EDITORIAL

How far is the United States prepared to tolerate Turkey’s growing human rights abuses and incendiary behavior?

By Robert Ellis
(International advisor at the Research Institute
for European and American Studies (RIEAS) in Athens.)

Copyright @ 2023 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/erdogan-arsonist-dilemma-us-turkey-relations-206184

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

The Swiss writer Max Fritsch called his play Biedermann and the Fire Raisers (1958) “a didactic play without a lesson.” The main character, Gottlieb Biedermann, is an upright citizen and hair tonic merchant. Two ill-intentioned vagrants wheedle their way into his home, store gasoline in the attic and Biedermann even provides them with the matches to burn the house down. When confronted with solid evidence of the arsonists’ intentions, Gottlieb Biedermann finds every excuse not to take action. “All I want is some peace and quiet, not more.... Read more

Given that Turkey is a major disruptive force, it is incomprehensible that the Biden administration would consider the sale of F-16 jets to Ankara to be in line with U.S. interests and NATO’s long-term unity.

By Robert Ellis
(International advisor at the Research Institute
for European and American Studies (RIEAS) in Athens.)

Copyright@2023 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/has-turkey-become-american-foe-206122

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

At the virtual Munich Security Conference in February 2021, newly elected U.S. president Joe Biden declared that “America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back.” In a pre-election pitch, Biden also made clear that NATO is at the very heart of U.S. national security and is the bulwark of the liberal democratic ideal.

To date, Biden has held firm on his promise and revitalized NATO in its stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The same applies to Europe, which has abandoned its lethargy and also taken a firm stand... Read more

In dealing with Turkey, the United States needs a long spoon

By ROBERT ELLIS
(An international advisor at the Research Institute for European
and American Studies (RIEAS) in Athens)

Copyright@2023 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/türkiye-2023- what’s-name-206088

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 Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet asks Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Perhaps. But when it comes to renaming Turkey, there is a world of difference. Read more

By Glen Segell

(Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Visiting Professor and Research Fellow in the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He is also Research Fellow at the Ezri Center for Iran & Gulf Studies, University of Haifa, Israel, and Editor of The Middle East Tracker and The London Security Policy Study. He serves as an Executive Advisory Board Member of the International Political Studies Association Research Committee on Armed Forces and Society. He holds the rank of Brigadier-General (Reserves) and is an expert for NATO STO)

Copyright: @ 2023 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 6 January 2023

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

Introduction

In January 1849, the French journalist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr of the Figaro newspaper proclaimed a maxim. He wrote in one of his entries: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.. ... Read more

Shaul Shay

(Senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 23 December 2022

Defense and military ties between Algiers and Moscow go back decades, since the Soviet Union and Algeria's armed forces are almost entirely equipped with Soviet – Russian made weapons and military systems.

Algerian Parliamentary Vice Speaker Bouteldja Allel said in November 2022 that Algeria is a “strategic ally” and “friend partner” of Russia and the relations between the two countries have been and will continue to be strategic for many decades.[ Algeria, Russia Kick Off Military Exercises Near Border with Morocco, Asharq Al-Awsat, November 17, 2022.

Algeria is one of Russia's most important military allies in Africa and it's also the largest customer of Russian weapons on the continent and among the top three buyers of Russian arms behind China and India... Read more

By now it must be apparent that Turkey has joined forces with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, China’s Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

By ROBERT ELLIS

Copyright @ 2022 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-724530

Both the Biden administration and the GOP might be lulled into believing that Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be the honest broker they need to act as go-between between the United States and Russia. But this is not the case.

By now it must be apparent that Turkey has joined forces with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, China’s Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, it presented itself as moderate, Westward-looking and neoliberal, and the US and the European Union were taken in. As then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice gushed, the AKP was “a government dedicated to pulling Turkey West toward Europe.”... Read more