By 2011, Turkey had emerged as a rising star in the international arena. Apart from China, Turkey was the only country that was growing by 10% a year. The advancement of its candidacy to join the European Union, the revival of its relations with the Middle Eastern countries and the increasing investments of Turkish businesspeople […]
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated in a live broadcast on TV that there is positive momentum in relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), “If it continues like this, relations will be on track,” he added. Çavuşoğlu’s statement may seem cautious. However, considering the level of tension between the two countries over the past decade, […]
Turkey has been enjoying good relations with three Gulf states – Qatar, Oman and Kuwait – for decades. However, Turkey’s relations with the other three members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – worsened due to their conflicting perspectives toward the Arab insurgencies. After changes […]
According to the holy books of the Torah, the Bible and the Quran, the Prophet Noah tried to call people to believe in the one God for years, but few people responded positively. After receiving a revelation, he built a ship to house a pair of every living creature and those small few who believed […]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a “revolutionary United Nations reform” before the 76th U.N. General Assembly. With the book titled “A Fairer World is Possible: A Model Proposal for United Nations Reform” published by Turkuvaz Kitap, he embodied the discourse of “The world is bigger than five.” Erdoğan is a leader that has for years […]
One of the most important criteria of mobility in global trade is freight prices. The most well-known and most sought-after price index is the “Baltic Dry.” The fact that Turkey’s Baltic Dry Cargo Index exceeded 4,100 points indicates that, in addition to global trade, production, foreign trade and freight transportation in the geographical area around […]
There is no shortage of ultra-secularist concerns in Turkey. In recent days, the country’s ultra-secularists expressed concern that two developments could represent “the final nails” in secularism’s coffin: the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan and certain practices by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Some commentators even see links between those two […]
Reading Antony Blinken’s tweets on the end of the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan and his praise of Turkey, I remembered an idiom I had learned ages ago: “mealy-mouthed.” Mr. Pickering, our peace-corps English instructor in high school, used to translate it as the equivalent of our Turkish expression of “Bir dediği bir dediğine uymuyor.” (Literally: […]
With less than 0.3% of foreign visitors testing positive for the coronavirus under Thailand’s strict “Sandbox” program on the island Phuket, according to local media, plans to reopen much of the country next month are seeming more likely to become reality. Adding to the pressure to reopen the country is less positive news, at least […]
For the last troublesome decade, Turkey was required to expand its regional influence via its hard power. After overcoming a series of challenges in the international arena, the Turkish government would like to perpetuate Turkey’s regional influence and to support regional peace and stability via the means of soft power. A new era Announced by […]
Now that the U.S. and other international forces have withdrawn, Afghanistan is left to the Taliban. But there is no official government yet. No official army, no official institutions in work and the country is waiting for its destiny. The streets in Kabul are calm. Empty city streets are filled with silence. People are waiting […]
From time to time, some tomb pictures that are said to belong to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) circulate in newspapers and social media. There are even those who enlarge it in the form of a poster and hang it in their houses. These pictures have nothing to do with that holy grave. […]
The recent crisis in Afghanistan is a significant test case for the EU’s capabilities to formulate and implement consistent foreign policy and defense strategy without the considerable aid and direction of the U.S. Yet, in another major international humanitarian crisis, European leaders face pressure to take some serious decisions. European leaders are receiving pressure to […]
The resort town of Kuşadası welcomed Thursday its first cruise ship after a 16-month pause due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions that brought travel to a halt. The city in Turkey’s Aegean province of Aydın is known for hosting the highest number of cruisers annually. The Blue Sapphire docked at the Kuşadası Ege Port early in […]
Eastern Turkey’s ancient Arslantepe Mound – which is roughly 7,000 years old – is now attracting 10 times more visitors after it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in July, an official said Thursday. Towering some 30 meters (over 90 feet), Arslantepe (meaning “Lion Hill” in Turkish) is known as the place where […]
