• Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Erdoğan Seeks Better Relations with the West after His Reelection

    Aug 7, 2023Salim Çevik

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems to have changed course on his country’s foreign relations. At the last NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, he final…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyDemocracy and Governance

    The Erdoğan Doctrine in the Wake of Turkey’s Elections

    Jun 22, 2023Mustafa Gurbuz

    When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his new cabinet following his victory in the May 2023 presidential election, a positive mood ensued. Turk…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantClimate and Environment

    Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin

    May 30, 2023Achref Chibani

    While energy security and the control of oil have long been determining factors for geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, the region’s geopolitics have als…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyDemocracy and Governance

    Turkish Elections in a Post-Truth Political Landscape

    May 24, 2023Mustafa Gurbuz

    The scene was all too familiar in the headquarters of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the day of the recent Turkish election. Giant portraits o…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyDemocracy and Governance

    Turkey’s Upcoming Elections: A Country at a Crossroads

    May 10, 2023Salim Çevik

    On May 14, Turkey will be heading to the polls for what many have deemed the most important election of 2023. For the first time in two decades, President Rece…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    Obstacles to a Turkey-Syria Reconciliation

    Mar 29, 2023Salim Çevik

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad paid an important visit to Moscow in mid-March 2023. One of the main agenda items was the Turkish-Syrian reconciliation that R…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Politics, Displacement, and the Human Toll of the Recent Earthquake in Syria

    Mar 15, 2023Heba Gowayed

    On February 6, 2023, the earth shifted at the fault line that runs along the Turkey-Syria border, resulting in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which was followed j…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaSecurity and Defense

    Syrian Kurds Are Hoping for, but Not Banking On, Continued US Partnership

    The massive earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria has given the Syrian Kurds a reprieve from a possible Turkish military invasion of ar…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantDemocracy and Governance

    Turkey’s Presidential Election in the Shadow of Devastating Earthquakes

    Feb 22, 2023Mustafa Gurbuz

    The devastating February 6 earthquakes in Turkey, which caused nearly 45,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria and rendered hundreds of thousands of people homeless, …

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Erdoğan’s Rapprochement with Assad Spells Trouble for Syrian Refugees

    Feb 1, 2023Nabeel A. Khoury

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s interest in a rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is the latest chapter in his delicate domestic and r…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Turkey Faces a Dilemma in its Foreign Policy Toward Libya

    Jan 24, 2023Mustafa Gurbuz

    On January 9, 2023, a Libyan court suspended an energy exploration deal between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) that was or…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyConflicts and Conflict Resolution

    How Realistic Is an Erdoğan-Assad Rapprochement?

    Dec 28, 2022Mustafa Gurbuz

    Despite Turkey’s frequent threats that it will soon undertake a new military ground offensive in northern Syria, no such operation has yet materialized. This h…