A version of this blog appeared on Carnegie Endowment
On May 9, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss energy cooperation and the war in Ukraine. The meeting highlights a broader trend in Central and Eastern Europe: Even after Viktor Orban’s fall from power in Hungary, several regional leaders continue to engage with Russia in search of economic...
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 leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed. The crisis escalated when figures close to Kılıçdaroğlu, along with individuals linked to organized crime, made their way to CHP headquarters. It intensified further after Kılıçdaroğlu submitted a petition to the Ankara Police...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
At least three developments are driving recent Turkish domestic politics.
1. The crackdown against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political opposition has become so severe ...
