MURAT YETKİN

Will the elections change Turkish foreign policy MURAT YETKİN

Will the elections change Turkish foreign policy?

As there are five days left until early elections in Turkey, and it remains a matter of curiosity whether they will lead to a shift in the country’s foreign policy.

June 18 2018
Can Erdoğan win in the first round MURAT YETKİN

Can Erdoğan win in the first round?

Key elections in Turkey are now six days away. The biggest question is whether President Tayyip Erdoğan will be re-elected in the first round on June 24. His re-election in the first round is dependent on three main factors.

June 17 2018
Why has Erdoğan vowed to lift the state of emergency MURAT YETKİN

Why has Erdoğan vowed to lift the state of emergency?

President Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 13 that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) will lift the state of emergency if he is re-elected in the June 24 snap elections and keeps its dominant position in parliament.

June 14 2018
Turkey-US ties knotted over F-35, S-400 rift MURAT YETKİN

Turkey-US ties knotted over F-35, S-400 rift

The day after U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ June 11 statement about Turkish and American teams coming together in Germany next week to decide how to implement a security roadmap in the Syrian town of Manbij, a group of Senators asked the Donald trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkey due to lack of religious freedoms.

June 13 2018
Spying on an opposition party during election campaigns MURAT YETKİN

Spying on an opposition party during election campaigns?

In a surprising move ahead of the Turkish elections on June 24, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Muharrem İnce, had a rally in the dominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern city of Diyarbakır on June 11. For decades, the CHP failed to attract crowds and votes from the southeast because of its centrist position regarding the Kurdish issue, whereas President Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) has managed to gain half of the overall votes against the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in elections.

June 12 2018
‘Cross vs. Crescent’ again Seriously MURAT YETKİN

‘Cross vs. Crescent’ again? Seriously?

The Turkish government has continued to react strongly against Austria’s June 8 decision to close down seven mosques in the county and opened a probe regarding the residence permits of 40 imams working in those mosques. The move was presented by the Austrian government as a crackdown on “political Islam.”

June 11 2018
Have we seen this Turkish-Greek movie before MURAT YETKİN

Have we seen this Turkish-Greek movie before?

Almost an hour before Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that Turkey had suspended the bilateral re-admission agreement with Greece for the control of illegal migration, I was asked in an international meeting about that agreement. My answer was that the agreement was working, and that thanks to it the level of irregular migration from Turkey to European Union countries had dropped considerably despite growing problems between the two sides.

June 07 2018
What is the aim of Turkey’s anti-PKK campaign in Iraq MURAT YETKİN

What is the aim of Turkey’s anti-PKK campaign in Iraq?

On the one hand, Turkish military units have for weeks been operating in Iraqi territory with air and land units against positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). On the other hand, ranking Turkish officials including President Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, and Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar have been making statements about an approaching massive operation against the PKK’s headquarters in the Kandil Mountains near the Turkish and Iranian borders.

June 06 2018
Four results of Turkey-US talks MURAT YETKİN

Four results of Turkey-US talks

It seems there are four key results from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on June 4. In remarks made by Çavuşoğlu in his hometown Antalya on June 5, and confirmed by U.S. sources, the outcome of the meeting can be summarized as follows:

June 05 2018