Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Elif Selin Calik
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‘Guns and oil do not mix in Libya’
Oil as a commodity is intertwined intimately with national strategies, power and global politics. This was a central theme in Daniel Yergin’s The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. Few places illustrate this inflammable mix as effectively as Libya today. According to OPEC, Libya is the 16th...
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‘In 25 years, only the number of tombstones has changed in Srebrenica’
‘The only thing that has changed is the number of identified bodies of victims and the number of tombstones in Potocari. That is changing. Those numbers are growing,’ genocide survivor and army commander Serif Patkovic tells MEMO...
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Israel’s annexation plan, not Turkey’s Hagia Sophia move, undermines regional peace
Veteran journalist Dr Bora Bayraktar greeted his audiences to the Hagia Sophia by saying, “Welcome to the heart of the world.” His views have been recorded for his YouTube channel to inform audiences about Turkey’s recent decision on the iconic 6th century sanctuary. “Why I said ‘the heart of the...
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Memories of Srebrenica are being reawakened in Syria
“After Srebrenica, you said never again…Shame on you World!” These were the words written on the posters of demonstrators who gathered in Sarajevo in 2016 to condemn the Assad regime’s siege of Syria’s Aleppo. This month marks the anniversary of the UN’s failure to protect its so-called “safe zone” in Srebrenica,...
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Disputes over energy are not the only crisis in the eastern Mediterranean
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks that, “If Greece does not know its place, Turkey knows how to answer”, drew a swift and equally menacing response from Athens. Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos declared that his country is ready for all eventualities, including military confrontation with Turkey if it...
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Will blurring the line between war and peace help Russia in Libya?
The ongoing war in Libya took a dramatic turn recently exposing the extent of foreign involvement in the conflict, notably by Russia. Hundreds of Russian “military contractors” — aka mercenaries —were evacuated from the country last Monday after retreating from the fighting on the front lines near Tripoli. Following...
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Greek militarism in the East Aegean Islands disregards major treaty obligations
The people of Greece and Turkey argue over many things. Food, for example; both claim “baklava” as their own, and prepare it in their own way. It would have been better for all concerned if this was the most serious of their disagreements, but it isn’t. Unfortunately, the “demilitarisation of...
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Plague and Empire… is a timely look at the Ottoman experience of epidemics
Academic Nukhet Varlık has written a timely book on the experience of the Ottoman Empire in coping with plague. The Professor of History at Rutgers University is the author of Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience, 1347-1600 which explores the historical connections between...
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Coronavirus part 2: Pandemic sets gold against oil
Coronavirus part 1: Should Russia really declare an oil price war against the Middle East? Gold prices have risen while that of oil has slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has taken the lives of over 14,000 people and infected more than 330,000. The death toll in Italy...
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Should Russia really declare an oil price war against the Middle East?
This week we saw comparisons of the price of a barrel of oil — $30 — with the price of an empty barrel, at around $33. This is the lowest price of oil per barrel since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the...
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A bloodbath on the border is not the solution to the Syrian refugee crisis
This week we have seen the first reported death of a refugee in the latest phase of the Syrian crisis, when a Syrian man was shot by Greek border police. Within hours of the incident, it was headline news, following Turkey’s policy change and the opening of its border...
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Now is the time for unity in the Middle East as coronavirus fears grip the region
In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The current coronavirus epidemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has so far infected around 80,000 people and killed more than 2,700, most of them in China. Can we expect to...
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International law specialist: Compelling grounds to prosecute UAE, Saudi's actions in Yemen
‘We have tried to expose the fact that there were people who could have been killed as a result of foreign mercenaries being hired by the UAE,’ Hakan Camuz says Yemen has been driven to the brink of famine during fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis based in Sanaa, and the...
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Idlib could be the greatest international failure in human history, says Turkish official
The situation in Idlib could be the greatest failure of the international community in human history, according to a member of the Turkish Presidency Security and Foreign Policy Council, Akif Kirecci, who spoke to MEMO about the ongoing battle in Syria. In the wider Syrian conflict, it is the civilians...
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IKEA defends hijab wearing employee after racist attack
Swedish furniture and home goods retailer IKEA is being praised for defending a Muslim employee after a racist online customer’s review of its store in Aubonne, Switzerland, Daily Sabah reported. “What a pity to find a veiled cashier. I will never step into this store again,” the review said.In response,...
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Has Idlib killed the Syria peace talks?
Last December, Robert Malley, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, penned an article for the Foreign Affairs magazine, addressing the topic: “The Unwanted Wars: Why the Middle East Is More Combustible Than Ever.” Today, at the peak of the Idlib crisis, I pose a similar question: “Why...
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Will Erdogan’s ‘the world is greater than 5’ help establish a new world order including Africa?
Following the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, African affairs were regarded as a secondary issue in the new state’s foreign policy. Until relatively recently, that is, when Cold War dynamics compelled the Turkish government to align itself with the West. Having good relations and alliances with the West...
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‘Haftar has been barking up the wrong tree’
Distinguished Libyan journalist and political analyst, Ashur Shamis, has spoken out on the Libyan Civil War and ceasefire in the country...
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Is the Strait of Hormuz the key to Iran asserting its dominance?
Increasing tensions between Iran and the US have led to fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East, with energy market participants increasingly concerned that the fallout could soon disrupt regional crude supplies. Some analysts have been warning that as Iran controls the vital trade route, the Strait of...
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2020 sees Turkey set its sights on the Mediterranean
Turkey has announced that it is sending troops to Libya at a time when it is dealing with a new influx of refugees from Syria’s north-western province, Idlib. Millions have been fleeing President Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal attacks and the humanitarian crises in Syria. In the last month of 2019,...
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Qatar’s gas investment in Turkey and the Saudi blockade
Energy has always played a crucial geopolitical role. Natural gas is a part of this important sector; with the switch from coal-to-gas, the demand for natural gas jumped by 4.6 per cent in 2018, accounting for nearly half of overall demand growth, according to a report published by International...
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‘Hatred and mistrust block a solution in Israel-Palestine’
An interview with Professor Stephen Bronner, by Elif Selin Calik...
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Expelling Libya’s ambassador is not a solution for the Eastern Mediterranean
On 27 November, Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU). Turkey intended to exercise its rights under international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), despite the obstacles presented by the other countries in the region. Following...
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The preservation of Turkey’s energy rights is key to maritime stability in the eastern Mediterranean
In collaboration with major industrial countries like the US and France, several Mediterranean countries have discovered oil and gas resources under the sea bed. The aim of these countries is twofold: to achieve energy self-sufficiency, and to sell any surplus on the open market. According to the 1982 UN Convention...