NURAY MERT

The Khashoggi saga NURAY MERT

The Khashoggi saga

If I am forgiven for being too skeptical, I have to admit no stories about the Khashoggi killing sound convincing to me so far.

October 21 2018
The missing Saudi journalist and the dark side of MBS NURAY MERT

The missing Saudi journalist and the dark side of MBS

A Saudi dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, went missing last week in Istanbul. His Turkish fiancée claimed he was last seen entering the Saudi consulate, but failed to emerge since. Then, it was speculated that he was killed at the consulate and believed his body was dismembered by a group of 15 Saudi officials who visited the consulate on the same day after they flew in from Saudi Arabia. In this view, the Saudi group finished the operation within two hours, carried his body in their luggage and returned to their country.

October 15 2018
Anti-Trumpism as the new political playground NURAY MERT

Anti-Trumpism as the new political playground

United States President Donald Trump is someone who is easy to mock; not only are his politics very old fashioned, but his style is also repulsive and then his hairdo is weird, his dress code is tasteless, his first lady behaves like a robot and so on and so forth.

October 07 2018
That is international relations, stupid NURAY MERT

That is international relations, stupid!

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Germany has been portrayed as a success by supporters of the governing party, whereas dissident voices have regarded it as a failure to convince Merkel. It seems to me it was less successful than the ruling party expected, but more successful than the opposition viewed it. Not only the opposition in Turkey but also the Financial Times (FT) have claimed Merkel gave a “cool reception to Erdoğan’s call for detente” (Sept. 29-30).

October 01 2018
Banality and ills of economic liberals NURAY MERT

Banality and ills of economic liberals

As the world has been turning almost upside down with the rise of authoritarian regimes, all sorts of ethnic, regional, religious, sectarian conflicts and overall violence, mainstream economic liberals still seem adamant about their thesis of economic development as the cure.

September 25 2018
The new generation’s Great Game NURAY MERT

The new generation’s Great Game

The new generation in Turkey is as devious as its elders. Although it is always difficult to categorize people, be it young or older, there seems to be at least two distinct types of new young people.

September 16 2018
Who is friend, who is foe in Syria NURAY MERT

Who is friend, who is foe in Syria?

A well-known maxim of international relations tells us there are neither permanent friends nor foes and it follows that the history of international relations is full of the examples of strange bedfellows.

September 09 2018
The legacy of Atatürk NURAY MERT

The legacy of Atatürk

While I was watching the state ceremony commemorating the National Victory Day, which is the anniversary of the last battle of the War of Independence, on TV, I rethought about the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

September 02 2018
The history of Manzikert and national Victory Day NURAY MERT

The history of Manzikert and national Victory Day

The 947th anniversary of the Seljuk Battle of Manzikert, which is marked as leading the way to Byzantine Anatolia for Turks, is celebrated with strong nationalist emphasis by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling party.

August 26 2018