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In The News

Can Turkey Be The Nuclear Peace Broker The World Needs Right Now?

With fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant on the world’s mind, three men met on Thursday in Lviv, to discuss nuclear security in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — and once again vowing to play a part in finding a solution […]

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In The News

Nuclear Security On Top Of Agenda As Guterres And Erdogan Meet Zelensky

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are due in Lviv today for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. The three will discuss grain and nuclear safety, while Erdogan is also […]

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In The News

Why Turkey Could Still Block NATO Membership For Sweden And Finland

The U.S. Senate has ratified NATO membership for the two Nordic countries. But one sticking point remains: Turkey wants the Nordic nations to adopt tougher anti-Kurdish policies.

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In The News

What The Grain Deal To End Russia’s Blockade Will And Will Not Include

The accord between Kyiv and Moscow has been in the works all week, signing today in Istanbul.

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In The News

Return Of ‘Putin The Diplomat’ – What He Got In Tehran, What’s Next

Vladimir Putin has spent much of the past five months hunkered down with his generals and bankers, managing the military and economic upheaval he triggered by invading Ukraine. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. Aside from a few quick visits […]

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In The News

Erdogan’s Opening? Why Turkey Sees Ukraine War As A Chance To Target Kurds In Syria

As the leaders of Turkey, Iran and Russia meet to discuss the situation in Syria, the West is closely watching Turkish President Erdoğan’s moves on Kurdish separatists in northern Syria, now that Moscow is focused on Ukraine.

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In The News

First Russian Found Guilty Of War Crimes, Gets Life In Prison

Vadim Shishimarin had confessed to shooting an unarmed 62-year-old man in northeast Ukraine shortly after the invasion began.

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In The News

NATO Entry For Sweden And Finland? Erdogan May Not Be Bluffing

When the two Nordic countries confirmed their intention to join NATO this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his plans to block the application. Accusing Sweden and Finland of’ “harboring” some of his worst enemies may not allow room for him to climb down.

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In The News

Orhan Pamuk On Pandemics, Press Freedom And An Eye On Erdogan’s Defeat

Nights of Plague is the latest book by the Turkish Nobel Prize winner, a fictional rendering based on historical reality that draws parallels (political and health-wise) between the past and the present.

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Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine Peace Talks: Erdogan’s Chance To Cement Turkey As Key Power Broker

After more than a month of fighting, a fresh round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has begun in Istanbul in the hope that progress can be made. Following weeks of fruitless talks in Belarus, negotiations were hosted by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who made a short opening statement telling both sides: “The world is waiting for good news, and good news from you.” Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter. The very fact that talks have moved from Belarus, a key Russian ally, […]

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Geopolitics Society

Why Gen Z Is A Real Threat To Erdogan’s Grip On Power In Turkey

Erdogan has long sought to mould young Turks into a so-called ‘pious generation’ for his brand of Islamic political rule. Now it seems he has failed, as the younger generation longs for what that the president refuses to grant them. In next year’s elections, their votes may prove decisive.

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In The News

Omicron Reinfection Rates, Abortion To Supreme Court, Battleaxosaurus

? Håfa adai!* Welcome to Thursday, where new Omicron findings arrive from South Africa, abortion rights are at risk at the U.S. Supreme Court and Tyrannosaurus rex has got some new competition. From Germany, we share the story of a landmark pharmacy turned sex toy museum. [*Chamorro – Guam] ​ SIGN UP This is our […]

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Sudan Prime Minister Reinstated, Peng Shuai’s Call, No Shuffling Adele

? မင်္ဂလာပါ!* Welcome to Monday, where Sudan’s ousted prime minister has been reinstated after a deal with the military, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai says she is safe and well in a video call and a Venezuelan orchestra sets a new world record. We also look at the sons of two of the 20th century’s […]

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In The News

Erdogan And Boris Johnson: A New Global Power Duo?

