OPINION

Empowering Turkish Youth - A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part VIITuesday, November 5, 2024
Europeans understood us and our importance far better than Washington, D.C. In 2002, as the EU Ambassador in Ankara—who trusted me with everything—was preparing to depart, she mentioned that she had extra funds from another country she...

• Kemal Köprülü

Empowering Turkish Youth - A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part VIWednesday, October 16, 2024
There are many other experiences that I personally witnessed throughout the 90s’ that helped Türkiye fall into deep divisions and dark periods like the 1997 soft coup. In June 1995, Mesut Yilmaz allowed me to organize a week-long trip for...

• Kemal Köprülü

Empowering Turkish Youth - A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part VMonday, August 26, 2024
In April 1993, President Turgut Ozal died from a heart attack in the Presidential Palace in Ankara, and Turkey took a severe turn downwards after his death. I had the pleasure of not only knowing Ozal but was able to develop a valuable relationship...

• Kemal Köprülü

Françafrique - The Numbers Behind the DeclineMonday, August 12, 2024
The recent coups in Africa show a clear loss of French influence. Belying this is lack of France-Africa trade, which is characterized by little investment and centred on raw resources. Meanwhile Africa’s well-performing trade relationships with...

• Onur Anamur

Empowering Turkish Youth – A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part IVSunday, July 21, 2024
Cyprus and the famous UN Annan Referendum in 2004 was one of my favorite personal stories that included the EU, Washington, and Turkey. The Eastern Med University and my movement worked together very well, and we did simulations of every possible...

• Kemal Köprülü

Empowering Turkish Youth – A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part IIIMonday, July 15, 2024
In the 90s, every major political party moved to offer a partnership with us, starting with the late Necmettin Erbakan, who was ousted by the military in the infamous Feb. 28 / 97 soft coup. Erbakan was forming a new party, and he wanted young people...

• Kemal Köprülü

Empowering Turkish Youth – A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part IIMonday, June 17, 2024
Arrogance and incompetence coexist in Washington DC, but no one cares what decisions are made or who is held accountable. We have seen politics collapse, and people who should be nowhere near the government are managing it. Members of the...

• Kemal Köprülü

Empowering Turkish Youth – A Journey on Leadership & Political Transformation: Part IMonday, June 3, 2024
Türkiye is a country I used to know exceptionally well from residing there for 35 years and personally engaging with the youth at the grassroots between the ages of 17 and 25, where our leadership-building sessions and events touched 50,000...

• Kemal Köprülü

American Youth and SportsMonday, March 25, 2024
Young people in America are supposed to be trained to think freely, engage others, compete fairly, always be a team member first and display self-confidence. Treating people around you in this manner will multiply and become part of the norm, giving...

• Kemal Köprülü

Towards A Durable Peace: An Important PrerequisiteMonday, January 22, 2024
On 21 December 2023, a historic football (soccer) match was played between two Azerbaijani football teams—FC Qarabag (Aghdam) and MOIK (Baku)—in Khankendi. FC Qarabag won one-nil. This was the first sports event held in this city...

• Gulshan Pashayeva

Armenian-Azerbaijani Rapprochement: Facing a HurdleThursday, July 27, 2023
One year ago, in a piece titled “Towards Armenian–Azerbaijani rapprochement: Initial steps,”[1] I evaluated the initial developments towards the rapprochement undertaken by the governments of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and...

• Gulshan Pashayeva

Narcotics of Politics: The Electoral Behavior of Marijuana Users in the United StatesTuesday, February 28, 2023
It is common knowledge that drug trafficking is one of the most important concerns in US politics, affecting both internal politics from the standpoint of public health and foreign politics from the perspective of international policy making. Even...

• Aybars Arda Kılıçer

Governing ScarcitySaturday, January 28, 2023
For European countries, the resurgence of conflict on geographical and cultural frontiers, together with heightened tensions in the Balkans and the "Wider Mediterranean," is a severe stressor. While it's encouraging to see calls for a...

• Lorenzo Somigli

Utopia and the Land of OpportunitiesMonday, December 26, 2022
The United States of America is the most populous country in the world that embraces immigrants; it has over 50 million immigrants, winning the race by a long distance between it and Germany, which comes in second place by 15.8 million...

• Ahmed Nouh

TPQ Conducted an Interview with Mr. Jakob Hallgren, the Director of the Swedish Institute of International AffairsTuesday, November 22, 2022
This interview took place on 14 October 2022 through Zoom. TPQ (Editor-in-Chief Aybars Arda Kılıçer and Associate Editor Ali Demircioğlu) asked several questions to Mr. Jakob Hallgren, the Director of the Swedish Institute of International...