There is currently heavy pressure for governments to make vaccines that were created just a few months ago mandatory. Some private businesses do not accept unvaccinated customers, while others explain that they will not work with unvaccinated employees. There are also universities that do not want unvaccinated students and teachers. Political pressure on public personnel […]
Turkey is working with Serbia on passport-free travel for citizens of both countries, the Turkish foreign minister announced Tuesday. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s remarks came after a joint news conference with his counterpart Nikola Selakovic in the Serbian capital Belgrade. “We mutually recognize COVID-19 vaccine certificates to enable easy travel for the citizens. Now, our citizens should […]
Employees of a hotel in southwestern Turkey were surprised to learn a British tourist whom they had served for years did not forget them before his death. Charles George Courtney, who used to stay at the hotel in the Kuşadası district in Aydın province every year while on vacation since 1997, established close friendships with […]
Those folks who put on their ideological glasses before looking at Turkey’s foreign policy cannot interpret new developments accurately. Sometimes, under the influence of the Western media’s opposition to Turkey’s use of hard power, they use labels such as “adventurism,” “Islamism” and “neo-Ottomanism.” Other times, intimidated by Turkey’s active steps in places like Libya and […]
The United States declared that it had withdrawn its last troops on Aug. 31 and thus brought an end to its 20-year invasion. As shared by most observers, the invasion of Afghanistan is one of the most dramatic failures and utter fiascos of U.S foreign policy. Some of the results that can be inferred from […]
With the strict COVID-19 travel restrictions still in place across Europe, one of the leading markets of the Ukrainian tourism market, travelers from the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, now rank among the top visitors to the ex-Soviet state. Gulf tourists riding in horse-drawn carriages or posing for portraits by street artists and playing chess […]
Daesh-Khorasan Province, or Daesh-K, carried out a bloody attack near Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital as predicted by the intelligence community. That assessment was the reason evacuations had been surrounded by anxiety. That suicide bombing, which claimed the lives of American soldiers, members of the Taliban and civilians, suggests that the […]
When we look at the megatrends that will deeply affect global trade and the world’s economy over the next 10 years, “digitalization” undoubtedly stands out as a top priority. Digitalization, resource diversification in global supply chains, the rising new middle class and urbanization are undoubtedly the primary agenda items in the world’s leading economies and […]
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Washington tour, his talks with United States President Joe Biden nor his men have been able to secure a fresh start with the Democratic administration as some people on both sides of the Atlantic were hoping. The neoconservatives in Washington and new revisionists in Jerusalem predicted it would be a […]
Prolonging the long-awaited return, the United Kingdom dashed hopes of Turkey’s tourism sector and British holidaymakers as it Thursday kept Turkey on its COVID-19 travel red list of destinations. Industry representatives, as well as travelers, were hopeful the country – which has been red since May – would be moved to the amber list. Even […]
Nowadays, the international media is focused on the Taliban. Even though a regime change continues to take place in various countries with either peaceful or bloody means, everyone at present is talking mainly about the Taliban’s coming to political power. In comparison to the regime change in Afghanistan, even the last U.S. presidential elections and […]
Turkey decided to evacuate its troops from Afghanistan. There were a lot of unanswered questions about Turkey’s mission to protect the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Taliban’s quick return to Afghanistan’s capital. Spokespeople for the group had phrased their statements about Turkey carefully, encouraging investments and assistance for reconstruction. They insisted, however, that […]
Afghanistan has been transforming very rapidly. Nobody expected the Taliban to take control so quickly. In a matter of just days, Kabul was almost 100% under Taliban rule. Crowds at the airport are still worryingly waiting to escape and there are millions of Afghans dreaming of leaving their country out of fear of either being […]
The Taliban’s retaking of power has renewed the “Shariah debate.” The perception of Shariah in people’s minds rarely goes beyond a few slogans about “severed heads” and “oppressed women.” If Shariah were to be applied in a true sense, none of these could be said. The measure of “just” of each legal system is determined […]
Wikileaks, founded by Julian Assange, who is still in prison, recently reminded me of the CIA report he disclosed in 2010. According to the report, if the Netherlands withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, other NATO countries are likely to follow. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) appears to suggest using feminism to legitimize its invasion […]
