It’s plain by now that the Turkish ‘Sultan’, President Tayyip Erdogan vies to directly implicate Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud or MbS, the actual ruler of his country in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The victim was for decades a very high placed systemic journalist in Riyadh, loyally serving the […]Erdogan vies to become Middle East Sultan over Khashoggi’s killing
November 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
It’s plain by now that the Turkish ‘Sultan’, President Tayyip Erdogan vies to directly implicate Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud or MbS, the actual ruler of his country in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The victim was for decades a very high placed systemic journalist in Riyadh, loyally serving the […]The West cannot ignore Russia; dazed Germany sitting on the fence
April 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
After the missile attacks by the Western trio of US, Britain and France against Damascus and other positions in war torn Syria, the Russian overlords and Assad regime in that part of the world, continues pursuing their agenda, as if nothing happened. From a certain angle truly nothing has changed regarding the military and political […]EU to Turkey: No other ties than €3+3bn to upkeep refugees
March 29, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The EU-Turkey Summit in the Black Sea city of Varna last Monday was a chance for the Brussels dignitaries to throw a long list of severe European grievances in the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the Commission and Donald Tusk, President of the European Council , went to the […]Russia – US in Syria: Selling Afrin to Turkey but facing off ruthlessly for Ghouta
March 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
How many more dead and wounded human beings are needed to convince Russia and the US that they must come to terms about the future of Syria? At a time when the mainstream western media are extensively and exclusively reporting the woes of the desperate inhabitants of Ghouta, at another Syrian front in Afrin, the […]Trump reshapes the Middle East at the expenses of Europe
January 25, 2018 by 3 Comments
Trump’s completely unwarranted aggressiveness towards the rest of the world took a violent thrust this week. His vice President Mike Pence speaking at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, announced a speed-up of the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The move is now to be completed before the end of next […]Erdogan’s Turkey in dire straits for flip flop policies in the Middle East
January 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last week a US federal court convicted Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive of Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank. This is a major financial institution of this country, controlled directly by the government. Attila found guilty on five accounts, for evading the American sanctions imposed on Iran. Most of those punitive measures were lifted in April 2015, in […]EU-Turkey relations: Will Turkey manage to revive the EU accession process talks?
October 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The EU leaders meet tomorrow in Brussels in a two-day summit where the relations with Turkey and particularly the accession procedure is going to be one of the main topics. The European Commission has been supporting the freezing of the EU membership talks as Jean Claude Juncker condemned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on political […]US, Russia oblige each other in Syria and Ukraine selling off allies
February 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The US – Russia rapprochement, as having been set in motion by the new tenant of the White House, is to be tested first and foremost in Syria and Ukraine. Washington and Moscow support opposing sides in two catastrophic and bloody civil wars, which have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and thrown millions of […]Syria: A bloody tracer of Trump – Putin rapprochement
January 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Despite the dreadful fact that the fighting and the bloodshed continues on many spots on the ground, the Astana agreement for a truce in Syria backed by Russia, Turkey and Iran seems to present a good chance for peace. Last Tuesday, the above three foreign powers and their proxies implicated in the Syrian civil war, […]Turkey caught in a vicious Syrian circle bringing terror and war at home
January 9, 2017 by 1 Comment
The Turkish government, under the iron hand of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, felt obliged to further challenge the Americans in the troubled region of the Middle East this past week. Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak and Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin questioned the presence of the US led coalition forces at the key air […]Fear casts again a cold, ugly shadow over Europe; Turkey sides with Russia
December 22, 2016 by 1 Comment
The deadly attack in a Berlin Christmas market and the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, may not be closely connected or plotted by related terrorist circles, but they aim at the same target; to terrify entire populations and block what could lead to a solution in the Syrian mess. Add to that the […]A shortened EU Summit admits failures, makes risky promises
December 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday, 15 December, the cut down to one day European Summit, confirmed that Europe continues on the wrong path. The 27 + 1 leaders acknowledged the complete failure of key policies regarding Syria and Turkey and kept making promises to Ukraine and Georgia they cannot honor. Unfortunately, Brussels refuses to learn the lessons still […]Turkey’s Erdogan provokes the US and the EU by serving jihadists and trading on refugees
December 1, 2016 by 3 Comments
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, after having declared war against the political, judiciary and civic structures of his own country, employs the same belligerent tactics in the domain of foreign policy. He now threatens to send to Europe 3 million refugees and immigrants who are stationed in Turkey. True, more than three million people, […]What will the US look like under Trump? Was his election campaign a big scam?
November 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Everybody agrees now that the President – elect Donald Trump won the 8 November election, by promising he will take good care of the Americans who are left behind in the era of globalization and of the global financial rackets. The first signs though indicate the opposite. His choices for the top Washington jobs are […]The West castigates Turkey’s Erdogan for the ruthless political cleansing
July 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defied his western allies, who have called for restrain and the rule of law in the wide ranging purge of the country after the failed coup. With the basic human rights hindered, his ruthless cleansing of the military, the judiciary, the public administration, the education system and […]The US and EU decisively oppose Erdogan’s plans for Turkey and beyond
July 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Monday, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, participated in the EU Foreign ministers’ council in Brussels, where the main topic on the agenda was the attempted coup in Turkey and its aftermath. The obvious reason for this joint Euro-American session of foreign ministers was to clearly show and for everybody to understand that […]EU readies for eventual annulment of the Turkish agreement on immigrants-refugees
May 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The highly possible collapse of the EU-Turkey agreement about the management of the refugee and immigrant flows in the Aegean Sea, has rang alarms in Brussels. Alexander Winterstein, the Deputy Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission denied the existence of a plan B, in case the Turks repudiate the pact which the just dismissed Prime […]Is Erdogan ready to tear down the bridges with Europe and the West?