• TPQ Team

Technology Cooperation in An Era of MultipolarityFriday, November 18, 2022
In the past 30 years, the world has experienced significant changes. The Cold War came to an end with the fall of the iron curtain, which set the stage for a globalization wave dominated by U.S.-European norms. The era has been characterized by an...

• Tommy Shih

Decoding Xi Jinping’s Speech: China’s Cautious Optimism Will Mark the Next Five YearsTuesday, November 8, 2022
On 16 October, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a two-hour speech at the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). From national security to global economic integration, the address covered many issues related...

• Burak Elmalı

The Israeli – Lebanese Agreement: The Day AfterWednesday, November 2, 2022
The agreement between Israel and Lebanon on the maritime border constitutes a significant development for each of the two countries, as well as for the regional and international arena. After concluding the negotiations, the American mediator, Amos...

• Michael Harari

Zafer Partisi, Refugees, and the Upcoming Elections in TurkeyMonday, October 24, 2022
“You are setting the political agenda” shouts a woman who has participated in the rally of Ümit Özdağ, the leader of the far-right Zafer Partisi (the Victory Party in English, ZP in Turkish) in Turkey. This is no understatement...

• Ezgi Irgil
• Zeynep Balcıoğlu

A European Political Community?Monday, October 24, 2022
The European Political Community (EPC) launch in Prague on 6 October was relatively quiet amid doubts about what shape the project would take. Its overriding goal would be “stabilizing the European,” French President Emmanuel Macron said...

• Åsa Gustafsson

The Social Virus: Social Cohesion between Syrian Refugees and the Host Community in Turkey in the COVID-19 PandemicMonday, October 17, 2022
Social cohesion is an important pathway to creating societies where people can live together despite their potential differences. A socially cohesive society is characterized as one where “there is a common vision and a sense of belonging for...

• Nevin Solak
• Yossi Hasson
• Marjorie Chinen
• Ana María Oviedo

Economic Sanctions — Our Modern-Day Gordian KnotMonday, October 10, 2022
The modern history of economic sanctions begins with the wake of WWI. Economic sanctions, notably in the form of naval embargoes, were seen as an effective instrument to limit the war-making powers of adversaries. Yet, several countries including the...

• Hossein G. Askari

President Biden's Visit to the Middle East - a Sound and Balanced Analysis Paints the Visit PositivelyMonday, August 15, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East in the middle of July received, and in many respects rightfully so, a multitude of headlines and analyses surrounding the visit's motives, especially its expected and possible results. The...

• Michael Harari

Interview – Roger Eddé analyses the “Great game”Thursday, July 28, 2022
Jbeil, Byblos or Gubla – the primordial denomination – is the ancient propelling heart of the Mediterranean civilization. Here, far from the clamour of Beirut, the houses are made of solid and squared stone eased by arches; the domestic...

• Lorenzo Somigli

Interview with Danish Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Danny AnnanMonday, July 18, 2022
TPQ conducted a very informative interview with Danish Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Danny Annan. Among the topics of discussion, post-pandemic economics, Turkish – Danish relations, recent developments in Europe and Ukraine as well as the green...

• TPQ Team

A Look at the Impact of Executive Order 13985 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and AccessibilityTuesday, July 5, 2022
Inequity, racism, and unequal opportunity in the workplace are well documented.[1] These vices are kept in place through the differential treatment of people of color in our society. Studies have shown that racial minorities are more likely to...

• Ruth Dorsainville

Comparing the Ethnopolitical Status of Ethnic Minorities in Post-Communist Eastern Europe: Russians in Latvia and Hungarians in RomaniaMonday, June 27, 2022
After the end of the Cold War, the debates on the future of minority groups in new regimes established in Eastern European countries have become intensive. After the accession of more of these countries to international bodies, including the European...

• Aybars Arda Kılıçer

The MOU for Gas Sales from Israel to Europe: Meanings and ImplicationsFriday, June 24, 2022
The tripartite agreement signed (16.6) in Cairo between Israel, Egypt, and the European Union for the sale of gas from Israel to Europe, is another step, emphasizing the importance and relevance of which the European Union attributes to gas from the...

• Michael Harari

New University Model: Higher Education's Role Against the Backlash of a Middle-Income TrapTuesday, June 21, 2022
As the world is being reshaped with a wave of new technologies and entrepreneurship, every country is preparing for the new economy and related societal transformation to be a part of this movement.  The miniaturization that resulted from the...

