2023/02/12
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Europe affairs commenting on the decision of the European Union to send about 100 police officers to Armenia to monitor the ceasefire on the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan, which has been violated many times before, said the decision may be more symbolic, but definitely it was taken with an aim of a stronger and more effective presence of the European Union in the Caucasus region.
2023/02/07
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The recent report of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the peacekeeping forces in Cyprus emphasizes lack of common ground between the two sides for peace talks to reach a common solution which has followed concerns among the Cypriot authorities as well as Greek parties. The Greek Cypriot side does not seem satisfied with the UN Secretary General’s reports as an official document of the UN Security Council published on January 13, because such reports are close to the “two societies” policy and include subjective and non-objective views. According to Nicosia, the correct report should ask all parties to adhere to a common solution to the Cyprus issue, which is the formation of a common bi-regional federation and political equality.
Mahmoud Fazeli – International affairs analyst
2023/01/29
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Turkey affairs, commenting about the zigzag policies of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government towards the Syrian government, said: Turkey’s president started great efforts to change his regional policies almost from the middle of 2022; efforts that were visible in the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and then the effort to normalize relations with Egypt. At the same time, recently there were murmurs about holding high-level talks between Turkey and Syria.
2023/01/21
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Greek Citizen Protection Minister Teodorikakos has announced that the country has launched a project to build a fence with an aim of preventing the crossing of illegal immigrants and the decision of the Greek government to build a 140 km fence on the Oros border (land border with Turkey) is definite.
Athens will fence the entire length of its land border with Turkey and on the European border with Turkey. Construction of the first 35 kilometers of this fence will begin immediately. The government has made its decision and the Ministry of Civil Protection is obliged to implement it. The Greek Ministry of Civil Protection is currently waiting for the official approval of this project from the Ministry of Finance.
Mahmoud Fazeli – International affairs analyst
2022/06/11
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: One of the most important consequences of the prolongation of the Russian conflict in Ukraine and the erosion of this war in Europe is the impact on the extent and manner of Russia’s military presence in the Middle East and, most importantly, in Syria. Russia has to deploy a large part of its forces and military base in Syria to support its forces in Ukraine, and in this case, the vacuum of Russia’s presence in crisis-stricken Syria will allow new conflicts to arise between ambitious actors, including Turkey.
Ali Saadtazar-Director of Turkey Department, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Islam