As Turkey fears the EU closing ranks over defense, Turkish President Erdogan is looking to Boris Johnson as a post-Brexit ally, especially as Angela Merkel steps aside. This could undermine the deal where Ankara limits refugee entry into Europe, and other dossiers too.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Why Putin And Erdogan Are Both Going After Germany’s Greens

On the Internet, Russian trolls are attacking the top candidate of the German Greens in the worst possible way. Attacks on Annalena Baerbock and other Green politicians also come from Turkey. Behind this is the concern about a green foreign policy.

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Geopolitics Ideas The Endless War

The Many Reasons Erdogan Plays The Palestinian Card

Even as other Muslim leaders were treading more carefully on the Palestinian question, Turkey’s leader knows no better way to express his global ambitions than a frontal assault on Israel.

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Geopolitics Ideas U.S. Election 2020 - Views From Abroad

Presidential Mental Health, Risks Of A Public Diagnosis

Narcissists, sociopaths, hypomaniacs and more: from Trump to Erdogan and Duterte, the debate on the stability of government leaders has become increasingly relevant. Labeling them as mentally ill or giving too much power to psychiatrists is dangerous.

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Geopolitics

Erdogan, Trump, Putin: Nationalists Backed Into A Corner

While populists toughen their positions and beat their chests, the deep-seated weakness of their policies is driving everything.

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In The News

The Pandemic Was Also Bad News For The World’s Autocrats

For strongman leaders like Putin and Bolsonaro, the health crisis looked like a natural opening for greater top-down control — at least on paper.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Enemies Past And Present? How The NATO Summit Looked In Russia

-OpEd- MOSCOW — Despite the predictions before this past week’s NATO summit of a major split in the alliance, and some awkward moments among its respective leaders, the meeting itself concluded without any real substantive complications. Even traditional anti-globalist clashes we’ve come to expect from these kinds of gatherings were absent. As for Russia, it […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

What If Moscow Is The Real Loser In The New Syrian Chessboard?

-Analysis- MOSCOW — The USA betrayed the Kurds. This was the blunt interpretation from Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to Russian President Vladimir Putin, following the Turkey-Russia agreement on northeast Syria signed earlier this week in Sochi. The Kurds have been the Americans’ most loyal allies in Syria, yet Washington abandoned them. Now Kurdish military units […]

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Geopolitics Ideas Trump And The World

Trump’s Diplomatic Recklessness Knows No Bounds

The U.S. president’s abrupt decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria was short-lived. But backpedal as he might, the damage is already done.

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Geopolitics Ideas

On Erdogan’s Ambitions: A Short History Of Nuclear Weapons In Turkey

ISTANBUL — One of the more prestigious duties for the pilots of the Turkish Air Forces during the Cold War years was the “nuclear watch.” The four main air bases in Turkey had been housing U.S. nuclear warheads since the beginning of the 1960’s. The nuclear class planes piloted by Turks were assigned to drop […]

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In The News

Istanbul’s Opposition Mayor And Hopes For Turkish Democracy

For the first time in 25 years, the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not be running Turkey’s biggest city. With his​ landmark victory in Sunday’s election rerun, Ekrem Imamoglu will be the new mayor of Istanbul, with significance that reaches well beyond the city’s 15 million residents. Imamoglu, who won easily 54% to […]

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In The News

Turkey, India And Israel: The Changing Faces Of Populism

Political Scientist Soner Cagaptay once dubbed Recep Tayyip Erdogan the “inventor of 21st-century populism.” There may be some truth to that, especially given the way the Turkish president’s style of leadership has quickly spread in recent years. But as we progress further into the millennium, it’s also clear that populism has evolved. Those with a […]

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In The News

Why The Stakes Are So High For Erdogan In Istanbul

Turkey’s president first burst on the scene in 1994 when he was elected mayor of Istanbul. Now, his party tries to hold the city.

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In The News

From Algiers To Ankara, A Warning To Authoritarian Leaders

In Algeria, the Bouteflika clan was driven out of power. In Turkey, Erdogan’s AKP has “only” lost ground in the big cities. In both cases, the government’s legitimacy is being deeply questioned, in a context of economic recession and democratic demands.

