Tag Archives: Turkey

The Khashoggi Tragedy

October 12, 2018 Jamal Khashoggi’s abduction/murder mystery must have been a nightmare for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) leadership. During the last ten years few foreign leaders have been spared from their personal attacks in times of discord. … Continue reading →

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U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee Hearings

September 30, 2018 Couple of weeks in the Turkish resort town of Bodrum is a wonderful break for those who can’t help being preoccupied with Turkey’s polarized internal politics and continuing regional turbulence. Yes, there was the United Nations General … Continue reading →

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The Passing of Senator McCain

September 3, 2018 John McCain, a Vietnam War hero, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982 and elected to the Senate in 1986. As President Obama mentioned at his memorial service last Saturday, the Senator … Continue reading →

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The Idlib Challenge (2)

August 27, 2018 Since the very beginning of the Syrian conflict there have been three stumbling blocks before a political settlement: Breaking the deadlock over President Assad’s future; Persuading the external/regional backers of Damascus and the opposition to give their … Continue reading →

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Time to Get a Grip

August 20, 2018 When President Obama’s visited Turkey in April 2009 he underlined Turkey’s “strong, vibrant, secular democracy”. Turkish-American relations appeared to have reached their peak. As Turkey started to move away from the democratic path relations started to sour … Continue reading →

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Turkey-US: A Mind-boggling Relationship

August 3, 2018 Washington has imposed sanctions on Turkey’s Ministers of Interior and Justice. These may be symbolic but their significance cannot be underrated. Ankara has reacted. The disarrayed opposition is clamoring for retaliation. Russia and Iran have condemned US … Continue reading →

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The Idlib Challenge

July 31, 2018 Ever since the beginning the dictum was “there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict”. Yet external parties involved in the war and their proxies knew all along that this was far from reflecting their true … Continue reading →

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On Turkish-American Relations

July 24, 2018 In conventional wisdom, continuity was a prominent feature of sound foreign policy. This did not mean that adjustments, seeking new political/economic opportunities, innovative approaches to conflict resolution were only to be resisted. Nonetheless, a country’s remaining on … Continue reading →

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Regime Change

July 5, 2018 In November 2003, thousands of Georgian demonstrators took to the streets to protest the flawed results of a parliamentary election. They gave red roses to the soldiers symbolizing their peaceful intentions. And, soldiers who were expected to … Continue reading →

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A Victory for the JDP / A Setback for Turkish Democracy

June 26, 2018 Everybody knew this was a landmark election, the last exit on the road to authoritarian rule. With continuing state of emergency, a failing economy, extreme polarization and a chain of foreign and security policy disasters, Government’s only … Continue reading →

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