Author Archives: Ali Tuygan

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About Ali Tuygan

Ali Tuygan is a graduate of the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 1967. Between various positions in Ankara, he served at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels, NATO International Staff, Turkish Embassies in Washington and Baghdad, and the Turkish Delegation to NATO. From 1986 to 1989 he was the Principal Private Secretary to the President of the Republic. He then served as ambassador to Ottawa, Riyadh, and Athens. In 1997 he was honored with a decoration by the Italian President. Between these assignments abroad he served twice as Deputy Undersecretary for Political Affairs. In 2004 he was appointed Undersecretary where he remained until the end of 2006 before going to his last foreign assignment as Ambassador to UNESCO. He retired in 2009. In April 2013 he published a book entitled “Gönüllü Diplomat, Dışişlerinde Kırk Yıl” (“Diplomat by Choice, Forty Years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”) in which he elaborated on the diplomatic profession and the main issues on the global agenda. He has published articles in Turkish periodicals and newspapers.

How We Lost Our Way

May 3, 2021 During my years at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I sometimes asked the ambassadors in Ankara how they viewed their job in our capital since they usually stressed Turkey’s location as a unique observation post for … Continue reading →

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West’s Turkey Dilemma

April 26, 2021 Turkey’s joining the Council of Europe and NATO in 1949 and 1952 respectively, and the launching of the EU accession process in 2005 had provided a progressive institutional framework for Turkey’s relations with the West. But our … Continue reading →

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The Taliban Are Back

April 19, 2021 An open-ended US/NATO military engagement in Afghanistan was never an option. The aim was achieving optimal conditions for withdrawal. In a Washington Post op-ed on March 12, 2012 President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron mentioned shifting to … Continue reading →

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Turkey’s Stormy Spring

April 12, 2021 In a recent post I gave a summary of two weeks of disarray, confusion, and wobbling in Turkey. What the country has witnessed during the following two weeks gives me no other choice than to admit that … Continue reading →

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Restoring the JCPOA

April 5, 2021 On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 and Iran agreed on the JCPOA. The deal represented a sea change for Iran. It came out of the negotiation process as a successful interlocutor for the P5+1 giving a boost … Continue reading →

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Turkey’s Tumultuous Days

March 26, 2021 The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence,  known as the Istanbul Convention, was opened for signature on 11 May 2011, in Istanbul. Turkey was the first member state to … Continue reading →

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China and the US: A Competitive Relationship (2)

March 20, 2021 No one hoped for a breakthrough at the US-China talks in Anchorage. And only a few might have expected the talks to start with such an exchange of sharp rebukes. After all this was the first high-level … Continue reading →

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China and the US: A Competitive Relationship

March 16, 2021 Following the Second World War, the standoff between the US and Russia, NATO and the Warsaw Pact was called the Cold War. Nonetheless, in 1969, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed. The same year, Strategic Arms Limitation … Continue reading →

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Pope Francis’ Visit to Iraq

March 8, 2021 The four-day long trip was an of courage. Yet, in a video message he sent to the people of Iraq before the visit, the Pope displayed modesty and said, “I come as a pilgrim, as a penitent … Continue reading →

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Recalibrating America’s Relationships

March 1, 2021 On February 19, President Biden addressed the global community for the first time. At 2021 Virtual Munich Security Conference he defined the partnership between Europe and the US as the cornerstone of all that the West hopes … Continue reading →

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