Turkey's Opium: Football
Great Ambition, Great Disappointment
Football is an integral part of daily life in many societies around the world. In Turkey, however, this passion...
Faisal Devji’s Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam offers a useful starting point for understanding the current crisis of political Islam....
Turkey’s path to the dictatorship
The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP...
By moving to effectively install a court-appointed administration over CHP, Erdoğan's regime has taken a step that pushes Turkey closer to a Russian-style one-man...
Turkey’s Strategic Neutrality in the US–Israel War Against Iran*
The ongoing war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran presents a revealing case for understanding...
The dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East in recent years has renewed interest in a long-standing question: how should Iran’s foreign policy...
Beneath the visible structures of Anatolian political culture lies a deeper emotional and symbolic reservoir—one shaped not merely by institutions or ideologies, but by...
What About Iran’s Proxy Forces in Turkey?
Before the Iranian “mullah regime” collapses, it has already built a serious infrastructure inside Turkey—under Erdoğan’s protection—to reproduce...
In a lightening offensive reminiscent of their overthrow of Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces took some 80 percent of...
The Fragile Turkish-PKK Peace Process Threatened by Renewed Fighting between the Syrian Army & Pro-Kurdish SDF
The sudden fighting in Aleppo between the Syrian army...
Nationalism, at its core, is a political principle that answers three fundamental questions: Who are we as a collective? What norms and institutions should...
A year ago, Donald Trump entered office recommitting to “an America First” foreign policy. To many of his supporters that meant disengaging from the...
The Pakistanization of Turkey? Why Tactical Supports of Yesterday Could Be Turkey’s Ideological Crisis Tomorrow
On December 29, just before New Year’s Eve celebrations, three...
Trump’s New National Security Strategy (NSS):
Its Implications for U.S.-Turkiye, Kurdish, and Middle East Relations
Trump’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) abruptly posted in the middle...
There is a fashionable consensus among Turkey’s liberal and Islamist commentators—Ahmet Altan among them—that “the Young Turks destroyed the Ottoman Empire, and it is...
Recep Tayyip Erdogan—Turkey’s longtime leader as prime minister (2003-2014) and subsequently as president (2014-)—infamously once declared that “democracy is like a train; you get...
Two weeks ago, I again visited Iraqi Kurdistan—often referred to as the Iraqi Kurdistan Government (KRG)—to deliver the keynote address on “Kurdish Identity” at...
Erdogan’s September 2025 White House Visit:
Its Impact on Turkey’s Recent Balance-of-Power Strategy
On September 25, 2025, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited U.S. president Donald...
In any functioning democracy, collective organization (the ability of individuals to form groups, join associations, and pursue political, social, or cultural objectives) is not...
The Rising Influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
Along with its status and mission, the institution referred to in Turkey’s official discourse as the “Fener Greek...
Turkey’s Renewed Balance-of-Power Policy among the Global Powers
Arguably the superpower of the entire world in the sixteenth century under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the...
Turkey’s Return to Confiscation: A Historical Perspective on the New Law Granting Expanded Seizure Powers
On January 30, 2025, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly (TBMM) passed...
The Caucasus is a relatively small, but geostrategically significant region between the Black and Caspian Seas, athwart Europe and Asia, at the northern edge...
Although Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been roundly criticized by many observers including this one for backsliding on democracy in his own country,...
On March 19, 2025, the arrest of Istanbul Mayor and opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu reignited a political crisis that has been smoldering for...
Weekly Turkey Report – 1st Week of July
Last week, President Erdoğan escalated efforts toward an authoritarian transformation of the regime. In a display of...
The Weekly Turkey Report: 4th Week of June
ECONOMY
Turkey is in political and economic turmoil amid the scorching summer. As emphasized in an in-depth analysis...
According to the Bible (Ezra 1:1-4), the famous founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, ironically freed the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity...
Israel attacked Iran in an attempt to preserve the hegemony it had established over the West. Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s growing dominance began...
A hundred days into Donald Trump’s second presidency, the contours of transatlantic relations have shifted dramatically. US foreign policy, once anchored in multilateralism, now...
At the request of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), the Grand National Assembly of Turkey has passed a law granting Diyanet the authority...
The Weekly Turkey Report: 1st Week of May
As Turkey continues to spiral into chaos and lawlessness, its economic crisis deepens further. The brief market...
