The 81st session of the UN General Assembly convened in New York on September 22. The debates and the speeches delivered by world leaders were marked by a common theme: the United Nations is not functioning properly, has become increasingly ineffective, and is in need of reform. These assessments now appear to have become something close to a consensus. Leaders ...
By Şenol Aktemir Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made harsh criticisms against Türkiye from the podium of the UN General Assembly. Ankara was accused of preparing for an armed conflict and waging an information war against Israel. Nevertheless, it is Israel who is escalating its attacks and preparing for war. Türkiye is on the verge of war with a very dangerous ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Urban pollution is one of the persistent challenges that Jakarta faces. Being the largest Southeast Asian city and capital of Indonesia, Jakarta holds top positions in rankings of the world’s most polluted cities. The variety of sources of pollution is diverse, ranging from factory fumes to air stagnation and poor waste disposal, all of which impose ...
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the UN General Assembly on September 22. His speech contained a number of key messages, but two stood out in particular: the genocide in Gaza and the UN’s failure to act against it. Erdoğan devoted a large part of his speech to Gaza, which he described as “the most inhumane and most shameful concentration camp ...
Türkiye had another quite busy agenda last week. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan signaled that Türkiye could become involved in the ongoing war in Yemen under the framework of the Mecca Agreement. Another topic on the agenda was a FETÖ investigation on the producers and screenwriters of the popular television series Valley of the Wolves (Kurtlar Vadisi). Another investigation into alleged ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Vietnam’s quickly growing trade surplus with the US has found itself in the middle of a controversy surrounding global supply chains and circumventions of tariff evasion. With the specter of another Trump White House hanging over its head, however, the question is one of whether or not public opinion that China is diverting exports through Vietnam ...
By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist The security equation in the Middle East has been built almost entirely on the US security umbrella for decades, and states in the region, particularly the Gulf countries, believed that they could rely on the military power of the United States. However, the fact that the US stood alongside genocidal Israel in the face of ...
“Houston, we have a problem here.” The iconic phrase uttered by astronaut Jack Swigert and echoed, albeit with a touch more restraint—to convey calm—by Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 space mission in April 1970, has informally become the alert used when an unforeseen event arises, indicating a difficult situation requiring immediate attention. For cinematic purposes, in the film ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer One of the largest Southeast Asian economies and a significant growth engine in the region is Indonesia. Today, this state is revising its participation in the global trade system, increasingly becoming more protective and selective. Under President Widodo’s presidency, the country pursues a nationalistic and restrictive industrial policy aiming to industrialize the economy, add more value, ...
From New Delhi / India The BRICS summit in India concluded, with an emphasis on the world in transition to multipolarity. Washington responded, with US president Trump signing into law a bill that announces sanctions on those countries that import Russian oil. The summit, held on September 12–13, brought together the expanded 11-member BRICS grouping at a moment of heightened ...