• Mustafa Ergen

Nuclear energy: An Alternative to Russian Gas?Friday, June 17, 2022
The major problem is how to replace the percentage of electricity continually generated by fossil fuels and, above all, by Russian gas and gas in general. In recent years, the share produced from renewable sources has grown in Italy, but the...

• Lorenzo Somigli

Turkey as a Mediator Power in the Russian Aggression to UkraineFriday, June 10, 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory changed the perception of security and international law on the global level. We need to think about the future framework of regional cooperation in terms of security and sustainable development in the...

• Nadija Afanasieva

Sources of AI Innovation: More than a U.S.-China RivalryMonday, June 6, 2022
Many experts frame the debates around AI technology as a great power rivalry between the U.S. and China.[1] Indeed, by most measures, the United States and China lead the world in AI innovation. Yet focusing solely on the United States and China...

• Akın Ünver
• Steven Feldstein

Child Marriage Problem in the USA and the Age of Consent: Issues and SolutionsMonday, May 30, 2022
The Age of Consent throughout history has usually coincided with the age of puberty, although it was sometimes as early as seven. Early on, the age of consent was a familial or tribal matter and only became a legal one in the Greco-Roman period.[1] ...

• Ahmed Nouh

A New Era for TPQ: Transatlantic Policy QuarterlyFriday, May 27, 2022
Turkish Policy Quarterly (TPQ) has been a leading forum for serious discussion of Turkish foreign policy since its founding in 2002, and in turn has contributed to improved policymaking. Throughout its 20-year history, the journal has been committed...

• Selim Alan

Turkey - Israel: The Process of Improving Relations is Proceeding with CautionFriday, May 13, 2022
The attempt to revive the Israeli-Turkish relationship, which has been taking place in recent weeks, shows cautious signs of success. A series of behind-the-scenes moves combined with public ones prepared the ground for President Herzog's visit...

• Michael Harari

Interview with Ret. U.S. Navy Captain Gary TabachFriday, May 6, 2022
Welcome to TPQ's first-ever published interview after such a time! We will keep posting new interviews with other valuable guests including high-ranked diplomats, business people and our respective members at the Advisory Board. If you would like...

• Aybars Arda Kılıçer

Differences and Similarities of War in Bosnia and War in UkraineWednesday, April 27, 2022
Late February 2022, and early April 1992. These are the starting dates of the two largest European wars for decades. They were both preceded by conflicts which have cost thousands of lives; the war in Croatia in 1991 and the war in eastern...

• Brendan Humphreys

Towards Armenian-Azerbaijani Rapprochement: Initial Steps Thursday, April 14, 2022
According to the Collins online dictionary, rapprochement means “an increase in friendliness between two countries, groups, or people, especially after a period of unfriendliness.”[1] In this context, two parallel processes towards...

• Gulshan Pashayeva

What Moscow Has Taught to Non-Nuclear-Weapon StatesFriday, April 8, 2022
In the early 1990s, newly independent Ukraine briefly possessed more nuclear warheads than China, France and Great Britain taken together. It had inherited from the USSR some 1,900 strategic and 2,500 tactical nuclear weapons.[1] However,...

• Andreas Umland
• Hugo von Essen

The Nordic Countries - Divided and UnitedWednesday, April 6, 2022
“The world will never be the same again” - so the saying goes in Europe and elsewhere. And as we, in early April 2022, see the horrible pictures from Ukraine, it is hard to think otherwise, knowing well that things may become even worse...

• Gunilla Herolf

President Herzog's Visit to Turkey: How to Proceed?Monday, April 4, 2022
Israeli President Herzog's visit to Ankara (March 9), for the first time since 2008, is a recent attempt to open a new page in the relations between the two countries. There have been ups and downs in the relationship between Israel and Turkey...

• Michael Harari

The Mediterranean Option in EnergyThursday, March 31, 2022
The dramatic energy crisis exposes a severe weakness in European and Italian politics, totally unprepared to an external shock. Moreover, decarbonization must be gradual; otherwise, the social and productive system will collapse. While renewable...

• Lorenzo Somigli

The Ukrainian War and Energy Poverty: What Can Be Done and What Should Be AvoidedMonday, March 28, 2022
Energy poverty is a social, economic, and health problem accentuated by economic downturns, climate change, and technological advancements. It is defined as the unaffordability of or lack of access to energy services for cooking, heating, cooling,...

