CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Recent Patriot offer to Ankara, why now CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Recent Patriot offer to Ankara, why now?

As presumably one of the most difficult years in the history of Turkish-American relations was about to end, Washington made a bold move to lead the game in a possible S-400 crisis, which carries the potential to poison the relatively upbeat atmosphere mostly deriving from the personal relationship between two presidents. On Dec. 18, the State Department approved a possible sale of the Patriot air and missile defense system to Turkey for an estimated total of $3.5 billion.

January 07 2019
Washington welcomes 2019 in a mood of depression CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Washington welcomes 2019 in a mood of depression

In the last weeks of 2018, President Donald Trump has left several key institutions in paralysis with a string of hasty decisions and announcements on critical policy questions.

December 30 2018
Curtains open for second act in F-35 crisis with Washington CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Curtains open for second act in F-35 crisis with Washington

Last summer just before American Pastor Andrew Brunson’s case turned into one of the greatest dramas in the history of Turkish-American relations, one other interrelated crisis was looming on the delivery of the first two F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

December 02 2018
Ankara’s psyche: It is payback time with the United States CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Ankara’s psyche: It is payback time with the United States

The release of jailed American pastor Andrew Brunson last month, after a two-year detention in an İzmir prison on accusations of being a member of a terrorist organization, has not ended the political bargain between Ankara and Washington. In fact, the bargain has just started for Ankara. During those tense months of Brunson negotiations, the Trump administration kept saying if the Turkish government had shown good will by letting go off Brunson, it would be reciprocated by some positive steps from the U.S. side. Thus, in Ankara’s world, it’s payback time.

November 23 2018
No lack of drama in Turkish-US-Kurdish triangle CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

No lack of drama in Turkish-US-Kurdish triangle

This week, Washington hosted the third annual Kurdish conference organized by the Kurdish Policy Research Center (KPRC) since its establishment as a D.C.-based forum since 2016. This year’s discussions were mostly focused on the new phase of the Syrian conflict, which has so far deepened United States-Kurdish relations like never before.

November 18 2018
Let’s hope it is not another perfect misunderstanding CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Let’s hope it is not another perfect misunderstanding

Last summer, when tensions between Washington and Ankara over the detention of American Pastor Andrew Brunson had reached a breaking point, the White House sent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a crucial message through back channels. If Brunson were to be released, United States President Donald Trump would reciprocate with a series of gestures to Turkey.

November 09 2018
CIA Director Haspel’s Turkey trip and naked truths CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

CIA Director Haspel’s Turkey trip and naked truths

In the United States as a journalist if you pose any question concerning the activities of intelligence agencies, there is a standard line you would get from government officials in front of the cameras: “We do not talk about intelligence matters.” Thankfully today we have President Donald Trump in office, who enjoys displaying the Oval Office agenda without excluding intimate details. Indeed that is how we learned CIA Director Gina Haspel had flown to Turkey ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech on Oct. 23, which was supposed to reveal the naked truth behind Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at his country’s consulate in Istanbul.

October 29 2018
Turkey is not ‘the bad guy’ in the story this time CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Turkey is not ‘the bad guy’ in the story this time

For the first time in a long time in Washington, Turkey is not “the bad guy” in a controversial story that took place on its soil. The cold-blooded murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in an operation that carries the fingerprints of the crown prince of his home country, provided a certain level of moral advantage to Ankara which it has failed to score despite its most valid arguments on the coup attempt of 2016 or the U.S. relationship with an offshoot of the outlawed PKK.

October 19 2018
Could ‘supernatural wisdom’ prevail in Turkey-US ties CANSU ÇAMLIBEL

Could ‘supernatural wisdom’ prevail in Turkey-US ties?

Now that the Brunson episode of the Turkish-American relations is finalized with a grand spectacle at the Oval Office where the pastor prayed for “supernatural wisdom” for U.S. President Donald Trump, we can go back to the remaining dramas between Ankara and Washington. There is no doubt Ankara’s decision to finally release pastor Andrew Brunson from detention would detoxicate the mood at the leadership level between the two countries. However, we should not fool ourselves with fantasies. Things may get worse before they get better.

October 15 2018