According to a report by French weekly news magazine L’Express, foreign tourists in France have been visiting the locations that various Netflix shows like “Emily in Paris,” “Lupin” and “Marseille,” were shot in, giving a much-needed boost to the country’s tourism sector. Those who have had their fill of the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre […]
The Taliban, who took over Kabul and became the sole power in the country, have lost their former “comfort.” During the years of occupation, their only goal was to threaten the system in the country with fear and panic. Now, they have to fulfill the requirements of the power they have taken by force of […]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been engaging in diplomacy on the situation in Afghanistan. Whereas governments elsewhere are still trying to get over the shock of the Taliban’s rapid Afghan migrants stand outside a tunnel under train tracks after crossing illegally into Turkey from Iran, as they hide from security forces near Tatvan in Bitlis […]
The number of foreigners arriving in Turkey hit a 21-month high in July in a major rebound for one of the country’s most critical industries, bolstered by the gradual easing of coronavirus-related travel restrictions around the world. Turkey hosted more than 4.36 million tourists last month, up by a whopping 367.5% from a year ago […]
The Taliban’s control of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani government in less than two weeks took many by surprise. Even though the withdrawal of the United States was projected by the agreement signed between the U.S. and the Taliban in February 2020, the swift fall of the whole country into the hands […]
The Taliban thinks the “Afghan government” lies before them like a promised land. But it does not. The last time they had the opportunity to run the Afghan government, they blew it. As the result of tribal infighting and the mismanagement of its elders, the Taliban alliance could not create a true coalition to run […]
Afghanistan is a Central Asian and Southeast Asian nation, yet it exerts more influence over the Middle East than most countries due to its ethnic and religious attributes as well as the instability it has experienced for more than four decades. The long and troubled story of the mujahideen, who resisted the Soviet invasion of […]
The priorities of working life are now digitalization, sustainability and mobility, trends that have been developing since the early 2000s and that became megatrends during the global pandemic. On a global scale, the entire business world, whether from the perspective of employers or employees, is now making a deep-rooted evaluation of remote work. Before COVID-19, […]
The number of tourists gazing at the Mona Lisa or wandering the streets of Paris this summer is low, dashing hopes that the top tourist destination would see brighter days after last year’s pandemic-linked desertion. The City of Light has seen between 3.6 million and 4.7 million visitors between June and August, down from 10 […]
Turks have a thousand-year history with the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan and Afghanistan. India in particular was ruled by Turks for hundreds of years. Until the British colonized India, Mamluks predominated in the country. The Urdu language, which contains many words from Arabic and Turkic origins, is known in India as the language of the army […]
There is an odd cacophony of rhetoric over the Taliban in Turkey. The United States, without a doubt, is to blame for the fiasco that was the Taliban’s capture of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital. The Afghans, who rushed to the airport or hit the road, are merely tragic victims of the Biden administration’s failure to manage […]
Considered to be an integral part of global tourism, the event industry in Turkey is rebounding from the turmoil of COVID-19, and the long-awaited mobility is set to add pace to the country’s accommodation and tourism sector. The pandemic had prompted massive cancellations or postponements of fairs, congresses, events and meetings since March last year, […]
An inclusive, pluralistic and flexible political system that would accommodate people from different tribes, ethnic groups and various segments of society, and produce effective political order, has never been a feature of political systems in Afghanistan in modern times. Afghanistan’s political structure was never successful in generating sufficient revenue and providing primary security, health, education […]
The European Union will accept Turkish COVID-19 certificates as of Friday, the European Commission announced Thursday. The EU executive body adopted equivalence decisions for the COVID-19 certificates issued by the authorities of Turkey, North Macedonia and Ukraine. With the decision, Turkey joins the bloc’s COVID-19 pass system ensuring easier travel to and within the bloc. […]
Images from Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital at the beginning of the week went down in history as the most dramatic ones in recent years. Thousands of people rushed to the airport with their families and hastily packed suitcases to get on a plane to leave the country. According to the […]