• Ramazan Sari

The EU's Offer of 'Temporary Protection' to Ukrainian Refugees: A Game Changer for the EU's Broader Policy on External Migration?Monday, March 21, 2022
Since 24 February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, more than three million people have fled Ukraine to seek refuge in neighboring Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia as well as non-EU country Moldova.[1] In response to this growing humanitarian...

• Beken Saatçioğlu

Measurement, Reporting and Verification of Methane Emissions from Natural Gas and LNG TradeMonday, March 14, 2022
The Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030, signed by more than 100 countries at the COP26 Conference in November 2021, moved methane on to the global political agenda and gave it a much sharper public focus....

• Jonathan Stern

Another Undelivered Promise of International Liberal Order: Gender EqualityTuesday, March 8, 2022
Human rights are one and indivisible. However, patriarchy violates this fundamental norm about human rights. One of the biggest promises of the international liberal order was to promote human rights in general and eliminate cultural, social,...

• Burcu Sarı Karademir

Denying Education to Women: Ensuring the Freedom Balance in the Example of IsraelWednesday, March 2, 2022
What degree of freedom should be allowed to communities in deciding their educational matters? What is the duty of the state to ensure that citizens receive acceptable standard of education?  The right to education is “the right of each...

• Raphael Cohen-Almagor

A Biden Summit with Kim Jong-un would boost Kim’s Legitimacy - So What?Friday, February 18, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden has frequently criticized his predecessor, Donald Trump, for meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and giving the latter undue legitimacy[1]. This is a flawed criticism that Biden should abandon. Instead, he should...

• Ulv Hanssen

The European Green Deal: A Tool for Strategic Engagement in the Arctic?Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Arctic environmental changes are a harbinger of more entrenched global crises. According to the latest data, warming in the region is occurring at three to four times the rate of the global average. However, if the Arctic has become ground zero for...

• Andreas Raspotnik
• Romain Chuffart

Past Haunts the Present: Escalating Political Crisis in BosniaMonday, February 14, 2022
Since July 2021, Bosnia has been experiencing the biggest political unrest that regenerated the fears of ethnic conflicts happened during the 1990s. Former High Representative, Valentin Inzko, amended the law by including the prohibition of the...

• Aslı Şebnem Haliman

Russian Drift from “Near Abroad” to “Far Abroad”: Is There a Panacea for NATO?Friday, February 11, 2022
Although military threats of conventional nature have diminished to a certain extent after the Cold War, the core objective of collective defense, the primary raison d’état of NATO remains intact. As it is subtly underlined in...

• Deniz Ünsal

The Vision of an Empire Drives Russia’s Policy Towards UkraineWednesday, February 9, 2022
The confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine began eight years ago with the Russian annexation of Crimea and Russian-backed insurgency in the Donbas. The standoff has now reached a very dangerous point as Moscow concentrated significant...

• Igor Torbakov

Regional Architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean: Challenges and Opportunities at the Current CrossroadsMonday, February 7, 2022
The natural gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean basin, and the strategic developments in the region over the past decade, have helped to “put it on the map,” making it a distinct sub-region in the international arena. The East...

• Michael Harari

Three Levels of Arctic GeopoliticsMonday, February 7, 2022
The notion of geopolitical conflict in the Arctic continues to make media headlines. A decade ago, as climate change was impacting the region, the resource potential of the North grabbed attention, and states (and companies) saw the chance to turn a...

• Andreas Østhagen

Crypto Cold War: Cryptocurrency, State Sovereignty and the Changing Dynamics of the Global Political Economy Monday, January 31, 2022
The global cryptocurrency market size has reached $2.1B in 2021 and is expected to reach approximately $5B by 2026 with a CAGR of 19.04 percent. As the market has been growing rapidly, the mining sector, which forms the supply side of the market, has...

• Dicle Yurdakul

Turkey’s Delicate Balance between Russia and UkraineThursday, January 27, 2022
Turkish foreign policy under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in the last years always been a matter of treading a fine line, mixing a brinkmanship that has ruffled the West with pragmatism to avert disaster when required. At a time of economic...

• Stuart Williams

Energy Crisis in Italy: The End of a Model?Monday, January 24, 2022
Italy is caught in a pincer attack. On the one hand, the green challenge forces a rapid and global energy substitution, while the Italian productive and social structure was based over decades on fossil fuels security. The rising geopolitical crisis,...

