Turkey and Qatar: Love in Bloom

Burak Bekdil
July 1, 2020
Paper No. 1620

Qatar has done it again. Just as it did in 2018, Doha has rushed billions of dollars to Turkey to thwart the Turkish lira’s slide in the face of US sanctions. In other words, one US ally has helped another US ally evade US sanctions—and more than once.

UAE-Turkey Rivalry Wreaks Havoc in Libya and Syria

The United Arab Emirates and Turkey are locked in a regional power struggle that has fueled conflict in Libya and could spark renewed fighting in Syria. This struggle, like that between Saudi Arabia and Iran, threatens to keep the Middle East and North Africa on edge.

Will Kurdish Unity Talks Lead to a More Muscular US Policy on Syria?

The US is backing Kurdish unity talks as part of a policy centered around appeasing Turkey’s national security concerns about the PYD’s essential role in Syria. However, all signs indicate that Turkey sees this gesture as no more than a ruse to normalize its enemies. Only a more involved and active US foreign policy will cement any gains around a more stable and unified Kurdish presence.

Turkey: Are the Anni di Piombo Making a Return?

Burak Bekdil
June 8, 2020
Paper No. 1600

Turkey’s political polarization along conservative and secular lines is showing signs of being a slow-fuse time bomb. For most Turks, the domestic “political other” is not just a rival but a traitor, an enemy within—and Turks are increasingly expressing their willingness to kill or die to purge that other.

Turkey’s Selective Amnesia

Burak Bekdil
June 3, 2020
Paper No. 1594

Turkey exhibits a remarkably stubborn selective amnesia about its own history. The country claims the title of world’s greatest friend to the Palestinians and most ardent champion of their cause, yet forgets that the Palestinians assisted both the Armenians and the Kurds in their bloody fights against Turkey.

Coronavirus and the Middle East

The coronavirus crisis has exposed Arab and Islamic notions of fraternity, mutual commitment, and solidarity as hollow rhetorical slogans. Each country in the region is focused entirely on its own efforts to survive economically, socially, and politically as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc.

Are the Kurds the Next Kingmakers in Turkey?

Burak Bekdil
May 11, 2020
Paper No. 1559

Between 1994 and 2015, the Kurdish vote in Turkey rose from 4.1% to 13.1%. A greying Turkey is facing a baby boom in Kurdistan: the Kurdish fertility rate, at 3.41, is a demographic weapon against the Turkish fertility rate of 2.09. These numbers suggest that Kurds could be the kingmakers in Turkey’s presidential election in 2023.

Turkey: Post-Coronavirus Challenges Are Likely to Hurt

Burak Bekdil
May 10, 2020
Paper No. 1558

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is faced with a dilemma: in order to avoid US sanctions, he must keep the S-400 system he purchased from Russia unopened, but doing so might open Turkey up to Russian sanctions. Erdoğan’s worst nightmare is President Donald Trump following through on his threat last year to “devastate the economy of Turkey.”

The Turkish Sultan’s Dubious Charm Offensive

Burak Bekdil
May 7, 2020
Paper No. 1554

Turkey’s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, knows he needs to win Western public opinion in order to achieve international legitimacy. But try as he might, his propaganda efforts are instantly undone by his routine authoritarianism.

Turkey and the Libyan and Syrian Civil Wars

Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is constantly looking for opportunities to enhance its status as a regional superpower and promote its Islamist ideology in the Arab Middle East. Libya is the newest arena in which Erdoğan is trying to capitalize on inter-Arab rivalries, this time in service to his desire to lay claim to gas under the seabed of the Mediterranean.