BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey needs central strategy but local tactics against virus BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey needs central strategy but local tactics against virus

Turks living in other cities get frustrated from time to time by the overwhelming dominance of Istanbul-centric news in the national media. When Turkey’s biggest city comes to a standstill due to heavy snowfall, for instance, the rest of the country can’t find anything on national television other than non-stop broadcasting about Istanbul’s crisis.

April 06 2020
Turkey struggles to keep the working class at home BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey struggles to keep the working class at home

Just as Turkey sent a cargo plane of medical supplies to Spain and Italy, the European countries worst-hit by the novel coronavirus, a group of infectious disease specialists in Turkey called on the government to step up measures so that the country does not become another Italy or Spain.

April 01 2020
Virus diaries Turkey: Social distancing to social media BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Virus diaries Turkey: Social distancing to social media

Social distancing to social media sounds like an oxymoron during the coronavirus days, when everybody around the world are asked to stay at home. No doubt, social media makes self-isolation more bearable. This is true for singles living alone, but also for more crowded households.

March 30 2020
Turkey and the diplomatic charm offensive BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey and the diplomatic charm offensive

Some 69 countries have requested medical materials from Turkey, according to Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Of the 69, Turkey has given a positive reply to 17. Some of these countries called on Turkey, in the first days of March, before they first announced their first respective cases of COVID-19. Ankara, meanwhile, didn’t send these materials for free; they sold them. But we are living in such times that, let along getting something for free, even the possibility of buying medical materials is highly appreciated. I’ve been told that in some of the countries that managed to procure materials from Turkey, even government ministers known for their anti-Turkish sentiments have made positive statements.

March 25 2020
Turkey enters critical week in COVID-19 fight BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey enters critical week in COVID-19 fight

Medical experts warned Turkey has entered the most critical week in terms of determining the speed of the spread of the novel coronavirus, as the first official case was reported on March 11 and the critical 100 confirmed case benchmark was reached at the end of the first week.

March 23 2020
Turkey’s soft power diplomacy in times of coronavirus BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey’s soft power diplomacy in times of coronavirus

Turkey’s ruling elites might have a hard time accepting that it is not enough to be right to have the moral upper hand in diplomacy. They might think that they are right in whatever policy decision they take pertaining to regional and international issues. But if the majority of

March 18 2020
Turkey and the race against COVID-19 BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Turkey and the race against COVID-19

Professor Önder Ergönül, the chair of the Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at Koç University’s School of Medicine, was cautiously optimistic when I interviewed him two weeks ago. At the time, alarm bells were not yet ringing in Italy about the coronavirus outbreak.

March 16 2020
Where is Turkey in the Afghanistan peace deal BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Where is Turkey in the Afghanistan peace deal?

International Women’s Day was probably marked in Afghanistan with additional anxiety. It is a continuous challenge to survive as a woman in the war-torn country. But this year’s women’s day took place under the shadow of the peace deal signed on Feb. 29, between the United States and the Taliban, adding additional shiver to women struggling for their rights. While a peace deal would supposedly inspire hope, not all in Afghanistan rejoice about the agreement, and especially women have reasons to be worried. Unfortunately, the deal started to give signs of failure even before its ink started to dry.

March 11 2020
What does Turkey want from Europe in Syria BARÇIN YİNANÇ

What does Turkey want from Europe in Syria

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meets his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on March 5, the European Union’s foreign ministers will also gather for an informal meeting in Croatia, where they will discuss the military escalation in Syria as well as the renewed refugee pressure along the Turkish-Greek border. They will debate what Ankara wants and how to respond to Turkey – and Russia.

March 04 2020