The formation of the new grand coalition in Germany under Angela Merkel could improve Turkish-German relations, bringing an end to the “ice age,” as diplomatic sources call it.
Turkey and its NATO ally the U.S. are once again engaged in a low intensity war of words over the Feb. 25 U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Syria after the regime bombed civilian areas in Eastern Ghouta. Turkish government officials say the resolution excludes its “anti-terror operation” in the Afrin region, situated near the Turkish-Syrian border, while U.S. officials insist that Ankara should read the resolution “more closely.”
The quote in the headline is one of the best known and most accurate descriptions of the nature of international relations. Spoken by former Prime Minister Henry Palmerstone in the British Parliament in 1848, the full quote is as follows:
Salih Muslim, the former chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, was detained in Prague on Feb. 25 by Czech police, based on information given by the Turkish police.
There have been a number of developments in Turkish politics, which have led political commentators to expect the possibility of a snap election in 2018.
The Donald Trump administration is examining ways to “boost the Turkish air defense system” to convince President Tayyip Erdoğan not to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia, according to a report by Hürriyet Daily News’s Sevil Erkuş, in reference to a U.S. administration official who asked not to be named. The official said alternatives were being discussed during U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson’s visit to Ankara on Feb. 15-16, without giving further details.
Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül has told Hürriyet’s Ankara Bureau Chief Hande Fırat that he is worried about his three-year-old son and 11- and 12-year-old daughters after reading about the rise of child molestation and similar sexual assault cases. “I am terrified as a father. We have to do everything to stop this,” he said.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a joint draft to parliament on Feb. 21 for 26 changes to four articles of Turkey’s laws to allow election alliances in the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.
After a pause of four days following the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Ankara, President Tayyip Erdoğan once again started strongly criticizing the U.S., without naming it, on Feb 20.
