Blog
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Increasing inflows into Turkey after downgrade
Moody’s downgraded Turkey to a speculative level on 22 September. That makes two such grades, the first being S&P’s decision soon after the attempted coup in July.…
Why I don’t have a photo with Shimon Peres
I first met the late Shimon Peres more than 12 years ago. Israeli disengagements on Gaza were just a theoretical construct under discussion then. I was there to find a…
2016: The year China kicked G20 in the butt
The day after the G20 Hangzhou Summit in China, I read an article in the Jakarta Post. “The G20 needs a kick in the butt” was its title. The author, the veteran…
Erdoğan’s call for restraint
Turkey is now coming back from a long bayram holiday, or I should say from a feast, in the Russian philosopher Bakthin’s sense of the term. “The feast” says Bakthin,…
Low growth, bad politics?
The G20 Summit is to meet in Hangzhou, China this weekend, so be ready for a flood on global leaders’ meetings. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, started…
Why Turkish boots are on Syrian Soil
Ten days after the failed coup, I was at a meeting with CEOs of international companies operating in Turkey. It was all about the domestic security situation. The CEOs…
Joe Biden is coming to Turkey
“Life punishes those who come too late” said Mikhail Gorbachev on October 7, 1989 to Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in East Germany.…
The Meaning of Turkey’s Five Million Strong Nationalist Moment
Three weeks after the attempted coup in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on citizens to gather at the Yenıkapı (“new gate”) Parade grounds in Istanbul. More…
Two roads ahead of Turkey
Spain, Venezuela and Turkey are very different countries. Venezuela is an oil exporting country, whereas Spain and Turkey are oil importers. Spain and Turkey are in…
Erdoğan’s apology
The night of July 15 th was a shock that will reverberate for years to come. It came in the form of tanks and F-16s, nervous soldiers with guns, and a shadowy global…
Sympathy for the Turks
After the attack on Istanbul Atatürk airport, there was sympathy for Turks. Brandenburg gate in Berlin was draped in our crescent and star, reporters talked about how…
Western leaders should visit Turkey to show solidarity
There are two types of countries in the world: Countries where life is predictable and countries where it isn’t; dull countries and interesting ones. The basic…