• Lorenzo Somigli

The Geopolitics of Turkey's New Natural Gas Discovery in the Black SeaThursday, January 13, 2022
Becoming one of the countries with richest energy resources, Turkey can easily meet its domestic needs and play the role of Europe's natural energy bridge as the European Union is one of the world's top energy consumer. The discovery of new...

• Umud Shokri

The Curios Case of Kazakhstan: A Colorless Revolution in the New Cold WarMonday, January 10, 2022
The protests—or the “insurgency” if one considers the official discourse—in Kazakhstan is about to come to an end after a week. At the peak of the unexpected events, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, with another unexpected...

• Oğul Tuna

Trapped - The Indochinese Boat People as an Indicator of the Population Flight in the Aftermath of the Taliban VictoryMonday, October 25, 2021
As in Afghanistan, the decision of the American military to leave South Vietnam in 1975 precipitated a collapse of the American supported national government and its military forces in the face of a Viet Cong assault backed by North Vietnam. In...

• Howard Adelman

What Happened Before the GNAT Ratified the Paris Agreement?Monday, October 25, 2021
In the first days of October 2021, the 5th legislative year started in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT). The GNAT's first act was ratifying the Paris Agreement, which Turkey signed in 2016.[1] Following the signing of the Paris...

• Arda Ozan Sirkeci
• Yusuf Emre Serali

What If Women Ruled The Heavens And Earth?Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Because males ruled as the supreme gods in the heavens (e.g., Yahweh, Jehovah, Christ, Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, Lord Krishna, Ahura Mazda, Zeus, etc.)[1], as well as the seas (e.g., Poseidon, Neptune) and even in the underworld (e.g., Hades,...

• Arnold M. Ludwig

Wildland Fires: A Few ThoughtsTuesday, September 28, 2021
I was a wildland fire fighter in California in 1951 from March first to early September when the fire season was deemed over and the seasonal help was discharged. During this time I was on the fire line for 53 large fires. Many of these were...

• Graeme P. Berlyn

One Year on From the Abraham AccordsThursday, September 23, 2021
The Abraham Accords normalized Israel’s relationships with a slew of Gulf Arab countries and locked in a core group of states that have hostile relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The agreement was the main focus of former President...

• Leah Pedro
• Aaron Stein

What caused Afghan forces to collapseThursday, September 9, 2021
The collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) surprised American officials. The US intelligence community had earlier assured American decision-makers that Afghan forces could hold their own for months against the Taliban. President Joe...

• Michael Rubin

The Energy Charter Treaty: A Real Threat to Climate Action PlansMonday, March 22, 2021
It has been more than five years since 196 countries have promised to take serious actions to prevent climate change by signing the Paris Agreement. However, all these objectives are under the threat of an outdated treaty, namely, the Energy Charter...

• Bilge Şeneroğlu
• Emre Yavuz

Has Turkey Outfoxed China in Azerbaijan to Become a Rising Eurasian Power? Thursday, January 21, 2021
Turkey's decision to provide an unprecedented level of military assistance to Azerbaijan empowered Baku to achieve a resounding victory in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, changing the geopolitical rules of the game in the South Caucasus. Moreover,...

• Michaël Tanchum

Analyzing the Coronavirus Pandemic from a Foucauldian PerspectiveTuesday, January 12, 2021
This article attempts to address the coronavirus pandemic within the framework of French thinker Michel Foucault’s (1926-1984) conceptualizations. Foucault’s conceptualizations of “biopower” and “governmentality”...

• Begüm Burak

Turkey-EU Relations: The Last European Council Summit of 2020Monday, January 4, 2021
The advancement between Turkey-EU relations witnessed in the beginning of the century has been replaced, especially during the last four years, by disengagement practices and reduced interests in convergent policies. Turkey is increasingly lonelier...

• Clarice Rangel Schreiner

US-Iran Relations after Trump: The Path to Peace Is OpenFriday, December 18, 2020
The attacks on 11 September 2001 not only shaped the focus of US foreign policy over the last two decades, but also defined how a generation of Americans understood the gravity of these policies by bringing the cost and tragedy of conflict home. For...

• Assal Rad

Turkey's Libyan Intervention Heightens Franco-Turkish Systemic RivalryThursday, June 25, 2020
On 18 June 2020, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance is opening an investigation prompted by France's allegation that one of its naval frigates was targeted for attack by a Turkish naval warship in the Mediterranean as...

• Michaël Tanchum

Turkey's Unwinnable Three-Front: COVID-19, Syria, and Libya?Thursday, April 16, 2020
On 3 April 2020, as Turkey passed 20,000 registered cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared on television to announce the implementation of a partial shutdown in Turkey, restricting movement in 31 of...