The German government has designated the United States, Turkey, and Israel as high-risk countries, triggering a minimum five-day quarantine requirement for those who are unvaccinated, the Funke media group reported Friday citing government sources. Montenegro and Vietnam are also affected by the upgrade, while Portugal has been downgraded and is no longer a high-risk area, […]
The Taliban regained control over Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, with remarkable speed as the 300,000-strong Afghan army, which U.S. President Joe Biden urged to fight for their country, vanished into thin air and the nation’s president, Ashraf Ghani, ran away. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is thus expected to become the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan soon. […]
The Taliban have overthrown the government of President Ashraf Ghani and taken over Afghanistan after nine intensive days of incursion. In spite of huge, long-term huge military investments made by the United States, the regular Afghan army could not effectively engage the Taliban troops. Most cities, including Kabul, the capital, were taken over by the […]
The Taliban advanced toward Kabul more quickly than expected. By Sunday, the group has taken control of the presidential palace in Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that the Taliban had won, as the militants entered Kabul. Ghani left as the insurgents closed in on the capital, before ultimately entering the city and taking […]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. (by extension, the U.S.) can be “extremely proud” of its role in Afghanistan and insists the British forces’ sacrifices have not been in vain. With 24 years on the job, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, had said that arrogance and preaching are two prominent American […]
Provocations targeting illegal immigrants threaten to result in mass lynchings. The rage that locals unleashed on migrants in Altındağ, a lower-middle-class neighborhood in the capital Ankara, calls for a multidimensional assessment. Authorities must take the necessary precautions against similar acts that may be carried out in other parts of Turkey. The killers of Emirhan Yalçın, […]
The Taliban advanced toward Kabul more quickly than expected. By Sunday, the group has taken control of the presidential palace in Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that the Taliban had won, as the militants entered Kabul. Ghani left as the insurgents closed in on the capital, before ultimately entering the city and taking […]
The fight against COVID-19 has shifted to confront the biases against vaccines as the coronavirus becomes a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The situation in Turkey is complex. Around 43 million people have received their first doses and 31 million are fully vaccinated. The intense vaccination campaign continues across the country but so do the conspiracy […]
I wrote an assertive article entitled “The second 20 years of the AK Party” for Kriter magazine, a periodical political publication of the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA). In the article, I claimed that even though the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been in political power for the last two […]
The Libya Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) road map proposed guidelines to remain in place until the December 2021 elections, which it authorized the Government of National Unity (GNU) to hold. By July 1, the LPDF was supposed to reach a consensus on the constitutional basis of the elections and adopt a new election law. But […]
Direct flights from Russia arrived Monday at Egyptian resorts on the Red Sea for the first time since the October 2015 bombing of a Russian airliner. Moscow barred direct flights to Egypt after the bombing of the passenger plane shortly after it took off from the popular resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people […]
With the withdrawal of the United States military from Afghanistan, the Taliban forces are taking over cities. After the fall of the city of Faizabad, a ninth province is in Taliban hands. It is estimated that the radicals control 65% of the country. Emigration is not a new thing in Afghanistan, due to yearslong conflicts, […]
The withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan has intensified the chaos in the country as the Afghan government and the Taliban reinitiate fighting over control of the country. After the failure of negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the militant group has seized many villages, towns, cities and provincial centers from the […]
The opposition keeps looking for a presidential candidate for Turkey’s 2023 elections. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who has signaled his intention to run, notably called on the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara to run for second terms. That statement was reportedly motivated by projections that the country’s ruling Justice and […]
As Turkey marks the 12th day of its fight against the wildfires raging across the country’s southern and western coastal provinces, most of which are leading tourist destinations, a question is being asked: how have the blazes impacted the region’s tourism? Tourism representatives previously called on vacationers not to cancel their reservations as the fires […]
