Turkey

Turkey’s political realities clash with Erdogan’s 2023 dreams

To win the next election, Erdogan must change the election laws but also find more popular political allies. His AKP party’s current coalition with the ultra-nationalists is becoming a liability for his goal of re-election in 2023. Since the last elections in 2019, two debates have dominated the Turkish political …

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Erdogan-Putin summit highlights Turkey’s fragile balancing act

Erdogan’s failure to achieve his goals in the high-profile meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin shows that Turkey’s balancing act with Russia and the United States is on the verge of a collapse. Having been trapped in its balancing act between Russia and the United States, Turkish diplomacy is trying …

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Turkey suspends free medical treatment for Syrians

New measures restrict the entry of Syrian patients to Turkey by canceling free treatment in its state hospitals and forcing them to pay the full cost of treatment. Turkey has recently suspended the issuance of the temporary protection ID card — known as Kimlik — for Syrian refugees who need …

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Erdogan says Turkey plans to buy more Russian defense systems

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey still intended to buy a second batch of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, a move that could deepen a rift with NATO ally Washington and trigger new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. According to the report Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its …

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How an Islamic State suspect lived as a shopkeeper in Turkey

The Turkish judiciary’s weakness in dealing with Islamic State suspects comes under the spotlight after a bombshell report on how a Syrian man suspected of ordering the burning to death of two Turkish soldiers in 2016 walked free from court and lived as a shopkeeper in Turkey. The first time …

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Russia intensifies Idlib attacks ahead of summit with Turkey, Iran on Syria

Some believe that the Russian escalation in Syria’s Idlib is either a prelude to a major assault or a means of increasing pressure on Turkey. Since early September, Russia has been stepping up its military attacks and airstrikes in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib and its surroundings. Russian President Vladimir …

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Turkish lira drops to near record lows after Central Bank trims policy rate

The move came following pressure from the Turkish president. Ceding to pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s central bank trimmed its policy rate by 100 basis points to 18% on Thursday, in an apparent bid to stimulate the economy in the midst of high inflation and mounting popular discontent …

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Yurtsuz kalmak

Ankara’ya ilk geldiğimde yurt çıkmamıştı. Tam 37 gün Keçiören’deki akrabalarımda kalmıştım. Akrabalar ne kadar kendi evimde hissetmem için çaba gösterse de ne kadar içten davransa da “yük olma” hissi o 37 gün boyunca beni hiç yalnız bırakmamıştı. O 37 gün içinde defalarca Kurtuluş semtindeki Kredi Yurtlar Kurumu binasının önüne gidip …

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Russia intensifies Idlib attacks ahead of summit with Turkey, Iran on Syria

Some believe that the Russian escalation in Syria’s Idlib is either a prelude to a major assault or a means of increasing pressure on Turkey. Since early September, Russia has been stepping up its military attacks and airstrikes in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib and its surroundings. Russian President Vladimir …

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Turkey: NATO’s Pro-Russian, Taliban-Friendly Ally

Around the Taliban, and in a bizarre combination of convergence of interests and ideological kinship, a new anti-Western circle is evolving, including a willing NATO member state…. anti-Western sentiments are bringing together these regional powers, who are now courting Afghanistan’s radical rulers. The hard lesson learned from relying on an …

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