TURKISH STUDIES

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator, and also an international advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 9 March 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

When Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan can claim that only Turkey can save the EU from the deadlock it has fallen into, he is a prey to wishful thinking, or at best, whistling in the dark.
Turkey is itself a divided nation, torn between two visions for its future. The founder of modern Turkey, the victorious general, Mustafa Kemal, later named Atatürk (‘the father of the Turks’), set his republic on the path towards the West.
Mustafa Kemal’s republic, created in 1923, abolished the caliphate and with the Hat Law and the Independence Tribunals secularism was strictly enforced. The religious schools (‘madrasas’) were closed, the religious brotherhoods (‘tarikats’) were banned and Islamic law (‘sharia’) was replaced with legislation based on that in Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Equality between men and women was also established. ... Read more

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator. He is also an international advisor at RIEAS
(Research Institute for European and American Studies) in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2024 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 23 November 2024

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

Donald Trump’s reelection has been met with mixed feelings but not in Turkey. President Erdogan has expressed his belief that ties between Turkey and the United States would improve under the “model partnership” that would emerge.
Erdogan pins his hopes on Trump’s promise to end conflicts, and he has in mind Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon as well as the war in Ukraine. There is also one particular issue Erdogan has in mind, where he expects Trump to give ground.... Read more

An Analysis

Copyright @ 2021 https://theperiscope.substack.com
Posted at RIEAS on 7 June 2021

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Ellis Robert
(Turkey analyst and commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish and international press. Earlier he was advisor to the Turkey Assessment Group in the European Parliament and a member of the Advisory Board at Vocal Europe in Brussels. He is a member of RIEAS International Advisory Board).

Copyright: https://ahvalnews.com/eu-turkey/eus-capitulation-turkey

Date: 27 December 2020

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

In light of the fact that a massive majority of the European Parliament a fortnight earlier had called for tough sanctions against Turkey, the European Council’s decision to mark time is a shameful abdication of responsibility. As I pointed out in the Jerusalem Post after Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria in October 2019, the European Union’s response was more like that of a circus horse with the front legs going in one direction and the rear legs in another. The EU’s conclusions begin with a fanfare of trumpets. “The European Council recalls that the European Union, its Member States and its institutions are all committed to promoting and respecting the values on which the Union is founded, including the rule of law.” Read more

Serkan Demirel
(Author, Bern, Switzerland)

Copyright: Anfenglishmobile.com

In its report "Security Switzerland 2020", the Federal Intelligence Service (NDB) refers to Turkey's key role as a transit and retreat area for the "Islamic State". In its status report published at the end of October, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service states that the core organization of the IS continues to have significant resources, both in terms of personnel and financial resources: Read more

The world is witnessing in slow-motion a second Iran in the making,less violent and dramatic, more sophisticated and potentially more enduring.

By Daniel Pipes
(DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2020 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

Copyright: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/8-policy-recommendations-dealing-%E2%80%98new%E2%80%99-turkey-146377

From 2002, when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party reached power, until about 2016, a debate raged among Turkey-watchers in the United States: Is Ankara still an ally?

Actually, due to nostalgia, that debate dragged on long after it was obvious that Turkey no longer was an ally. That issue, happily, is now closed; NATO membership notwithstanding, nobody seriously makes this claim anymore. Read more