Opinions - Turkey

Turkey and South Korea: A Realistic Pathway to Middle-Power Security Cooperation

Turkey and South Korea: A Realistic Pathway to Middle-Power Security Cooperation

by Ju Hyung Kim, published on 25 November 2025
As geopolitical escalation intensifies across Eurasia, middle powers are facing more challenges—ensuring their national interests while not fixating on great powers’ shifting priorities. Situated far apart geographically, Turkey and South Korea rarely appear together in strategic discussions. However, the two countries share striking similarities. Both countries have built significant industrial capacities, face revisionist neighbors, act within the boundaries of the US-led alliance structure, yet maneuver more independently at the same time, pursuing strategic autonomy within the fragmented international order.
Turkish–Egyptian Cooperation With Boundaries

Turkish–Egyptian Cooperation With Boundaries

by Mustafa Enes Esen, published on 15 November 2025
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Egypt met in Ankara on Wednesday for the first session of the Joint Planning Group. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty was also received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Such routine meetings, which Turkey holds with many countries, provide a useful moment to review where relations stand and how current dynamics may shape future cooperation.
Orta Asya’nın Yeni Ortak Arayışları

Orta Asya’nın Yeni Ortak Arayışları

by Mehmet Demirbaş, published on 8 November 2025
1990’ların başında Sovyetlerin dağılmasıyla birlikte, Türki cumhuriyetler bağımsızlıklarını kazandı ve Orta Asya yeniden jeopolitik bir hareketliliğe sahne oldu. Bu bölge artık yalnızca Rusya’nın değil, Çin’in, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri’nin ve hatta Türkiye’nin de ilgi alanında bulunuyor.
The Cost of Deteriorating Turkey–Israel Relations

The Cost of Deteriorating Turkey–Israel Relations

by Mustafa Enes Esen, published on 8 November 2025
The bilateral relationship between Turkey and Israel have experienced its ebbs and flows, but since the war in Gaza, the trajectory has remained mostly downward. The Trump administration has so far exerted pressure on Israel and Turkey to settle their differences. Yet this does not mean that the worsening of relations with Israel comes without costs for Turkey.
Ahmet Davutoğlu’nun Üç Günü

Ahmet Davutoğlu’nun Üç Günü

by Ömer Güler, published on 31 October 2025
Ahmet Davutoğlu AKP döneminin en fazla tartışılan ve Türk Dış Politikasına en çok etki eden dışişleri bakanlarından biridir. Bunu olumlu veya olumsuz anlam yüklemekten ziyade bir durum tespiti olarak ifade ediyorum. Bugün bile Türkiye’nin Suriye politikasının getirdiği mülteci sorunundan dolayı Ahmet Davutoğlu kimi haklı kimi haksız gerekçelerle ağır bir şekilde eleştiriliyor.
Why Turkey May Not Let Hamas Wither Away

Why Turkey May Not Let Hamas Wither Away

by Mustafa Enes Esen, published on 23 October 2025
Under the terms of Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan, Hamas is expected to transfer control of Gaza first to an international body and eventually to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Trump administration anticipates that Hamas will eventually wither away as this process unfolds. Ankara, however, may be reluctant to go along with this process.

Reports - Turkey

Turkey's Vision For a New Syria

Turkey's Vision For a New Syria

by Mustafa Enes Esen, Haşim Tekineş, Mehmet Demirbaş and Servet Akman, published on 14 February 2026
This report analyzes Turkey’s vision for Syria following the fall of the Assad family and the rise of the HTS under the leadership of Ahmad al-Sharaa. In this regard, it focuses on the foreign actors that, alongside Turkey, now have the greatest ability to shape Syria’s future: namely the United States and Israel.
Electrifying Turkey's Roads: EV Adoption Scenarios & Their Impact on Oil Imports

Electrifying Turkey's Roads: EV Adoption Scenarios & Their Impact on Oil Imports

by Baki Kaya, Ömer Güler, Harun Güngör, and Mustafa Enes Esen, published on 10 September 2025
This study evaluates, through long-term projections to 2053, the potential impact of increased EV penetration on Turkey’s energy landscape. It provides a comparative assessment of how changes in the share of EVs within the total vehicle fleet, across several scenario frameworks, could influence fuel demand and petroleum import volumes. A second, closely related objective is to measure the scale of Turkey’s oil dependency in order to establish a basis for examining its policy implications.
Geopolitical Constraints of Turkey's Energy Hub Ambitions

Geopolitical Constraints of Turkey's Energy Hub Ambitions

by Mustafa Enes Esen, published on 8 July 2025
This study focuses on the geopolitical dimensions and constraints shaping Turkey’s ambition to become a natural gas hub. The emphasis is on Turkey’s diplomatic relations with key supplier countries, the political instability across the wider Middle East, and the limited capacity of neighboring states to produce and export gas reliably—factors that collectively can make or undermine Turkey’s hub ambitions.
MODERNIZING THE TURKEY–EU CUSTOMS UNION: ISSUES AND PROSPECTS