The U.S. opposition to Moammar Gadhafi, the late Libyan dictator, had started even before the Libyan operatives planted a bomb on Pan American Flight 103 in 1988, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is still the deadliest terrorist attack […]
Cybersecurity is one of the most indispensable issues for individuals, companies and governments today. The recent exponential increase in cybercrime and cyberterrorism incidents requires extensive studies on their causes and consequences. One of the most striking common results of comprehensive research and studies in the area is that the most important reason for the success […]
Turkey said on Friday that it will stick to its tourist and revenue targets for this season, while tradespeople called on citizens to show support by not canceling their reservations amid wildfires that have been raging in the country’s southern coastal regions. The wildfires – described as the worst in decades – have swept through […]
This may be the first year that we are vividly experiencing the consequences of global climate change. Wildfires are occurring all over the world now. Italy is burning, so is Greece, Australia, Spain and many other countries. In Turkey, we experienced hell for nine days. With more than 21 planes in the skies and numerous […]
As the Western world emerged from the church-centered worldview of the medieval period, they relied on modern science as a way out of the centuries-old oppression of the Catholic church. In this period, which we call the Age of Enlightenment, they essentially replaced religion with science. Science was intended to be the religion of the […]
Europe’s southernmost islands are crowded with “corporate nomads,” as employees enjoy last chances of “workcationing” with the beautiful sun, sea and speedy Wi-Fi of these beautiful islands, and giving their battered tourism businesses a welcome boon. Olga Paul, 34, came to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in May to work remotely for the first […]
Last month Virgin Galactic flew its founder Richard Branson from a base in New Mexico making him the first billionaire to leave Earth for space. Now the company is restarting ticket sales for space tours beginning at $450,000, the Virgin Galactic announced Thursday. The new price is about double the $200,000 to $250,000 paid by […]
The Turkish government and state have been challenged repeatedly since 2013. First, the Gezi Park protests, then the December 17 and 25 judicial coup attempts and lastly the July 15 military coup attempt targeted both the government and other state institutions. Many domestic, regional and global campaigns were initiated to weaken the capacity and capability […]
Under the umbrella of the United Nations, global climate change and its consequences are naturally discussed more intensely and are the subject of research. A study released earlier this year reveals that due to the climate change caused by the global greenhouse gas emissions that continue to increase, the tropical rain belt, although originating from […]
Let’s bust the myths. I am talking about the ideologically charged myths surrounding the question of asylum-seekers. Turkey cannot address a problem like irregular migration, which originates in its neighborhood, with a racist or populist approach. To develop a rational, long-term and comprehensive policy, we need to decouple the migration debate from ideological myths. The […]
We have to admit Turkish society was also one of those flawed societies that had been producing flawed constitutions since 1908. Despite the fact that the society has been gradually shedding its flaws, we still have a flawed constitution: an eclectic text, patched and pieced together since its adoption in 1982 by a large margin […]
Turkey has seen the number of foreign visitors rebound strongly in June from a year ago, while income from tourism has also surged, official data showed Friday, as pandemic-induced travel restrictions eased. More than 2 million tourists arrived last month, up by a whopping 853.4% year-on-year from just 214,768 in the same month a year […]
It is commonly said that Jerusalem is the womb of the universe. Being the homeland of the Abrahamic religions, Palestine is the land of the prophets, the spiritual center of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Therefore, religion has always been one of the main sources of conflict and reconciliation in the Middle East. After the disintegration […]
The irregular migration debate is becoming a permanent fixture in Turkish politics. In addition to the fate of 3.7 million Syrians, the opposition now criticizes the government over the risk of an influx of Afghan refugees. As a transit and destination country, Turkey must discuss what type of integration policy is needed to manage irregular […]
When the coup took place in Egypt, Western writers rushed to blame Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president and leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Morsi was uncompromising; the Brotherhood was backward. They had isolated themselves, and the army had no choice but to intervene. The poor soldiers were forced to heed the call […]
