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Turkey faces a new round in its economic battle
Turkey witnessed a historic night on Monday after the statements made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when announcing that the government will take new measures to prevent the decline of the Turkish lira against the US dollar. The price of the dollar fell sharply within minutes, from the rate...
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Turkish-American relations face a new test
Reuters news agency published news a few days ago about Ankara’s desire to buy 40 F-16 fighters from the US, as well as purchasing 80 modernization kits to service its existing warplanes, after Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program and denied access to those planes since Ankara purchased...
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Relief in Ankara at signs of improved relations with Riyadh
Turkish-Saudi relations have witnessed signs of improvement in recent days, in light of other developments and new international and regional equations imposed by the victory of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, in the US presidential elections. These indicators led to relief in Ankara, because it would give it the...
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Why is the Turkish opposition demanding early elections?
Speaking on a television programme two weeks ago, the head of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, urged the head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, to demand early elections: “The salvation of this country lies in an early election as soon as possible. I tell...
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An Egyptian or Russian message?
Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the Russian and Egyptian parties will meet in order to prepare for joint naval exercises to be held in the Black Sea under the name “Friendship Bridge 2020”. In December 2019, Russia and Egypt held naval exercises in the Mediterranean...
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Turkey aims to rid itself of the shackles imposed by energy imports
Last Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in Istanbul that the Fatih drilling ship has discovered reserves of 320 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the Black Sea, and that Turkey will start using this in 2023. This is also when the country will celebrate its centenary...
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Turkey has a legitimate presence in the Mediterranean Sea
The Turkish ship Oruc Reis set off from the port of Antalya and reached its destination on Monday morning where it is to carry out seismic surveys after Ankara issued a warning on Sunday evening regarding an area located within its territorial waters. However, Greece claims that the area...
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How will Turkey respond to Egypt’s intervention in Libya?
The Egyptian parliament agreed on Monday to authorise President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to send the army on combat missions abroad to “defend Egyptian national security”. The move came as the date approaches for the military operation expected to be launched by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA)...
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Quartet summit and its files
On Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the files of Syria and Libya, in addition to the files of illegal immigration, Turkish-European relations, and the coronavirus crisis, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. This quadripartite summit would have...
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Turkey has given Europe a choice: deter Russia from bombing Idlib, or face more refugees
When Turkey opened its border to refugees wishing to go to Europe this week, a large number started flocking to Edirne and the coastal areas from all over the country to cross via land and sea into Greece. This has raised concerns in Athens and other European capitals. Since...
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Turkey’s message to Russia is clear
At dawn on Monday, Syrian regime forces targeted a Turkish observation post in the Idlib governorate, killing eight Turkish citizens, one of them a civilian. The Turkish army responded immediately to the attack, explained Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, and bombed 54 targets belonging to the regime, killing 76 Syrian...
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AKP’s chances in the local elections
The Turkish President and head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, succeeded in rescuing the People’s Alliance, an electoral alliance, from disintegration. The two parties reached understandings whereby each of them makes concessions to...
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Turkey’s local elections and the fate of the alliances
Public opinion has for days been preoccupied with the assassination of the famous Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – may he rest in peace – in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. This preoccupation is largely due to the strangeness of the incident, the brutal nature of the...
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Why has the AKP’s popularity declined?
The unofficial results of the early presidential and parliamentary elections held last Sunday in all parts of Turkey showed the victory of the President and People’s Alliance candidate, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first round, in addition to winning a majority in the Turkish parliament. The Supreme Electoral Council...
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Who will the Kurds vote for in the Turkish elections?
Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in less than a month. Given the alignment of political parties and the formation of two electoral alliances, many observers and analysts are asking who the Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin will vote for. Even the smallest difference in support for...
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A new crisis in Turkey-Israel relations
Relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated after the assault by Israeli commandos on the Turkish-registered Mavi Marmara in international waters in May 2010; nine Turkish citizens on board were killed and another died of his wounds later. The ship was sailing towards the Gaza Strip as part of the...
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The Turkish opposition is repeating past mistakes
Turkish political parties have begun intensifying their election campaigns with the imminent, early presidential and parliamentary elections due to take place on 24 June. The campaigns have been divided into two camps: The People’s Alliance, formed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party, and the...
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Turkish opposition alliance seeks to control parliament
CNN Turk reported breaking news last night that four political parties have reached an agreement to form an alliance in the parliamentary elections. The Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Lyi (Good) Party, the Islamist Saadet Party (SP) and the Democrat Party (DP) are set to announce the new coalition...
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Ankara’s reading of the recent events in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia surprised the world last weekend by arresting dozens of princes, officials and businessmen on various charges, including accepting bribes, embezzlement, extortion, money laundering and exploitation of influence to achieve personal interests. These arrests occurred after the formation of a new committee to combat corruption, led by Saudi...
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The difference between arresting scholars and arresting members of the Parallel State
Over the past few days, the security forces in Saudi Arabia arrested a number of scholars and preachers, including famous ones with millions of followers on social networking sites, such as Sheikh Salman Al-Ouda, Sheikh Awad Al-Qarni and Sheikh Ali Al-Omari. There are some who are trying to link...