A NATO Win for Erdogan   - Atlas Think Center

NATO’s Ankara Summit is over and, as expected, the winner is Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish host has a lot to be happy about.  First, the summit put on display his special relationship to Donald Tr...

atlasthink.org

NATO’s Out-of-Area Strategy - Atlas Think Center

As is known, NATO is a military alliance established after the Second World War to protect the military security of the West against communism and Soviet expansionism. Beyond being merely a military a...

atlasthink.org

The U.S.–Iran Deal and Turkey’s Strategic Reassessment: Hezbollah as a Buffer Against Israel - Atlas Think Center

The initial agreement between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to end the recent war marks more than a temporary ceasefire. It represents a possible reorganization of the regional ba...

atlasthink.org

Great Ambition, Great Disappointment - Atlas Think Center

Turkey’s Opium: Football Great Ambition, Great Disappointment Football is an integral part of daily life in many societies around the world. In Turkey, however, this passion takes on an altogether dif...

atlasthink.org

The Waning Crescent? The Transformation, Not the End, of Political Islam - Atlas Think Center

Faisal Devji’s Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam offers a useful starting point for understanding the current crisis of political Islam. Devji’s central argument is that political Isl...

atlasthink.org

The First Phase of Erdogan’s Plan to Neutralize the Main Opposition Is Complete - Atlas Think Center

Turkey’s path to the dictatorship  The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed...

atlasthink.org

The 'Absolute Nullity' Coup Against CHP - Atlas Think Center

By moving to effectively install a court-appointed administration over CHP, Erdoğan’s regime has taken a step that pushes Turkey closer to a Russian-style one-man rule, away from the competitive autho...

atlasthink.org

Can Europe defend itself with Turkish help? - Atlas Think Center

For all the efforts of European leaders to paper over frictions with Donald Trump, there has been no shortage of transatlantic drama over the past couple of weeks.  At the start of May, the Pentagon a...

atlasthink.org

The Implications of Withdrawing US Troops from Abroad - Atlas Think Center

As of early 2026, the U.S. had almost 170,000 active-duty troops stationed abroad in approximately 750 military bases located in some 178 different countries. Germany has long been one of the countrie...

atlasthink.org

The End Of April – “Process Frozen, Economy Cracking: Turkey at a Crossroads” - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: The End Of April – “Process Frozen, Economy Cracking: Turkey at a Crossroads” Executive Summary:    PKK commander Murat Karayılan issued a lengthy statement highlighting the abse...

atlasthink.org

Islam in Four Dimensions: Horizon, Identity, Lifeworld, and Discourse - Atlas Think Center

The role of Islam in social and political life is often reduced to single-dimensional explanations—either as a doctrine, a set of rituals, or a political ideology (Islamism). Such simplifications obsc...

atlasthink.org

Fourth Week Of April : Öcalan Issues Warning and Demands on Peace Process - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Fourth Week Of April – Öcalan Issues Warning and Demands on Peace Process Executive Summary:   Öcalan: If this process is similarly derailed, the fallout from the crises in Iran ...

atlasthink.org

Third Week Of April: You can kill someone, but you cannot erase them - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Third Week Of April – You can kill someone, but you cannot erase them Executive Summary:   New details have emerged in the investigation into the disappearance six years ago of G...

atlasthink.org

How Trump and Netanyahu tried but failed to get the Iranian Kurds to join the US-Israel War against Iran - Atlas Think Center

At the start of the now on-hold US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, 2026, this author speculated on whether or not the United States and Israel would be able to entice the Iranian Kurds’ small...

atlasthink.org

Second Week of April 2026 - Erdoğan Moves to Neutralize CHP Under Cover of Regional Tensions - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Second Week of April 2026 – Erdoğan Moves to Neutralize CHP Under Cover of Regional Tensions    Executive Summary Arrests and detentions are spreading from CHP mayors and municip...

atlasthink.org

Turkey’s Strategic Neutrality in the US–Israel War Against Iran - Atlas Think Center

Turkey’s Strategic Neutrality in the US–Israel War Against Iran*   The ongoing war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran presents a revealing case for understanding the evolving nature of midd...

atlasthink.org

Who Will Rule the Middle East? - Atlas Think Center

The current war in the Middle East cannot be understood merely as a military confrontation among Israel, the United States, and Iran. The central issue is no longer who initiated the war, but who will...

atlasthink.org

First Week of April 2026: Erdoğan is suffocating CHP - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: First Week of April 2026 – Erdoğan is suffocating CHP   Executive Summary:  CHP Bursa Metropolitan Mayor Mustafa Bozbey was detained along with 55 people, including his wife Sede...

atlasthink.org

Fourth Week Of March – The War and The Peace - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Fourth Week Of March – The War and The Peace Executive Summary:  A sweeping investigation coordinated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has targeted a bribery netw...

atlasthink.org

The climate impact of war - Atlas Think Center

War is first and foremost a human tragedy. It results in devastating and unnecessary loss of life, disruption of families and communities, and the fracturing of societies. As we continue to see a conc...

atlasthink.org

War and the Return of Memory: Alevi–Shi‘i Imaginaries in Contemporary Turkey - Atlas Think Center

Beneath the visible structures of Anatolian political culture lies a deeper emotional and symbolic reservoir—one shaped not merely by institutions or ideologies, but by long durée memories, moral arch...

atlasthink.org

The Iran War, Europe and Turkey:  the Perils of Strategic Autonomy  - Atlas Think Center

There is an old witticism, sometimes attributed to Leon Trostsky: “you might not be interested in war but war is interested in you.”  For what it’s worth, it captures well Europe’s predicament in the ...

atlasthink.org

Third Week Of March: A Political Bombshell: Justice Minister's Wealth Under Scrutiny - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Third Week Of March – A Political Bombshell: Justice Minister’s Wealth Under Scrutiny  Executive Summary:  While war dominates headlines around the world, a domestic story of com...

atlasthink.org

Second Week of March 2026 - CHP in Silivri - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: Second Week of January 2026 – CHP in Silivri   Executive Summary      The CHP held its weekly parliamentary group meeting in Silivri, site of the Marmara Closed Penal Institution...

atlasthink.org

Iran’s Strategic Logic: Fuller, Nasr, and the Consequences of the 2026 War - Atlas Think Center

The dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East in recent years has renewed interest in a long-standing question: how should Iran’s foreign policy be understood? Is the behavior of the Islamic ...

atlasthink.org

First Week of March 2026 - İmamoğlu trial starts - Atlas Think Center

Weekly Turkey Report: First Week of January 2026 – İmamoğlu trial starts Istanbul Municipality Trial: Proceedings Begin with 402 Defendants A trial arising from an investigation into the Istanbul Metr...

atlasthink.org

Will the Iranian Kurds Enter The Iran War on The Side of The United States and Israel?   - Atlas Think Center

Using The Kurds Again: Will the Iranian Kurds Enter The Iran War on The Side of The United States and Israel?   The United States has a long record of using the Kurds as auxiliaries when fighting agai...

atlasthink.org

The Stance of Turkey’s Political Parties in the face of the Israeli and U.S. Attack on Iran - Atlas Think Center

To understand the stance of Turkey’s political class and society regarding the attacks on Iran, two main points must be examined: the fact that Turkey’s secularist circles were raised within an anti-i...

atlasthink.org

What About Iran’s Proxy Forces in Turkey? - Atlas Think Center

What About Iran’s Proxy Forces in Turkey? Before the Iranian “mullah regime” collapses, it has already built a serious infrastructure inside Turkey—under Erdoğan’s protection—to reproduce itself in ex...

atlasthink.org