COVID-19 is on the rise again. The numbers are increasing by the day in Turkey due to the delta variant. Not only in Turkey, in most parts of the world cases are skyrocketing. But the good news is that we have the vaccine now, thus, humanity has the cure. However, millions seem unconvinced. The growing […]
Saudi Arabia is going one step further in an effort to contain the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic. Citizens who travel to countries on the kingdom’s “red list,” which includes Turkey, will be issued a three-year travel ban, state news agency SPA reported Tuesday. It cited an unnamed Interior Ministry official as saying some Saudi citizens, who […]
Tunisian President Kais Saied has removed the country’s prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, dismissed the government and suspended the parliament and immunity of its members. Then, he dismissed Defense Minister Brahim Bartagi and Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine, and soldiers did not allow Rached Ghannouchi to enter the Parliament. Saied says he intervened on the basis of […]
Tunisian President Kais Saied has removed the country’s prime minister, dismissed the government and suspended the parliament and immunity of its members. This has occurred in a country that was thought to be the only successful case of the Arab revolutions and the only surviving democracy in the Arab world. Saied’s decision, which has been […]
Tunisia, the only post-Arab Spring democracy, faces a deep crisis. President Kais Saied on Sunday night announced parliament’s suspension for one month, stripped all parliamentarians of their immunity, sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and declared that he would take over the executive branch by handpicking the next prime minister. Big challenge To be fair, the […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, together with the support of the Turkish Cypriot leadership, decided to take some concrete steps to challenge the existing status quo on the island. The current status quo and the stalemate is both costly and unfair for both the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey. The Greek Cypriots still deny Turkish identity, […]
The Greek tourism industry has finally begun seeing itself on a path toward recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that has been a nightmare for many, at least for two balmy weeks in July. Hotel manager George Tselios is one of many who now dare to hope the worst days were left behind. He was getting […]
Who would drive a harder bargain with the West? That question popped up in my mind in light of the main opposition leader’s pledge to “send back Syrians” and the fresh controversy surrounding online media outlets funded by a foundation in the United States. To find the answer, one must take a quick look at […]
Turkey’s Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, dubbed the tourism capital of the country, has so far hosted 3.24 million tourists from the beginning of this year, despite the pandemic, according to a statement from the city’s governor on Monday. The released data show the confidence in Turkey’s tourism at a time when people are both […]
The global eco-political balances that have reshaped the Atlantic and Asia-Pacific have been a prominent discussion point for almost 10 years. The changes in balance include the increasing influence of the U.S., Russia and China as global power centers and the indispensable importance of Turkey and the Indo-Pacific region. Turkey’s importance Turkey is an indispensable […]
Irregular migration, a pressing global concern, is one of the top items on Turkey’s national agenda. The country’s opposition leaders frequently talk about the 3.7 million Syrian nationals who fled their country due to the raging civil war. In recent elections, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Good Party (IP) in particular have resorted […]
As if 47 years had not passed; as if all those years have not witnessed murder on both sides … As if the passing time has not proven that the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation once called the Cyprus Republic was a simple hope for the impossible, a castle built in the sky, promising the moon. Now, […]
The dynamism seen in Turkey’s domestic tourism during the Islamic holiday Qurban Bayram, also known as Eid al-Adha, gave hope to the industry that had a troubled season last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for the country’s touristic places was so high that the related figures surpassed that of 2019, which was […]
Arab visitors attracted by quarantine-free travel and affordable prices are helping bolster a rebound for Turkey’s tourism industry, as it looks to plug the gap left by Britons, for whom the country remains off-limits. Holidaying with his family in Istanbul, Jordanian Omar Zahra, 48, said flying there from Amman was a better choice than Gulf […]
Chaos and confusion over travel rules and measures to contain new virus outbreaks are contributing to another cruel summer for Europe’s battered tourism industry. Popular destination countries are grappling with surging COVID-19 variants, but the patchwork and last-minute nature of the efforts as the peak season gets underway threatens to derail another summer. In France, […]