• Michaël Tanchum

Turkey's In-between State of War and Peace with RussiaThursday, March 26, 2020
On 15 March 2020, Turkey and Russia conducted their first joint patrol along the M-4 highway in Syria's Idlib province, implementing the terms a ceasefire accord that ended the direct military confrontation between Turkey and Russia. Ankara will...

• Michaël Tanchum

The Billion Dollar Question: Turkey's Solidifying Energy Drilling Activities in the Eastern MedMonday, March 23, 2020
Turkey's forays over the last few months into the Eastern Mediterranean and  the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) have become a game changer overnight, with the permanent stationing of its newly-acquired...

• Georgios Stavri

The Meaning and End of Turkey-Russia Cooperation in SyriaFriday, February 21, 2020
The Turkey-Russia relationship is in the midst of a major reset. The outbreak of hostilities in Syria's Idlib province has left 13 Turkish soldiers dead and seven Turkish military posts under siege by Russian-backed Syrian government forces....

• Michaël Tanchum

Concept of Minority in Turkey and Its Obstacles For Joining the EUFriday, January 17, 2020
Turkey-EU relations started off strong, with the Association Agreements on 12 September 1963. Yet, since then, the relationship has consisted of many ups and downs. Obstacles to full EU membership emerge from the question of whether Turkey will...

• Ekin Kurt

Turkey Enters Libyan Escalation Spiral at Great RiskThursday, January 2, 2020
Turkey upended the Eastern Mediterranean's strategic equation with its late November 2019 signing of maritime boundary and military cooperation agreements with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord in war-divided Libya. By defining...

• Michaël Tanchum

The Global Space Economy: A Short Overview of the New Space RaceFriday, December 6, 2019
Human beings have been observing celestial bodies for thousands of years. Scholars have solid evidences that Sumerians had partial star maps between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago, while the ancient Egyptians had astronomical skills 4,500 years ago. We...

• Türksoy Emen

Erdoğan Talks Tough on Nuclear Weapons as Turkey goes BallisticMonday, November 18, 2019
In early September 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan surprised many in the international community with his declaration that it was unacceptable for nuclear armed powers to prohibit Turkey from acquiring nuclear weapons.  While many...

• Michaël Tanchum

Prospects for the Trump-Erdogan Meeting in Washington DCTuesday, November 12, 2019
President Trump has invited President Erdogan of Turkey to visit him at the White House on Wednesday, November 13th. Trump’s tweet confirming the meeting was very amicable stating that Trump “just had a very good call with President...

• Mark Meirowitz

Two Years After the Independence Referendum: Are Turkey-KRG Relations Normalizing?Monday, September 9, 2019
Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) enjoyed the golden years of their relationship between 2008 and 2017, beginning with the Justice and Development Party Government’s policy of engaging with the Iraqi Kurds until the...

• Özlem Kayhan Pusane

Syrian Safe Zone Moves US-Turkey Relationship Beyond KobaniMonday, September 2, 2019
With Turkey poised for a cross-border invasion to clear northeastern Syria of U.S.-aligned Kurdish forces, Washington and Ankara announced an agreement on 7 August 2019 to jointly create and patrol a safe zone in region, averting the possibility of...

• Michaël Tanchum

Turkey - Cyprus Island Interconnector as an Energy Policy for Turkey Tuesday, August 27, 2019
From the Balearic Islands and Corsica, to Sicily in the Mediterranean, the European Network of Transmission System Operators-Electricity (ENTSO-E) transmission system interconnects continental Europe with its islands. Cyprus Island, which has a...

• Mustafa Özge Özden

A Dangerous Policy of Turkish Containment in the Eastern MediterraneanTuesday, July 16, 2019
Turkey's provocative action of sending two drillships into Cypriot waters to explore natural gas is a response to a grander provocation coming from the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, and Israel to exclude Turkey from the marketing of Eastern...

• Michaël Tanchum

Syrian Refugees May Hold the Key to Turkey’s Economic Development and Geo-political AmbitionsTuesday, June 25, 2019
Since the founding of the Republic under Kemal Atatürk, the political crisis in Syria has thrown up one of the most fundamental constraints ever faced by any Turkish Government. This does not imply in any way that the presence of...

