Tag Archives: Turkish foreign policy

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and the Montreux Convention

March 3, 2022 The Turkish Government has decided to close the Turkish Straits to all warships as a result of Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine. So, I thought that an updated version of a post I had written two years … Continue reading

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Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

March 1, 2022 In my last post, I said that President Putin would probably resist ordering a full-scale invasion of Ukraine because a bloody conflict will zero out his theory about the Russians and Ukrainians being one people. I proved … Continue reading

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Russia-Ukraine Crisis Episode 3

February 24, 2022 It started with satellite photos of the Russian military buildup near Ukraine in early November 2021. Ever since, Russia and the West have been fighting a war of nerves with frenetic diplomacy accompanied by mutual accusations of … Continue reading

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Turkey’s Diplomatic Flurry

February 21, 2022 Although being overshadowed by the standoff in Ukraine, Turkish foreign policy has entered a remarkably busy period. Our leaders are paying visits to or receiving visitors from countries long considered adversaries. Ambassadors are probably getting ready to … Continue reading

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Ukraine Crisis: Is Diplomacy Reaching a Dead-end?

February 14, 2022 Last week, Presidents Macron and Putin had a phone call. According to the Kremlin readout of the call, “at the French side’s initiative”, President Putin once again drew attention to the absence of a substantive response from … Continue reading

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Ukraine Crisis, the Challenge for the Normandy Format

February 10, 2022 Since there is no likelihood of Russia and the West coming to an agreement soon on the Russian proposals for a new security architecture in Eurasia, the standoff at Ukraine’s borders has become a stress test for … Continue reading

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Ukraine Crisis: A Reminder from the Middle East

February 7, 2022 The Russia-West standoff over Ukraine continues. The US and its European allies are warning of a serious risk of a Russian offensive against Ukraine. Moscow is claiming that the US is trying to pull Russia into an … Continue reading

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US/NATO Talks with Russia, Episode 2 Begins

January 31, 2022 On January 26, the US and NATO delivered their written responses to Russia’s security demands in Eurasia. A day later, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media that the responses offer grounds for serious talks only on … Continue reading

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Intermission in Russia-US Talks

January 22, 2022 I had concluded an earlier post on the Ukraine crisis with the following: “In Russia, President Putin is at the helm, steering a steady course.  “In the West, the picture is more complicated. What is clear is … Continue reading

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Russia-US/NATO Talks, Episode 1

January 17, 2022 In mid-December 2021, Russia handed the West two draft documents, “Agreement on Measures to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation and Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”[i] and “Treaty Between the United States of … Continue reading

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