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) with his ministers and partners in the People’s Alliance was watched with interest by the whole world. Erdoğan’s arrival on the island on the anniversary of the Peace Operation that took place on July 20 has a great symbolic significance. Cyprus, which […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Lefkoşa (Nicosia), the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), on the 47th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop, eight cabinet ministers, 22 members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)’s Central Decisionmaking and Executive Board, and five Cyprus veterans accompanied Erdoğan, […]
Turkey’s extremely dynamic domestic politics derives from the turbulent fall of its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire. Turkish historian Ilber Ortaylı famously described the 19th century as the longest century of the Ottoman Empire. Even though the fall of the Ottomans was a multidimensional question, state bureaucrats were fully aware of the gravity of the situation […]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Diyarbakır on July 9 after two and a half years and tested out a new discourse – whose analysis I had to postpone due to the coup attempt’s fifth anniversary. Let me begin by saying that Erdoğan essentially said the same things that he told the people of Diyarbakır back […]
The leading actors of the international system and prominent global organizations have increasingly focused on three main “megatrends” over the last five years: Digitalization Mobility Sustainability The coronavirus outbreak has made these three fundamental megatrends even more indispensable. These fronts have transcended all parts of life, from the business world to our private life, and […]
They all call it the “Turkish invasion of Cyprus” in unison; we call it the “Cyprus peace operation” for a reason. I was working as foreign news editor in those days, and we were all sick and tired of cropping and resizing the terrible images of the murdered Cypriot Turks – killed by the invading […]
Turkey marked the fifth anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt and relived that night – the night when the Turkish people made history. That night, which instantly became a turning point in the history of our democracy, consisted of two significant parts. The first part was about the coup plotters, who were members of […]
July 15 is a turning point in Turkish history. On this day five years ago, millions of people took to the streets and risked their lives to protect Turkey’s democracy and freely elected President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This year Turkey is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the failed coup attempt perpetrated by the Gülenist Terror […]
Countries with an imperial legacy have an administrative culture of governing other states. The Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire succeeded in ruling over vast territories across continents thanks to their imperial culture. In particular, the British Empire literally became a global empire on which the sun never set due to its complicated colonial administration. […]
The July 15 failed coup attempt was one of the critical turning points of Turkish history and Turkish democracy. Indeed it was a significant day for many international actors who follow Turkey closely. Turkey’s democratic process and economic stabilization were a source of inspiration for many, especially from the Muslim world, who follow the country. […]
It was the spring of 2019. I was about to enter a small mosque on a side street near the immigration office in Ankara’s Çankaya district. I didn’t know that what I would encounter there would stick with me. The mosque was packed with immigrants from Central Asia. A place of worship had been converted […]
Currently, the streets in Cuba are shambolic. Footage from the country shows pro-change demonstrators turning over communist party members’ cars on the road. Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, who assumed the seat after Raul Castro, who took over the presidency from his brother Fidel, called his supporters to the streets in response. Bermudez says the United […]
Nearly 200,000 guests have already visited the town of Maraş (Varosha), in the northern part of Cyprus, which was partially reopened to the public in 2020 after 47 years, the country’s president said Tuesday. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar told reporters in Turkey’s Mersin province that the reopening of Varosha brought […]
Five years have passed since the inauspicious coup attempt in Turkey. That fateful night is when the Turkish people took charge of their future, too. Many events will take place this week to tell the epic story of a glorious nation, which stopped tanks with their bare hands. Talking about the night of July 15, […]
When U.S. President Joe Biden came to power he plainly proclaimed that former President Donald Trump’s “America First” isolationism is over and that Biden’s “America is Back, Diplomacy is Back.” In other words, Biden claimed that the U.S. would reengage with the world and lead the global system once again. The Biden administration has passed […]