• Paul Thompson
• Henry Wissink

A Virtual Hub Can Create Actual Peace in the Eastern Mediterranean Benefiting Turkey and Turkish CypriotsMonday, June 24, 2019
The Eastern Mediterranean is poised to enter a dangerous escalation spiral over offshore natural gas. On 3 May 2019, Turkey announced that it would commence natural gas drilling operations off the southern coast of Cyprus, in the exclusive economic...

• Michaël Tanchum

Turkey's Purchase and the Path to a Post-American Alliance ArchitectureFriday, April 26, 2019
Turkey's taking delivery of the Russian S-400 air and missile defense system in July 2019 is a momentous strategic step. It reflects the realignment of Ankara's interests away from Washington and toward Moscow. Washington's planned...

• Michaël Tanchum

What Remains from Turkish Soft Power in the Caucasus?Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The academic literature on soft power is abundant with many case studies from around the world. Initially, Joseph Nye conceptualized the term “soft power” in his essay “Bound to Lead.” The term originally referred to an...

• Bayram Balcı
• Thomas Liles

Book Review: Rising Powers and South-South Cooperation Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Rising Powers and South-South Cooperation consists of 12 essays by political science and international relations scholars who explore different aspects of the SCC and the Global South. The volume situates the author’s stance in the wider...

• Özge Taylan

Pakistan Receives Warning From Iran not to Join Saudi Proxy WarThursday, March 21, 2019
Pakistan has received a stern warning from Iran's Major-General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force, and other senior officials in the aftermath of the 13 February 2019 attack on their forces by...

• Michaël Tanchum

No New NamesWednesday, November 29, 2017
  The names and places associated with the atrocities that stain the world’s recent history are only too well known: Guernica, Babi Yar, Sharpeville, Treblinka, Hiroshima, Halabja, Rwanda, Srebrenica and, more recently, Aleppo and...

• Margot Wallström

The Clash of Turkish and Armenian NarrativesFriday, July 21, 2017
The debates and tensions that very often characterize the interactions between the Turkish and Armenian peoples do not easily fit into frameworks adopted by studies of international affairs. One problem is that of identifying specific actors: states,...

• Nareg Seferian

Four Steps to an EU-Turkey ResetWednesday, July 5, 2017
In this piece, our Advisory Board member, Ambassador Marc Pierini, lays out four steps that the EU and Turkey should contemplate in order to enhance their relationship in the short- and medium- term: (1) Modernize the EU-Turkey Customs Union, (2)...

• Marc Pierini

"Arab NATO" Must not be Exploited to Isolate Turkey in the East MedWednesday, May 24, 2017
On his first foreign trip as US President, Donald Trump has recently concluded visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel that herald a new formation in the strategic architecture of the Middle East, a broad coalition of regional actors engaged in coordinated...

• Michaël Tanchum

How the Political Center in Europe Found its Voice AgainMonday, May 15, 2017
One stormy evening, during his campaign to become president of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen calmly stood on a podium somewhere in Vienna and tried to answer the question of what is wrong with the European Union. "The problem is not that...

• Caroline de Gruyter

Sino-Saudi Red Sea Alignment Presents Opportunity for Turkey-China CooperationFriday, April 7, 2017
Beyond the 65 billion dollars of economic deals signed between Riyadh and Beijing, last month’s much heralded visit by King Salman of Saudi Arabia to China confirmed the nascent strategic partnership developing between China and Saudi Arabia as...

• Michaël Tanchum

Russia and Turkey: Competitive PartnersWednesday, April 5, 2017
On 10 March 2017, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a visit later hailed by Russia as a concrete demonstration of the successful normalization of Russian-Turkish relations. Evidently, the parties have...

• Igor Delanoe

Challenges Facing Ukraine in 2017Monday, February 6, 2017
It is no wonder that Ukraine remains high on the global security agenda. Located in the very center of Europe, Ukraine is critical for the stability of the central Europe and Black Sea basin. Ukraine is facing numerous challenges, both external and...

• Kateryna Kruk

The Many Foreign Policy Fallouts of BrexitThursday, June 30, 2016
As the British government and the European Council are working hard to figure out the way forward after the Leave camp won the referendum, it is not too early to look at the many likely fallouts of a Brexit in the foreign policy field, if and when...

• Marc Pierini

Post-Election Analysis of the Greek Cypriot Parliamentary Elections of 22 May 2016Thursday, June 30, 2016
The recent parliamentary election on 22 May 2016 was expected to deliver surprises for a host of reasons, but what came about was a total redrafting of the political map in the Greek Cypriot community with all resultant repercussions promising to...

