21.10.2021 00:10 It was too good to be true Today marks the second anniversary of the launching of Duvar English. We were supposed to be celebrating with joy and gratitude. Instead, here I am writing a farewell article announcing my stepping down as the editor-in-chief of this precious publication. 13.06.2021 12:55 A much-awaited encounter and the weight of domestic scandals Today, President Erdogan will walk into a long-awaited appointment with Biden with the weight of a two month-long series of scandals involving Sedat Peker's videos. At the NATO summit in Brussels, there will be one question on Biden's mind as well as that of all the leaders that have shaken hands with President Erdogan: could his political career end before 2023? 05.05.2021 12:08 Instead of İncirlik, he closed the country down On the weekend of April 24, a long-held national fear came to fruition. Probably because U.S. President Joe Biden's recognition of the Armenian genocide came at a time when Turkish people have bigger and real problems about surviving today, there has not been a groundbreaking pushback from the society. Even President Erdoğan himself did not seem as much bothered as pundits predicted he would be. If Turkey-U.S. relations survived this year's April 24, perhaps they survive anything! 23.04.2021 10:41 Desperate search for a scapegoat in the Halkbank case The question today is why some circles which still have political clout at Beştepe suddenly decided to blame Hakan Atilla, former Borsa Istanbul chief and former Deputy General Manager of Halkbank, for allegedly cutting shady deals with the SDNY regarding the ongoing Halkbank case. Obviously, they know more than anyone else what allegations were likely to be spilled at the hearings, which will start on May 3 if not postponed. It is no surprise that Ankara would be in a state of panic. 21.03.2021 10:03 'Not an issue to be solved in a tricky or cute fashion' The nature of our meeting with Ambassador Satterfield and his unusually open and on-the-record warnings regarding the S-400s crisis, made me think that the Biden administration might be contemplating a change to its Ambassador in Ankara very soon. You may call it "just a journalistic hunch," whereas, policymakers in Washington are well aware that President Erdoğan does not like ambassadors who talk this openly.  29.01.2021 14:20 "It’s hard to be a friend of the President of the US" Turkish businessperson Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ played a considerable role in the establishment of a special channel between President Erdoğan and former U.S. President Trump in the last 4 years. Now that Trump is gone, Mr. Yalçındağ finally agreed to speak with me about his friendship with the 45th president of the United States. 22.01.2021 14:14 Now that Trump has gone, will truth return? Donald J. Trump, one of the most controversial presidents in American history, has had to finally exit the stage. His prefacing everything with “the most, the biggest, the best” during his farewell speech is nothing more than the delirium of a child. Trump's four years in office produced 30,573 false and misleading claims according to the Washington Post. Then there are those facts that Trump has manipulated regarding Turkish-American relations. 13.11.2020 12:41 As Trump and Berat vanish, so does son-in-law diplomacy If President Erdoğan believes that his decision to sacrifice his son-in-law, which he had to make due to domestic dynamics, will also contribute to efforts to open a new chapter with the Biden administration, he is right. I have no doubt that the Biden team has noted as a refreshing development that Albayrak, who was trying to make the Trump world accept him as the “heir,” will no longer be there. However, the new route of the relations will be determined mainly through the Russia file. 29.10.2020 11:36 A deferred rupture between Turkey and US No matter who wins the U.S. elections next week, if Ankara is truly determined on activation of Russian made S-400 missile defense systems, then in the first half of 2021, it is inevitable that Turkish-American relations will be hit by a severe S-400 turbulence – in all dimensions. 08.08.2020 10:22 A chancellor who has realized the futility of scuffling with Erdoğan Germany now seems as if it has more empathy toward Turkey as compared to the past. This is because Germans have recognized the futility of spending energy clashing with the leader of a country who has completely changed national policies into tactics that keep him in power. 19.05.2020 11:27 The Turkish dimension of the Flynn saga The two persons Ekim Alptekin introduced to Michael Flynn in a meeting room of New York’s Peninsula Hotel on September 19, 2016 were Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Berat Albayrak, who was Energy Minister at the time. Both names, from the time these claims were voiced until today, have almost played possum. 13.04.2020 00:48 Which intelligence officer is covering which leader’s screen in corona days? Today, while all the decision-makers are already in coronavirus quarantine, working through the videoconferencing system, the workload of intelligence services must have multiplied! Now, which intelligence officer is covering which leader’s screen, who knows! 26.02.2020 01:14 Why did the US senators bypass Ankara in their Turkey visit? The five-person U.S. congressional delegation led by Kansas Senator Jerry Morgan visited the NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) headquarters in the Aegean city of Izmir and the head of the prestigious Turkish business association TÜSİAD. More important than asking why such a delegation made up of these names came to Turkey at this point in time would be the question of why they have bypassed the capital of Ankara while they were in the country. 05.02.2020 00:41 "A rupture between Ankara and Moscow possible" Influential U.S. think tank RAND Corporation's last report on Turkey presents a significant degree of skepticism over the sustainability of Russia-Turkey rapprochement. According to RAND's Turkey expert Stephen J. Flanagan, Russia sees Turkey very much as a junior partner and a rupture between the two might occur over Syria. 26.12.2019 10:43 EU's top diplomat in Turkey warns relations moving backward, not forward In an exclusive interview with Duvar English, the Head of the EU Delegation in Turkey Ambassador Christian Berger reflected on prospects for 2020. "We are not moving forward, we are actually moving backward," told Berger. Referring to tensions between Turkey and Cyprus in East Med, he reminded that there needs to be unanimity among member states to end negotiations with Turkey. Such an agreement is not there today. 21.10.2019 00:50 Our duty under duress Since its establishment in Aug. 2016, Gazete Duvar has been one of the most successful examples of a new wave of soul-searching in Turkey’s media. We now have the honor of joining the family with a new online publication in English which intends to bring a new breath for Turkey-watchers throughout the world.