Turkey’s picturesque Cappadocia region drew over 150,000 visitors this June, according to the latest official figures, thanks to COVID-19 safety measures. A total of 150,282 domestic and international tourists came to explore the charming touristic hub in the central Nevşehir province, famed for its distinctive fairy chimneys, underground cities, cave hotels, and hot-air balloon rides, […]
There is no election in sight, but Turkey is already talking about the polls. The opposition, which calls for early elections at every opportunity, is in search of a presidential candidate. There is an ongoing discussion about the first round – whether to settle on a joint candidate or let each party field their own […]
The 2023 election campaign in Turkey will go down in history as the longest campaign of its kind. Although the country’s transition to presidentialism ruled out early elections in practice, the opposition, with its incessant calls for an early election, manages to set the tone for political debate to some degree. All that talk about […]
Since coming to power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) took up social problems with the meticulousness of a researcher. The AK Party government was determined to meet the people’s expectations by focusing its energy on the most urgent problems of the country, including the issue of poverty, the aloofness of the […]
In terms of the dynamics of world agriculture and the global food industry, the “Agriculture Outlook in 2021-2030” report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the U.N.’s Agriculture and Food Organization (FAO) predicts global demand for agricultural commodities and food will slow by 2030, compared to that seen in the decade […]
A Turkish Cypriot from the South, whose family fled to the North when he was 13 years old, is now 60 years old. He has forgotten the Greek he had begun learning as a child from his street mates. He barely remembers his last years in the South. Back in the day in the South, […]
Will Turkey run and guard Afghanistan’s Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport? The answer is not clear yet as Turkey and NATO have yet to make a decision on the matter, though NATO is willing to hand over the responsibility to Ankara, one of the strongest NATO allies. Turkey has also voiced its commitment to fulfilling […]
Russia has decided to boost the number of direct flights to Turkey, according to statements on Monday, which came just after the country resumed flight service to Turkey following a COVID-19 hiatus that began in April. Thirteen more cities were allowed to resume direct flights to Turkey starting on July 12 – with an additional […]
Recently, there was an article in the Economist explaining that Turkey gained the upper hand over Greece in the Aegean Sea with German-designed Reis class submarines. Noting that the Piri Reis submarine was first floated in March, the magazine described the development as “a victory for the Turkish navy and a headache for Greece.” In […]
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu fuels his effort to unite the opposition ahead of the 2023 elections with negative campaigning. His brand of negative politics – rooted in lies, intimidation and severe accusations – attempts to cover up the major gaps in the fragmented opposition’s political goals and ideology. Kılıçdaroğlu’s […]
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, generally known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which was established in 1981, was one of the most successful international organizations and regional integration processes in the Middle East until the rupture of the Arab insurgencies and revolutions. The GCC, whose headquarters are based in […]
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Good Party (IP) have been saying for some time that a tank factory was sold to the State of Qatar on the cheap. Visiting that facility on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan explained that the factory remained the Treasury’s property. It was allocated to the Ministry of […]
The summer season has brought a wave of foreign tourists to Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, driven by the gradual lifting of travel restrictions. The southern province has welcomed nearly 1.5 million foreign visitors from January through June this year, data compiled from Fraport TAV Antalya Airport showed. More than 721,000 tourists came in […]
American singer-songwriter Toby Keith has a bombshell of a song for the Fourth of July. No, not an unpleasant one, if you ask me. If you haven’t already, you can listen to it and judge for yourself. He is a 59-year-old U.S. heartlander. Sure, he had better days; everybody was as good as their word […]
Donald Rumsfeld died last week in New Mexico at the age of 88. He was one of the most controversial characters of the last several decades when it comes to U.S. foreign and national security policymaking. Although he had a long public career, after his death what many people remembered him for were his decisions […]
The real sector confidence index data, the capacity utilization rate and the manufacturing production data for April have revealed that Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2021 will point to one of the highest rates of increase in the country’s modern history. I can already state that I expect this […]