• Georgios Stavri
• Ljljana Jakovlevic

The 22 May 2016 Parliamentary Elections In Cyprus: The Most Disparate Political Picture In Years!Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Elections have always been a popular political event in the Greek Cypriot community, especially in the years after the tragic events of 1974 that forced the partition of the island state. Due to the fact that the Greek Cypriot governmental system is...

• Georgios Stavri
• Ljljana Jakovlevic

An East European-Turkish Pact Against Russian Neo-Imperialism Friday, April 22, 2016
An interim solution for Ukraine’s and Georgia’s current security problem, until they become members of the EU and NATO, could be the revival of an old inter-war Polish idea about an alliance of Central and South East European states...

• Andreas Umland

Can Terror-Stricken Turkey be the EU’s Security Bulwark?Friday, March 25, 2016
European leaders, embroiled in a migrant crisis for over a year, are desperately seeking a deal with Turkey to help keep their Union secure. With thousands of refugees, and potential terrorists, streaming in daily, Europe appears willing to pay a...

• Aykan Erdemir

Face to Face with Illusions and Realities Thursday, February 11, 2016
On the occasion of the International Peace Congress organized in Paris in 1849, in his speech entitled “A Day Will Come,” Victor Hugo had spoken of a period when Europe would be known as the "United States of Europe" and where...

• Gül Günver Turan

Prospects of Delivering Israeli Gas to the Turkish MarketTuesday, January 26, 2016
After a five-year diplomatic rift, Turkey and Israel are working to restore ties. On 16 December 2015, the two reached a preliminary agreement to re-establish full diplomatic relations, which were cut off in 2010 after an Israeli naval raid on the...

• Akhmed Gumbatov

Turkey’s Foreign Policy Conundrum with Russia: What is to be Done?Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Turkey’s foreign policy in 2016 will continue to revolve around the Syrian quagmire. On the one hand, Turkey wishes to influence the talks between the Syrian state and the Syrian opposition which will be launched in order to prepare the...

• Ünal Çeviköz

Turkey and Israel: On the Way Back to NormalFriday, December 25, 2015
In a significant development that will enhance the security posture of each country, Turkey and Israel now appear close to concluding an agreement that would allow normalization of relations, including the return of ambassadors. On December 14th,...

• Brenda Shaffer

Testing Times in Turkey’s Relations with RussiaTuesday, October 13, 2015
The first week of October 2015 was marked by escalating tensions between Turkey and Russia; two countries which, particularly in the last decade, have developed closer ties due to increasing trade, commerce, and tourism. Russian Su-30s crossed over...

• Ünal Çeviköz

Greece Goes to the Polls Again: What’s Next?Monday, September 7, 2015
On 12 July 2015, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the ruling SYRIZA party crossed their own Rubicon. The signature of a third bailout program – known in Greece as the third Memorandum – signaled yet another realignment in Greek...

• Dimitris Tsarouhas

To Counter Iran, Ankara Must Accommodate the KurdsTuesday, August 18, 2015
The agreement between the P5+1 and Iran is a game changer that weakens Turkey’s strategic position in Syria and Iraq. In response to Iran’s strengthened hand, Turkey has two options with the forces that exist on the ground in this region:...

• Michaël Tanchum

Supreme Sensibilities: How Iran’s Khamenei Defines the DealTuesday, August 4, 2015
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)[1] is slated to provide Iran with sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, and a return to the international banking system. Most important, should the Islamic Republic implement and fully comply with the...

• Behnam Ben Taleblu

Calling Yemen a Proxy War is an OversimplificationFriday, June 12, 2015
The operation formerly known as “Decisive Storm,” later re-branded “Renewal of Hope,” has been described as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. By extension, the conflict is interpreted as manifesting latent...

• Annelle Sheline

Is Turkey Being Drawn into Another Sectarian Conflict in the MENA Region?Tuesday, May 12, 2015
What does the convergence of Saudi Arabia’s and Turkey’s Syria and Yemen policies mean for Turkey? Recently, news surfaced regarding two potential avenues of cooperation between the Kingdom and Turkey: the possible provision of Turkish...

• Rachel Webb

TPQ Genel Yayın Yönetmeni Diba Nigar Göksel ile SöyleşiWednesday, April 30, 2014
TPQ yazı işleri sorumlusu Erkut Emcioğlu 28 Temmuz 2013 tarihinde genel yayın yönetmenimiz Nigar Göksel ile bir söyleşi gerçekleştirdi. Göksel'in geçmişini, yürüttüğü araştırmaları ve...

• Erkut Emcioğlu