Eastern Mediterranean Archives - SETA Foundation at Washington DC

Who cares about ‘where Turkey is headed’?

SETA Foundation Posted On November 9, 2021

The history of political life in Turkey is arguably the history of the following question: “Where is Turkey headed?” Both leaders and ideological movements have traditionally been preoccupied with this question. From the Ottoman Empire’s modernization and the republic’s early […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent / US-Turkey Relations

Intense June agenda for Turkish foreign policy

Burhanettin Duran Posted On June 2, 2021

June will be a particularly busy month for Turkey in the international arena. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is due to meet United States President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO Summit on June 14. Later this month, the European Union’s […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Future of Turkish soldiers in Libya

Burhanettin Duran Posted On May 10, 2021

High-level delegations from Turkey pay frequent visits to the Libyan capital Tripoli. Most recently, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu attended critical meetings alongside Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Recent

Greece in panic as East Med balance serves Turkey

Burhanettin Duran Posted On April 20, 2021

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who received a warm reception in Turkey last week, engaged in a disturbing act of provocation during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Dendias single-handedly ruined the positive environment by propagating his country’s […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Turkey’s busy diplomatic agenda: Egypt, Ukraine, Libya

Burhanettin Duran Posted On April 16, 2021

The European Union’s leaders are still preoccupied with the “protocol crisis” they conjured up last week, as Turkey launches a diplomatic offensive. In recent days, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin before hosting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy to […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

What is EU planning for its Turkey policy?

Burhanettin Duran Posted On April 1, 2021

The European Union leaders summit resulted in minor positive steps and a three-month extension. The description of steps for rapprochement as “gradual, proportional and reversible” was a textbook carrot-and-stick routine. Europe’s method of communication, too, was quite familiar. Ahead of […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent / US-Turkey Relations

Ankara’s position in new foreign policy balances

Burhanettin Duran Posted On January 21, 2021

Turkey is focused on reforms at home and fresh starts in the international arena. Ankara’s efforts to repair its relations with the United States, the European Union, France, Greece and certain Middle Eastern nations, however, are not necessarily about making […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Arab Spring: A flashback to past 10 years

SETA Foundation Posted On December 23, 2020

Adecade has passed since the December 2010 self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who set off mass protests in the Arab world. The wave of democratization, which began with the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, took down the authoritarian […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Turkey-EU relations: Actual tensions, long-term interests

Burhanettin Duran Posted On December 10, 2020

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed a powerful message to European leaders, who will meet later this week, in reference to the Eastern Mediterranean. He called on the European Union to save itself from “strategic blindness” and not to let Greece […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

EU must distance itself from French aggression, Greek maximalism

Burhanettin Duran Posted On December 9, 2020

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Azerbaijan and the European Union leaders summit will be the top items on Turkey’s foreign policy agenda this week. The Turkish leader’s trip to Baku, shortly after Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia, has immense symbolic […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Geopolitical realism’s impact on Turkish foreign policy

Burhanettin Duran Posted On December 7, 2020

On Wednesday, I joined a distinguished group of speakers to discuss Turkish foreign policy at the TRT World Forum. Once again, on the occasion, I concluded that Ankara’s involvement in global flashpoints is being questioned on two bases: Turkey’s overreach […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Security sector reform can ensure peace in Libya

Burhanettin Duran Posted On November 23, 2020

The Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) hosted the International Conference on Libya earlier this week, where participants exchanged views on reforming that country’s security sector, among other issues. The defense ministers of Turkey and Libya, Hulusi Akar […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent / US-Turkey Relations

In new geopolitical equilibriums, Turkey and US can mend ties

Burhanettin Duran Posted On November 16, 2020

Various geopolitical issues, in which Turkey has taken active steps in recent years, are quickly developing and on two key fronts, the conflict has given way to reconciliation. In Libya, Tripoli and Benghazi agreed to form a united government and […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Turkey’s new gas reserves and Black Sea geo-politics

Burhanettin Duran Posted On October 19, 2020

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Turkey’s latest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea on Saturday. This development demonstrates that Turkey’s energy drive has reached the next level – and it’s not just about the economy. As the power struggle […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

EU summit and Macron’s brand new nonsense

Burhanettin Duran Posted On October 8, 2020

French President Emmanuel Macron is back on the stage with more of the outlandish claims we have come to expect. In a seeming attempt to make up for his failure to get the European Union to sanction Turkey, the Frenchman […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

There is no solution without Turkey

Burhanettin Duran Posted On October 5, 2020

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Parliament on the occasion of the beginning of the new legislative year. He provided a summary of Turkey’s international standing and foreign policy, and offered both criticism and fresh proposals to improve world politics and […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

A new chapter in Turkey-EU relations?

