Lies and Videotape: Trucks, Weapons and Turkey’s Spiraling Descent
By Gareth Jenkins (vol. 8, no. 11 of the Turkey Analyst) On June 2, 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for the editor of Turkey’s oldest newspaper to be sentenced to life in prison after the...
View ArticleErdoğan’s War: The Causes and Consequences of the Upsurge in Kurdish Violence
By Gareth Jenkins (vol. 8, no. 15 of the Turkey Analyst) In recent weeks, Turkey has been wracked by an escalation in Kurdish-related violence. Not only could the upsurge have been prevented but there...
View ArticleBursali: the Kurds are breaking away from Turkey
Orhan Bursalı in Cumhuriyet calls attention to a statement made by Kurdish leader Cemil Bayık: “No one can force us to pull out the guerilla from the north (from Turkey) or force us to lay down our...
View ArticleMünir: PKK chose the most stupid answer to Erdogan
Metin Münir on the t24 news site writes that Erdoğan, after tasting his first election defeat, turned his ire and hate against HDP and its leaders. He ended the solution process. He sent the air force...
View ArticleMahçupyan: PKK shot itself in the foot
Etyen Mahçupyan in Akşam writes that PKK has shot itself in the foot. At a point where it had the chance to force Turkey to a real peace, it seriously damaged its legitimacy by returning to war. Those...
View ArticleBulaç: it is wrong to attack ISIS
Ali Bulaç in Zaman asks what Turkey stands to gain from joining the United States in its war against the terrorist group that calls itself the Islamic State (ISIS). Turkey will gain nothing! Let us...
View ArticleBursalı: why Turkey shot down the Russian plane
Orhan Bursalı in Cumhuriyet writes that the Russian planes are hitting the armed groups in Syria that Ankara support, and that the Russian offensive risks paving the way for a Kurdish advance,...
View ArticleBayramoğlu: Turkey's position in Syria is endangered
Ali Bayramoğlu in Yeni Şafak notes that Russia is giving air support to the Kurdish PYD forces in Syria, helping them to cross to the west of the Euphrates. Do you think that the U.S. would mind if the...
View ArticleBelge: did Turkey inform NATO?
Murat Belge in Taraf writes that Turkey’s downing of the Russian plane is going to have repercussions for its Western allies. The question now is, did we warn our allies before taking an action that...
View ArticleIs Turkey at War with the “Islamic State”?
By Halil Karaveli January 25th, 2016, The Turkey Analyst Terrorist attacks that target opponents of the Turkish regime and for which the “Islamic state” is held responsible are used to legitimize a...
View ArticleYetkin: no, Turkey is not going to invade Syria
Murat Yetkin in Radikal writes that there is no sign that chief of the general staff General Hulusi Akar is going to abandon the military’s traditional line, “Peace in the Homeland, Peace in the...
View ArticleBayramoğlu: Turkey should reconsider its approach to the Kurds
Ali Bayramoğlu in Yeni Şafak writes that the geopolitical winds are behind PKK-PYD and against Turkey. Turkey does not have any card up its sleeve that it can deploy to stop the Kurdish region in Syria...
View ArticleÇandar: Threatened by Russia, Turkey clings to EU
Cengiz Çandar in Radikal writes that Turkey is seeking a closer relation with the EU because the historical rivalry between it and Russia has been revived, with Turkey being encircled on three fronts...
View ArticleAltan: The military and AKP are in collusion
Ahmet Altan on the news site Haberdar writes that the army and AKP are working in tandem. Maybe the army is seeking to obtain what it has been trying to do for years by mobilizing the AKP – with its...
View ArticleÖzer: Erdoğan’s offer to Obama
Verda Özer in Hürriyet reports that Erdoğan offered Obama the services of the Turkish military in Syria against ISIS, in return for which he asked the U.S. to stop supporting the Kurdish PYD. According...
View ArticleMahçupyan: ISIS and PKK both need to keep Turkey by their sides
Etyen Mahçupyan in Karar writes that it is obvious that ISIS has an understanding of Islam that leads it to see Turkey as an enemy, and that it intends to incite such an Islamic understanding inside...
View ArticleEU-Turkey Readmission Deal: How All Sides Have Lost
By Halil Gürhanlı April 7, 2016 With the refugee deal with EU, the regime in Turkey earns the silence of its European critics as the country proceeds towards complete authoritarianism. The EU leaders...
View ArticleThe PKK and the PYD: Comrades in Arms, Rivals in Politics?
By Gareth H. Jenkins April 20, 2016 Although the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are ideologically affiliated, they remain organizationally distinct. Even though it...
View ArticlePower over Policy: Erdoğan’s Overthrow of Davutoğlu
By Gareth H. Jenkins May 11, 2016 Ahmet Davutoğlu has left as he came, not in response to popular demand but at President Erdoğan’s behest. Apparently unsighted by his unfailing self-belief, Davutoğlu...
View ArticleGürcan: The prospects of IS in Turkey
Metin Gürcan in t24 writes the ISIS needs Turkey. ISIS has not yet declared Turkey a war zone. While ISIS is steadily losing ground in Syria and Iraq, Turkey is a centre for it in terms of logistics...
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