Turkey’s Earthquake: The Buck Stops with Erdogan
Ankara has to answer why it wasn’t prepared for the earthquake that has devastated Turkey, and what will its response be over the coming weeks.
Justice and Development Party
Ekrem Imamoglu Is the Best Chance for Turkish Democracy
If the opposition is interested in seeing Turkey restore democracy and the rule of law, it would do well to nominate Imamoglu as its candidate.
Op-eds
The Istanbul Terror Attack Is More Than It Seems
The question of who is responsible for the terrorist attack in Istanbul’s Taksim Square is becoming murkier by the day.
Op-eds
Turkey’s Opposition Is Paving Erdogan’s Path to Victory
Turkey’s political opposition has a public responsibility to challenge Erdogan and provide voters with an alternate vision, but it has refused to do so.
Op-eds
Turkey’s Erdogan Is Down But Not Out
What does the opposition coalition stand for beyond defeating Erdogan? The answer to this is unclear.
Op-eds
Turkey’s wooing of Israel may lead to Hamas ouster
As Ankara mends fences with pro-Western Arab governments and Israel, Hamas could become collateral damage and may be expelled from Turkey.
Op-eds
Meet the Turkish Oligarch Who’s Pushing Kremlin Talking Points
Ethem Sancak helps Erdogan straddle the NATO and Russia positions in the Ukraine war.
Op-eds
Engines of Influence
Turkey’s Defense Industry Under Erdogan
Memos
Turkey Could Become the Middle East’s Next Narco-State
If Turkey joins Syria and Lebanon as the third narco-state in the Eastern Mediterranean, this will only compound the region’s trafficking and money laundering problems, while also presenting illicit non-state actors greater opportunities to exploit.
Op-eds
Embattled Erdogan Signals Turkish-Israeli Thaw
The ground in the Middle East is shifting yet again.
Op-eds
Erdogan’s Wealth Amnesty Offers Illicit-Finance Loophole for the Eighth Time
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on December 31 extending the country’s wealth amnesty law. This decree, the eighth episode of wealth amnesties that Erdogan has declared since 2008,...
Policy Briefs
Bottom-Up Hope: Local Governments Bolster Religious Pluralism in Turkey
When powerful states and their proxies intensify religious persecution worldwide and democratic governments under a neo-isolationist spell look the other way, where can vulnerable religious minorities find...
Op-eds
Erdogan’s veneer of respect conceals blatant antisemitism
Turkish president Erdogan's early political career was characterized by antisemitism which he has tried to move away from in his rise to power.
Op-eds
The May 2021 Israel-Hamas war was a stress test for normalization
With the signing of the Abraham Accords last year, a rare sense of optimism washed over the Middle East. Many in Israel believed that these agreements signaled that the Arab world had given up on the Palestinian...
Op-eds
Turkey Returns to Financial Action Task Force ‘Grey List’
This designation shows yet again that NATO member Turkey continues to offer a permissive jurisdiction for terror finance, sanctions evasion, and money laundering under the 19-year rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party.
Op-eds
Turkey Lands on Anti-Money Laundering Watchlist — Again
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Paris-based global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, added Turkey to its “grey list” on Thursday, placing Ankara alongside 22 other jurisdictions,...
Insights
Congress Joins European Allies in Targeting Erdogan’s Far-Right Partners
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on September 23 that includes an amendment requiring the secretary of state to submit a report assessing whether Turkey’s Grey Wolves — a far-right militant...
Policy Briefs
Egypt’s President Sisi is moving to thaw relations with Israel, reap economic rewards
For the first time in a decade, an Israeli prime minister is visiting Egypt. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hosting Naftali Bennett at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, at a time when Cairo has...
Op-eds
Erdogan Escalates Turkish Campaign to Disenfranchise Six Million Pro-Kurdish Voters
Disenfranchising over 6 million pro-Kurdish voters and pushing some 40,000 party members out of democratic channels will hammer the final nail in the coffin of Turkey’s struggling democracy.
Op-eds
Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey is a chance for my home country to heal
President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey, a longtime NATO ally that has increasingly strained relations with the United States and other members...