On July 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers in the streets around the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for a doubly symbolic moment. Surrounded by a swarm of politicians, soldiers, security forces and imams, the Turkish leader made his way into the giant, former Byzantine cathedral …

In mid-March, Turkey and Egypt confirmed they’d had their first diplomatic contact since breaking off relations in 2013. Though the talks were described by Egyptian sources as preliminary, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying, “Contacts at the diplomatic level have started.” The thaw comes after a decade …

Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr. was peeved at Beijing. It was early May, and hundreds of Chinese vessels had been regularly intruding into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, where the Chinese government has made expansive maritime territorial claims. After lodging numerous complaints through formal …

On July 2, 2021, Vladimir Putin approved Russia’s updated national security strategy, the previous version was authored in 2015. The national security strategy gives the appearance of a laundry list. It runs the gamut from military concerns to building internal consensus and defending Russia from pernicious Western ideas. The doctrine …

Dmitry Plotnikov, an expert on “soft power” and the post-Soviet space authored an analysis titled “Turkey Is Building a New Ottoman Empire”, where he analyzed the growing ties between Ankara and Baku and concluded that Russia has lost its formerly dominant position in Azerbaijan. This is most evident in military …

When the American Lockheed Martin Corporation was unable to complete the job it had promised Ankara – building a vertical missile launching system for the Turkish Navy – because of American sanctions imposed in response to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 anti-missile defensive system, Ankara responded with the determination to …

Isaac Herzog, the incumbent Jewish Agency chairman, former Labor party leader, and son of Israel’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog, becomes Israel’s 11th president in a Wednesday afternoon ceremony in Jerusalem. He replaces Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin. Although the presidency is a largely ceremonial position within Israel’s parliamentary democracy, the post is …

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the son of King Salman and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is on a visit to Washington that, while not a secret, was not publicly disclosed in advance. Today’s meetings are at the State Department, while on Tuesday he …

The International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed on Tuesday that Iran had begun to produce uranium metal enriched to 20% purity, a move that the United States and European powers immediately condemned. Uranium metal can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. Britain, France and Germany in a …

The US justice department’s counterterrorism division has revived its plan to acquire balloons to keep the border between Libya and Tunisia under surveillance, saying that following the failure of Lockheed Martin and TCOM, two other US firms are still in the running, according to the French website, Africa Intelligence. The …