According to the International Organization for Migration reports, 51,782 migrants arrived to Europe this year so far by sea. Although this is less than half of the figure for the same period last year, the death toll remains high with more than 1400 migrants are death or missing in the Mediterranean Sea by July 15.
With the concurrent presidential and parliamentary elections of June 24, Turkey moved to a new system of government. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected as the first president under the new system, and the alliance formed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) obtained majority in parliament, though the AKP alone was not able to sustain its majority.
The next NATO summit that will include the participation of the heads of states and governments of allied countries will be held on July 11-12 in the new NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It is a critical summit as it coincides with the growing rift between allies on both sides of the Atlantic. If the growing dissent of the United States from the consensus of the alliance allows, there will be important decisions to take on a number of issues.
The western cohesion is eroding. It is constantly weakened by the acts of the current leader of the very power that derives most benefit from its continuation. Although sounding contradictory, it nevertheless is true. Any first year political science undergraduate would easily recognize that it is the United States that benefits most from the continuation of the existing international system, which it helped to create in the first place and kept it running for more than 50 years. Yet, every action and pronouncement of U.S. President Donald Trump since he took over the White House 18 months ago undermines it.
While Turkey is in the grasp of election frenzy over presidential and parliamentary elections, the Center for Turkish Studies at Kadir Has University released the findings of its annual survey on “Public Perceptions on Turkish Foreign Policy.” The survey was conducted in 26 cities across Turkey with 1000 face-to-face interviews during 15-25 May. The results once again show that political discourse, government rhetoric and regional developments have almost immediate impacts on the public’s perception.
On the eve of parliamentary and presidential elections, Turkey has been quietly maintaining its constant air and ground pressure against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and edging slowly and cautiously towards the Qandil Mountains ever since “Operation Olive Branch” in Syria’s Afrin ended late March 2018.
After the failure of the Crans-Montana negotiations in July 2017 to finally find an equitable solution to the Cyprus problem and reunify the long-divided island with the support of the United Nations, it was widely thought that a new round of negotiations could not be considered for some time, as repeatedly emphasized by the two communities’ leaders on the island. The general public on both sides, as well as in Turkey and Greece, were also rather disappointed for the failure of the two like-minded leaders to reach a common ground.
It has been 70 years since the creation of Israel and 101 years since the Balfour Declaration, calling for a national home for Jews in the former Ottoman lands. On whatever occasion the beginning of the longest running land dispute in the Middle East is dated, the Arab-Israeli conflict has undoubtedly dominated modern politics in the region, as well as created recurring scenes of humanitarian disasters.
Scarcely a day goes by that the Middle East does not make the headlines with yet another catastrophic development. It has been in turmoil one way or another since the end of the Cold War, if not before. The latest move by the U.S. to transfer its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was preceded with its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, which came after the shootout between Israel and Iran over Syria and continues clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protestors in Gaza since the end of March. It seems that the “Trump factor” has become a constant in all the negative news coming out of the region lately.
