Category Archives: Uncategorized

President Biden’s First Overseas Trip

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

June 17, 2021 In June 1961, President John F. Kennedy, on his first overseas trip, visited France. At the time France had not withdrawn from NATO’s integrated military command and the Alliance headquarters was still in Paris. On June 1, … Continue reading →

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The Biden-Erdogan Summit (2)

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

June 16, 2021 In an earlier post, in addressing West’s Turkey conundrum I said: “On the one hand, most Western governments now regard JDP’s Ankara only a “nominal ally” if not an adversary, but they cannot turn their back on … Continue reading →

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Afghanistan Withdrawal

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

June 10, 2021 An open-ended US/NATO military engagement in Afghanistan was never an option. The aim was achieving optimal conditions for withdrawal. On April 14, President Biden announced that US troops as well as forces deployed by America’s NATO Allies … Continue reading →

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The Biden-Erdogan Summit

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

June 7, 2021 The Summit of Allied leaders will take place on 14 June 2021 at the NATO HQ in Brussels. Following a long-practiced tradition this will be the first NATO Summit after the new US President took office in … Continue reading →

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Secretary Blinken’s Middle East Tour

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

May 31, 2021 On April 29, 2018, Mike Pompeo made his first visit to Israel as Secretary of State. This is how Prime Minister Netanyahu started off their joint press conference: “Secretary Pompeo, it’s wonderful to welcome you. “This is … Continue reading →

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The Gaza Cease-fire

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

May 24, 2021 With the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire taking hold last Friday, the 11-day Gaza conflict is hopefully over. By and large, this latest episode also conformed to the pattern of Gaza confrontations. There were clashes at Jerusalem’s holy sites; Israel … Continue reading →

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Gaza Violence (2)

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

May 17, 2021 In my last post I tried to highlight the roller-coaster pattern of Israeli-Palestinian violence. In his New York Times article of May 14, titled “Arab World Condemns Israeli Violence but Takes Little Action”, Eric Erlanger started off … Continue reading →

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Gaza Violence

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

May 13, 2021 Palestinians remain more than frustrated with the status quo and in the absence of any progress towards the two-state solution their discontent usually hits the surface in the form of some violence.  And whenever there is violence, … Continue reading →

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The Rules-based International Order

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

May 10, 2021 The “rules-based international order” is now a recurrent theme in policy statements by senior officials of the Biden administration. Secretary Blinken, meeting with his Chinese counterparts in Anchorage on March 18, 2021, started the talks by saying … Continue reading →

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How We Lost Our Way

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Ali Tuygan

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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