MURAT YETKİN

The bottom line of Turkey’s Afrin operation MURAT YETKİN

The bottom line of Turkey’s Afrin operation

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşğlu said on March 14 in Moscow - where he was in talks with his Russian host Sergei Lavrov - that his meeting with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson scheduled for March 19 in Washington could be postponed.

March 14 2018
Will US-Turkey ties get better or worse under Pompeo MURAT YETKİN

Will US-Turkey ties get better or worse under Pompeo?

If Mike Pompeo takes over his new post as U.S. Secretary of State from Rex Tillerson before March 19, then a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will be among his first in Washington with a foreign guest.

March 13 2018
US to remove YPG from Manbij ‘gradually’ MURAT YETKİN

US to remove YPG from Manbij ‘gradually’

The U.S. has agreed to “gradually” remove the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), from the disputed town of Manbij to east of the Euphrates, diplomatic sources who asked not to be named have told the Hürriyet Daily News.

March 12 2018
From Xi to Trump: Collecting all power as if it’s not enough MURAT YETKİN

From Xi to Trump: Collecting all power as if it’s not enough

The Chinese Parliament approved on March 11 the lifting of term limits for presidents being re-elected.

March 11 2018
The PKK’s strategic miscalculation MURAT YETKİN

The PKK’s strategic miscalculation

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was established in 1978 in a village near Diyarbakır, southeast Turkey, as an underground party by a group of radical Kurdish leftists led by Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK’s party program, which is still valid today, envisages the establishment of a Kurdish state carved out of the territories of four countries - Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria - guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology.

March 09 2018
Turkey signals end to Afrin operation MURAT YETKİN

Turkey signals end to Afrin operation

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Mar 8 in Germany that Turkey “wanted to end” its military operation in Syria’s northwestern Afrin district by May.  

March 08 2018
A pessimistic scenario for Turkey in Syria MURAT YETKİN

A pessimistic scenario for Turkey in Syria

The Turkish military operation in Syria is continuing at full steam as Turkish diplomats meet with their American counterparts in the U.S. in a bid to decrease the tension between the two NATO allies.

March 07 2018
Dangerous Turkish-US escalation ahead of Washington talks MURAT YETKİN

Dangerous Turkish-US escalation ahead of Washington talks

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Turkey on Feb. 15-16 was expected to ease tension between Washington and Ankara. In it,

March 06 2018
Turkish civil society pushing for gender equality MURAT YETKİN

Turkish civil society pushing for gender equality

Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdağ on March 5 said that a draft will be submitted to parliament to bring heavier punishment for perpetrators of sexual assault against children and women, ranging from chemical castration to heavier prison sentences with no remission option. Bozdağ also said there would be additional measures taken to prevent the crime from taking place, for which not only government agencies but the civil society too should work on. 

March 05 2018