May 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the 12th Turkish President cut short the spell of ‘rapprochement’, between his country and the European Union, by briefly dismissing Prime Minister Ahment Davutoglu. The latter was the architect of the relevant March agreement concluded in Brussels, meant to regulate the flows of refugees and immigrants in the Aegean Sea. By the […]Europe bows to Turkey’s rulers, sends Syrian refugees back to chaos
April 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Saturday we learned from his own lips that the President of the European Council Donald Tusk has “thick skin”. Of course, people who follow the political day-to-day of the Council already knew it. Tusk made this statement last Saturday from Turkey, a country where thick skin politicians are in abundance. The President of the […]Merkel had it her way with the refugees & immigrants but can Greece and Turkey deliver?
March 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Early in the morning of 7th March, ahead of the first meeting in the series of the latest traumatic gatherings of the 28 EU leaders with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, this newspaper argued that the EU had to prove on that day it could remain in one piece. This didn’t happen then. Last […]The EU has to prove it can remain one piece
March 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Today the European Union has to prove that it can solve its stalemate, which the immigrant and refugee flows from Asia and Africa have created. Some years ago nobody could imagine that an unseen before movement of people, could lead to the unraveling of the EU project. To deal with this problem, the 28 EU […]Syria: Why did the US now take the Russian offer for a truce? What next?
February 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The US-Russia plan for a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, endorsed by the UN Security Council on Friday 26 February kicked off in the early hours of Saturday and two days after is still more or less observed. Understandably the cease-fire may collapse at any moment but the US and Russia seem determined to keep […]The Syrian knot cannot be cut without devastating consequences
February 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Brussels seems quite lost with what is happening now in Syria. The statement issued last Monday 15 February by the European High Representative Mogherini and Commissioner Stylianides on the atrocious and murderous attacks on hospitals and schools in Syria stands as an infallible witness to that. At this point in time, the foreign powers, regional or […]The EU bows to Turkey in view of the talks for a political settlement in Syria
January 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
On 27 April 2015, in relation to the efforts to stem the refugee and immigrant flows to Europe, this newspaper predicted that “Turkey won’t cooperate”. Last Monday this prediction was not only confirmed but the European Union quasi accepted, that so far Turkey has done enough. The relevant passage of the Press release issued by […]The three sins the EU committed in 2015
December 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During 2015, the year that now ends, the European Union has brought its well-known inability to manage the egocentric and centrifugal action of its major three nations (Britain, France and Germany) to new highs, a practice that has lately led to ineffectiveness and Euroscepticism. The EU cooperated this year with Britain, France and of course […]Unemployment and immigrants haunt the EU; who can offer relief?
December 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
On Tuesday 1st December, Eurostat the EU statistical service reminded us all that in the euro area the October unemployment rate still remained in the double digit region with 10.7%. Understandably, this is the official percentage of people without a job, while the real unemployment rate may be double that, as this newspaper has proved, […]EU: Turkey to shelter Syrian refugees and turn other immigrants back in return of €3 billion
December 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A genuine Turkish bazaar took place last Sunday in Brussels during the meeting of the EU heads of state or government with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The horse-trading was about what it will cost the EU to stem of the flow of immigrants who pass through Turkey on their way to Europe. Finally […]Erdogan’s electoral win on a ‘me or chaos’ dilemma means trouble for everybody
November 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The dilemma ‘me or chaos’ that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hurled at his compatriots in last Sunday’s election paid dividends. And this despite the fact that he did what he could to produce frightening samples of the kind of chaos he had in mind. Understandably, then the Turkish voters didn’t give a super-majority […]Europe slammed by Turkey’s shaky Erdoğan; both playing with immigrants’ agony
October 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Probably the greatest achievement of last Thursday’s European Council was that its conclusions were refuted within hours after they were published. While the official text of the Council results boasts about a “joint action plan with Turkey”, to stem the immigration flows to the EU, the Turkish minister of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioglu commented otherwise. […]The West – the EU and the US – is writing off Turkey’s Erdogan
June 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
For the first time in the history of the EU-Turkish relations the European Parliament openly and loudly welcomed last week the heavy losses of the governing party in a general election. The MEPs actually rejoiced on “the most inclusive and representative parliament in Turkish modern history, reflecting the country’s diversity”, forgetting that it’s a hang […]Turkey presents a new strategy for EU accession but foreign policy could be the lucky card
September 24, 2014 by 1 Comment
Last Thursday, September 18, while the entire continent was looking towards Scotland, Turkey announced a new strategy to join the EU. Despite the tensions that characterized the country’s recent history, which is made by protests, brutal actions by the police, attempts by the government to shut down social platforms such as Twitter and You Tube, Turkey has […]European Union disenchanted with Turkey
June 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The accidental coincidence of the visit of the European Commissioner Štefan Füle, responsible for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy to Turkey last week, with the crtical moment when the events in Istanbul’s Taksim Square were at their peak, may affect negatively the relations between the EU and this country. Negotiations over Ankara’s roadmap to become one […]Can the Americans alone determine the future of Syria?
January 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
The last speech of Bashar al Assad on the first Friday of New Year, which deeply disappointed the West and the Sunni Arabs in the oil rich countries of the Persian Gulf, was about an all-out war. He spoke of “a full scale war” against the enemies of his regime, mainly the Sunni Muslims. But […]
