YUSUF KANLI

Lockdown and the new reality YUSUF KANLI

Lockdown and the new reality

For a long time, people alarmed by the figures revealed in the coronavirus pandemic data have been asking the government to declare a lockdown. The government finally listened to the calls of the people. But it is not yet clear whether what came was a lockdown or a Turkish-style enforced - yet partial - “stay at home” executive order.

May 05 2021
TRNC must be restructured YUSUF KANLI

TRNC must be restructured

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has been in severe administrative deficiency for decades irrespective of whether the so-called nationalists or friends - who in the name of being leftists don’t even believe in the existence of the state and rather defend Greek views - are in the government. In pursuit of individual or party interests, it would be immensely arduous to claim, if not impossible, to serve the Turkish Cypriot people and state by applying every color of nepotist understanding -- the largest partisanship in the drunkenness of power. Criticism may sound harsh, but this conviction is a product of years of experience that verified in all vividness that irrespective of whether there is a conservative, leftist or mixed coalition government, they have been equally awful.

May 03 2021
Who will pay for the Geneva escape YUSUF KANLI

Who will pay for the Geneva escape?

With the start of an ambitious three-day Cyprus conference of the two sides on the island and the three guarantor powers – Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “realistic” about the prospect of progress. He urged the Greek and the Turkish Cypriot parties to “be creative” in their approach during a web of direct and indirect talks slated to bring an end to a four-year stalemate in Cyprus diplomacy even if it cannot - most probably – achieve a major breakthrough towards a resolution.

April 29 2021
Turkey-US ties: Nothing will be the same YUSUF KANLI

Turkey-US ties: Nothing will be the same

It has been assessed that there is a natural “lowest level” and a “highest level” in Turkish-American relations. But neither the lowest level includes the end of the allied relationship nor the highest level includes a “strategic partnership” between the two countries that we see in the U.S.-U.K. or the U.S.-Israeli relations.

April 26 2021
What does the Dendias crisis point to YUSUF KANLI

What does the Dendias crisis point to?

Diplomatic contacts are delicate affairs; very detailed studies are carried out before visits or meetings to avoid surprise developments. Of course, how the talks and contacts will develop and what the result will be cannot be entirely foreseen. However, before any meeting, the relevant bureaucratic teams prepare positive and negative scenarios, including contingency plans, and present them to the discretion of the political authorities.

April 19 2021
Turkey and the West YUSUF KANLI

Turkey and the West

No one can claim that there are no problems between Turkey and its Western allies, “strategic partners,” or main trade partners. Probably to say that a country is having no problem with other countries it has been interacting with the most might not be possible. Yet, if problems are not emanating from contradicting interests but rather are products of some seriously eroded confidence, to say the least, the situation is, of course, unsustainable.

April 14 2021
Subliminal messages YUSUF KANLI

Subliminal messages

Cinema, television, radio, theater and even songs, cartoons, paintings, sculptures, architectural works and all cultural but also communication environments or objects can be used, are used and will be used for the purpose of shaping public opinion. Access to information is one of fundamental rights. It is a constitutional right to have both access to information as well as to have freedom of expression, that includes not only thanking, but more so to express and spread… Can it be a power, or weakness? No matter how you look at it, it is certain that manipulation or use of information by those at the helm of power, business, industry to achieve both good and very bad goals, has been a routine of history of all civilizations all through the history of humankind.

April 12 2021
Annexation not an option YUSUF KANLI

Annexation not an option

Why did a senior Turkish Cypriot politician make such a remark? He was frustrated, fed up with some “leftist” Turkish Cypriot politicians supporting — in a perfectly defeatist mentality — the Greek Cypriot calls for a federal settlement to the Cyprus problem. Were they not aware that for the past so many decades such a goal could not be attained because of the refusal by the Greek Cypriot leadership to accept power sharing, let alone sovereign partnership? Still saying, “If you ask me whether I would agree to patch up to the Greek Cypriot state as a minority or support to be with Turkey, of course, my answer will be to be with Turkey.”

April 07 2021
Countdown to Geneva YUSUF KANLI

Countdown to Geneva

The date is approaching, and the curiosity is growing. How far can Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots’ side “retreat” in Geneva? What concessions can they make? Where are the red lines? Who can advise President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the best to change his mind, convince him to take some further bolder openings and walk the extra mile in Cyprus?

April 05 2021