The Middle East Pivot – Erdogan’s Turkey and Seven Deadly Sins

The Middle East Pivot – Erdogan’s Turkey and Seven Deadly Sins

Introduction Multiple wars ravage the Middle East. Turkey has inserted itself into the middle of most of these regional conflicts and ended up a loser. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has intervened and formed alliances with a rogue’s gallery of imperial warlords, terrorists-mercenaries, Zionist expansionists, feudal potentates and obscure tribal chiefs, with disastrous economic,…

Next Stop Idlib: Erdogan Announces Turkey’s New ‘Serious’ Operation in Syria

Next Stop Idlib: Erdogan Announces Turkey’s New ‘Serious’ Operation in Syria

The Turkish president has announced plans to start a new military operation in Syria in a move which has been rumored for weeks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced plans to deploy the country’s soldiers to Syria’s Idlib, where the Free Syrian Army rebel fighters backed by Ankara have launched an operation. “We intend to further enhance our…

Turkey’s New-Found Love For All Things Ottoman

Turkey’s New-Found Love For All Things Ottoman

After the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924 and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk declared Turkey a secular republic, the country looked towards western Europe as a political model to emulate. During its formative years, the new Turkish republic saw a period of forced assimilation to secularism, and the censorship of Turkey’s innate Islamic identity…

Where to Go with Turkey

Where to Go with Turkey

The dizzying spiral of incompetent military and political interventions carried out by Washington in the Middle East suggests strongly that the best U.S. foreign policy would be one that is essentially inert. One only has to look at the inherent contradictions in what appears to be the Trump Administration policy towards Syria to understand how…

Can Erdogan Juggle Trump and Putin at the Same Time?

Can Erdogan Juggle Trump and Putin at the Same Time?

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were quick to congratulate Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his recent referendum victory, which effectively makes him Turkey’s sole ruler. Putin’s call was expected, but Trump’s reaching out to Erdogan in this manner caught many by surprise. Trump’s call also came just as Erdogan was bracing…