MODERNIZING THE TURKEY–EU CUSTOMS UNION: ISSUES AND PROSPECTS

by instituDE, published in March 2025
The Turkey–EU Customs Union, established in 1995, has been a defining feature of trade relations between Turkey and the European Union. Over the past three decades, the global economic landscape has evolved significantly, necessitating a modernization of the agreement to address new trade realities, regulatory developments, and emerging geopolitical challenges.
TURKEY‘S MASS PURGE AS VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC SERVICE IN ICCPR

TURKEY‘S MASS PURGE AS VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC SERVICE IN ICCPR

by instituDE, published on 23 October 2024
'A gift from God' was one of Erdoğan's first descriptions related to coup attempt in July 15. At first no one realized that God's gift meant a chaotic environment in which he needed to declare a national emergency with no checks and balances and then transform Türkiye’s parliamentary democracy into an executive presidency.
JUDICIAL CORRUPTION IN TÜRKİYE

JUDICIAL CORRUPTION IN TÜRKİYE

by instituDE and Arrested Lawyers, published on October 2024
This submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) highlights severe issues undermining the integrity of Türkiye's judiciary, particularly focusing on rampant judicial corruption and impunity as well as human rights abuses which they facilitate. Based on the most recent incidents of corruption concerning members of the judiciary who serve in courts in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, this report seeks to examine the high-level corruption within the judiciary and the Turkish government’s failure or even willful ignorance in addressing it.

Videos - Turkey

Erdoğan ve Bahçeli Cepheyi Mi Guçlendiriyor?

October 18, 2024
by Ali Dinçer and Haşim Tekineş, published on 18 October 2024
Bu hafta Ali Dinçer ve Haşim Tekineş Türkiye'de yeniden konuşulmaya başlayan çözüm süreci mevzuunu, konunun Orta Doğu'daki şiddet sarmalı ile irtibatını, AB finansmanı ile Türkiye'deki geri gönderme merkezlerinde yaşanan hak ihlallerini ve Kanada-Hindistan arasındaki diplomatik krizi ele aldılar.

Dışişleri'ne Silahlı Güç

September 26, 2024
by Ali Dinçer and Haşim Tekineş, published on 26 September 2024
Bu yayınımızda Ali Dinçer ve Haşim Tekineş, haftanın öne çıkan dış politika gündemlerinden İsrail-Hizbullah gerilimi bağlamında Lübnan'da savaşa yaklaşan vaziyeti, Dışişleri Bakanlığı'nda silahlı donanımı olan bir güvenlik biriminin kurulmasına ilişkin son düzenlemeyi ve F-35 savaş uçağı projesinden çıkarılan Türkiye'nin bu uçakları alabilmesine yönelik ileri sürülen S-400'lerden bir biçimde vazgeçmeyi içeren bir çözüm önerisini ele aldılar.

Transnational Repression: Weaponizing Financial Systems

September 25, 2024
by Dr. Yasir Gökçe, Haşim Tekineş, Mayra Russo and Sara Kezia Heinonen, published on 25 September 2024
In this episode, Dr. Yasir Gökçe, Mayra Russo, Sara Kezia Heinonen and Haşim Tekineş discussed our report published in August on weaponizing financial systems by Turkey against its opponents. The co-authors of the report shared more details over this abuse of Turkey.

Mısır'la Yeni Bir Sayfa

September 5, 2024
by Ali Dinçer and Haşim Tekineş, published on 5 September 2024
Bu yayınımızda Ali Dinçer ve Haşim Tekineş Mısır-Türkiye normalleşmesini, Sisi'nin bu haftaki Türkiye ziyaretini ve Türkiye'nin BRICS'e katılma niyetini değerlendirdiler.

BM'den AİHM'e Yusuf Bilge Tunç Uyarısı

August 23, 2024
By Hakan Kaplankaya and Haşim Tekineş, published on 23 August 2024
Bu yayınımızda Hakan Kaplankaya, Ağustos 2019'da kaçırılan ve kendisinden hala haber alınamayan KHK'lı Yusuf Bilge Tunç hakkındaki AİHM'in verdiği olayda ihlal olmadığı kararını, konuya ilişkin BM İnsan Hakları Komitesi'nin 19 Ağustos 2024'te verdiği kararı ele aldı.

Rusya İşgal Altında

August 16, 2024
by Ali Dinçer and Haşim Tekineş, published on 16 August 2024
Haftanın önemli uluslararası gündemlerinden Ukrayna'nın Rusya topraklarına girmesini, Gazze'de şiddetin devam edişini, ateşkes görüşmelerini, Biden'ın görevdeki son üç ayında Gazze savaşına dair adım atma olasılığı, Mahmut Abbas'ın Türkiye temasları ile ABD seçim sürecine dair son gelişmeleri ele aldılar.