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In The News

Dare Not Steal The Opposition Victory In Istanbul Elections

Turkey’s politics has been shaken up after President Erdogan’s ruling AKP lost major cities in nationwide municipal elections. Results in the biggest city hang in the balance.

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In The News

Turkey’s Local Elections Test The Very Limits Of Democracy

With no other elections set for the coming years and the AKP party’s increasing use of bully tactics, Turkey’s local poll is a last chance to send a true political message.

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Economy Ideas

The Myth That Strongman Regimes Are Good For Business

-Analysis- PARIS — And then, Brazil. The list of countries that are switching to so-called “strongman” regimes keeps growing. Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, Narendra Modi’s India, Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. The “people” leave it up to a candidate who has promised the end of corruption and economic recovery. In […]

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Ideas

Turkish Crisis, An Unprecedented Test For Erdogan Regime

-Analysis- Turkey is a country with extreme social differences. If the inflation rate rises, the lira tumbles and price stickers in supermarkets are rewritten daily, which means those who already have little can afford less and less. The current currency crisis is making the poor even poorer. But it will not spare the rich for […]

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Ideas Society

More Than Soccer: Özil’s Resignation Is A Fatal Message For Integration In Germany

-OpEd- In Germany, there are many people who criticize the policies of Recep Tayyip Erdogan — rightly so. Many of his toughest critics here are Germans with Turkish roots, who also denounce the German government’s political deals with Ankara. And many of them are now expressing their solidarity with Mesut Özil, the German-Turkish player who […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Why German Turks Can’t Get Enough Of Erdogan

BERLIN — They lined up in motorcades, honking horns, waving flags. It was as if Turkey had just won the World Cup, except that Turkey isn’t even in the tournament this year. Instead, these enthusiastically noisy German-Turks were fans of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the just re-elected Turkish president who earned a particularly clear victory in […]

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In The News

Muharrem Ince, Can A Former Science Teacher Beat Erdogan?

Ince, a social democrat, is now the opposition’s leading presidential candidate. With support from Kurdish voters, he may even force a runoff.

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In The News

Turkey And Germany, A Relationship Always Worth Watching

German-Turkish relations are a high-stakes affair. Not only does Germany count some three million residents with roots in Turkey, the two countries are strategic to both the global economy and international diplomacy. In recent years, however, the relationship has been fraught with tension, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently declared her desire to “reinforce” bilateral […]

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In The News

Erdogan Speaks: We Demand Full EU Membership, Nothing Less

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a historic visit to Rome on Monday, the first time a Turkish leader has met the Pope at the Vatican in nearly six decades. But the visit to Italy, which included meetings with top Italian leaders, comes as Turkey’s military is engaged in heavy conflict with Kurdish […]

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Geopolitics Migrant Lives Syria Crisis

Why Syrian Refugees Are Giving Up On Europe

The route from Turkey to Greece was once crowded with Syrian asylum seekers fleeing to Europe. But some are now moving in the opposite direction because of a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment

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In The News

Erdogan’s Purge Stretches All The Way To Pakistan

KARACHI — A Turkish family is rushing out to a weekend protest in this populous Pakistani city; outside the Karachi Press Club, Turkish residents release doves as a sign of peace; 25 Turkish teachers plea for safety in Pakistan. These Turkish families have lived here for over two decades, teaching at a network of international schools led by Fethullah Gülen, a moderate Islamic cleric from Turkey, who currently lives in the United States. In the last 16 months, 28 Gülen schools and colleges across Pakistan have been shut down under pressure from the government in Ankara. Staff members now face […]

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Ideas Trump And The World

Trump, Erdogan, Merkel: What Price For A Free Press?

-Analysis- Donald Trump, the world’s biggest cyberbully, has issued another Twitter threat. The target this time wasn’t North Korea’s “Rocket Man,” but another favorite: the media. Yesterday, hours after NBC News aired a report claiming the president wanted a “nearly tenfold” increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Trump took to social media to retaliate. In […]

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In The News

Turkey’s Exiled Intellectuals Find Haven In ‘Little Istanbul’ Of Berlin

Writers, artists, journalists and others fleeing oppression in Turkey are settling in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin. But the dream is always to go back home.

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