Eastern Europe

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Receb Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, was once seen as a political breath of fresh air and a beacon of change in the Middle East. Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia and other countries in the region were locked into an unhealthy political gridlock. The […]

Bashar al-Assad

Putin: Turkey was protecting ISIL oil Smuggling; Russia urges Assad-Kurdish Alliance

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday in Paris that his government had intelligence that the reason Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet last week was to protect oil smuggling from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) through Turkey. Putin said, “”We have every reason to think that the […]

Economy

Turkey reels as Putin imposes Stiff Economic Sanctions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Russian sanctions announced by President Vladimir Putin on Saturday could have a severe impact on the Turkish economy. It is not clear whether President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu did not expect this severe a reaction to the shoot-down of a Russian fighter […]

Russia

Are Putin’s Economic Sanctions on Turkey the end of a Golden Age in Moscow-Ankara Relations?

contributors

By Alexander Titov | (The Conversation) | – – In locking horns over Syria, Russia and Turkey are playing out the latest chapter in a rivalry that has spanned centuries. Since the 1600s the two have lurched between conflict and uneasy friendship. But the war of words that has erupted since Turkey shot down a […]

Featured

Putin: Turkey supports Radicalism & We may have to Respond, hence Tourism Ban

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday explained his rationale for asking Russian tourists to leave Turkey, and it is ominous. He anticipates that there may be further “incidents” between Turkey and Russia over Syria policy, and that Moscow may be constrained to “respond.” In that case, […]

Russia

Boycotts as Russia seethes against Turkey after Shootdown

contributors

By Tom Balmforth | ( RFE/RL) | – – MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin said there would be “serious consequences” after Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane on November 24. True to the Russian president’s word, Moscow has issued a slew of retaliatory measures and proposals following the incident along the Syrian-Turkish border. The […]

al-Qaeda

Why did Turkey dare shoot down a Russian Plane? The Proxy War in Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Turkish government decision to down a Russian jet operating in the north of the Syrian province of Latakia is breathtaking in its boldness. Russia may no longer be a superpower, but it is a nuclear-armed great power. The newly elected Justice and Development Party (AKP) […]

Bashar al-Assad

Can France forge a grand alliance against ISIL that includes Putin & Obama?

contributors

Shelby Holliday | (WSJ Video Report) | – – “In the wake of the Paris attacks, French President Francois Hollande is traveling to Washington and Moscow to build support for a new “grand coalition” to defeat Islamic State. As WSJ’s Shelby Holliday reports, disagreement over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could stand in […]

Russia

Putin, Furious, calls Turkey ‘accomplices of terrorists’ after Russian jet downing

contributors

EurActiv.com | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin called Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet today (24 November) a stab in the back administered by “the accomplices of terrorists,” saying the incident would have serious consequences. Speaking in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday before a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, […]