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 28, 2020

The dangerous escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean has given way to dialogue and negotiations. On Sept. 22, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron following a trilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent / US-Turkey Relations

Can US or EU adopt a logical position in Eastern Mediterranean?

Kilic Bugra Kanat Posted On September 28, 2020

Since the emergence of the Eastern Mediterranean crisis, there have been a lot of debates and questions regarding the role of the major powers in the potential resolution of this dispute. After Turkey’s calls for dialogue and diplomacy fell on […]

Analysis / Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean: Maritime Disputes and Geopolitical Competition

Kadir Ustun Posted On September 18, 2020

Recent tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have multiple drivers including the race for exploitation of energy resources, long-standing maritime disputes, and the broader geopolitical competition between regional powers. While Turkey’s recent assertiveness of her rights in the Eastern Mediterranean drew […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

2nd round in Erdoğan-Macron squabble

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 17, 2020

The squabble between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and French President Emmanuel Macron continues. Upon Ankara’s determination to protect its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, Macron convened the southern European countries in Corsica and said, “We must be tough with the […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Europe must get off the Macron-Mitsotakis bandwagon

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 14, 2020

French President Emmanuel Macron has openly had Turkey in his crosshairs for quite some time. His unhappiness is rooted in Turkey’s growing influence in Syria, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean at the expense of France. In North and Sub-Saharan Africa, […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Why carrot-and-stick approach does not work in East Med

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 10, 2020

The Eastern Mediterranean question, like a ghost train, shuttles around and around, plunging the global agenda into fright with each passing day. At the heart of the escalation lies the infamous showdown pitting Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Macron’s irrational actions and EU’s indifference

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 8, 2020

The power struggle in the Eastern Mediterranean rages on. Even the United States, otherwise preoccupied by the upcoming presidential election, is calling for de-escalation, yet pouring fuel on the fire through its actions. The U.S. decision to lift a longstanding […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Greece comes to an impasse between West, neighbor Turkey

Burhanettin Duran Posted On September 3, 2020

Greece continues to escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean amid calls from the European Union for dialogue. In addition to conducting military exercises, Athens deployed troops to the island of Kastellorizo (Megisti-Meis) and is preparing to conclude an exclusive economic […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Reflections on Turkey’s discovery of natural gas

Burhanettin Duran Posted On August 26, 2020

Turkey’s discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea looks to remain a hot topic for the foreseeable future. The country has finally made the kind of hydrocarbon discovery that it has craved throughout the Republican history. The field contains […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

More than natural gas

Burhanettin Duran Posted On August 24, 2020

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Friday that Turkey’s drillship Fatih discovered 320 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in the Black Sea. The largest discovery of natural gas in Turkey’s history, it is expected to be part of […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Macron’s East Med provocations out of control

Burhanettin Duran Posted On August 18, 2020

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean are escalating anew to dangerous levels. Turkey responded to a Greek-Egyptian maritime agreement, which undermined Germany’s mediation efforts, by dispatching the research vessel Oruç Reis, alongside frigates, to the Mediterranean Sea. The Greek military consequently […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Good cop, bad cop play against Turkey?

Burhanettin Duran Posted On August 11, 2020

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean seem incapable of de-escalating. Although the situation on the Sirte-Jufra line in Libya remains under control thanks to Turkey’s diplomatic talks with the U.S. and Russia, last week’s explosion in Lebanon and the Greco-Egyptian maritime […]

Home Slider / Opinion / Publications / Recent

Turkey’s proactive regional role and UAE’s panic

Burhanettin Duran Posted On August 10, 2020

Turkey’s most recent steps in Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean raised questions in foreign capitals about that country’s international standing. As Americans grappled with President Donald Trump’s call to delay the 2020 elections, the European media went berzerk over the […]

Home Slider / Publications

A short pause in Eastern Mediterranean tension

Burhanettin Duran Posted On July 26, 2020

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have escalated in recent days amid Greek concerns over Turkey’s decision to issue a NAVTEX for the research vessel Oruç Reis to start drilling near the island of Kastellorizo. Athens, claiming that Ankara had violated […]