In my quarter-century-long career as a diplomatic correspondent and columnist, I have witnessed dozens of meetings and press conferences between Turkish and Greek foreign ministers and prime ministers. For obvious reasons, none were easy or smooth events.
Tripoli was the most frequented destination for diplomacy last week. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Council President Charles Michel were just a few of the senior officials to visit Libya’s capital. Plus, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, just a few days after his prime minister, went to Tripoli to hold talks with his counterparts in an effort to break the ice between the two nations.
Unfortunately, the number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey is showing a dangerous course as more than 50,000 people are diagnosed with COVID-19 every day, according to the Health Ministry.
One of last week’s important diplomatic activities took place in Ankara on the occasion of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit. China’s top diplomat met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on March 25 as part of a large regional tour that includes Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries.
A round of hectic, Brussels-centered diplomacy this past week has revealed a dual-track approach from both the United States and European Union on ties with Turkey, a country with whom they have major differences on many regional issues.
On March 24, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been ruling Turkey since late 2002, is due to hold its seventh general convention under the leadership of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This particular gathering seems to be much more important than the party’s previous conventions, as Erdoğan has signaled that he will outline a comprehensive manifesto and road map for his party toward 2023 and beyond.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent Bloomberg article on the 10th anniversary of the Syrian turmoil, “The West Should Help Turkey End Syria’s Civil War,” was important for a number of reasons.
No one has any doubt that the most important and valuable currency in today’s world is accurate information and insightful analysis. The same goes for those who are interested in international politics or global financial movements, as well as ordinary people who are curious about what is happening in their own country and elsewhere. The point where doubt comes into play is the reliability of the sources from which you get all this information.
The period between 2013 and 2020 was not the brightest years of Turkish diplomacy. Good analysis to understand it should include international trends, regional crises, and Turkey’s domestic problems.
