On 9 August, high level talks were held between Russia and Turkey in St. Petersburg. It was Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s first overseas trip since the failed military coup and just a few days before there had been an impressive rally in his support…

The wave of repression that engulfed Turkey after the unsuccessful military coup (which itself also seemed a little strange, reminiscent of some local plot that an awful lot of people seemed to be in on) is gathering speed. More than 20,000 people have been either dismissed or detained, including soldiers, police, judges, prosecutors, and civil servants. Among the sacked were 257 staffers in the prime minister’s office, 492 employees from the Directorate of Religious Affairs, and 100 intelligence officers. According to other sources, the total number of those who have been dismissed, detained, or arrested – including teachers, administrators in educational institutions, and journalists – has now topped 50,000…

The EU and Turkey have held an emergency summit amid the worsening dispute between those parties over issues such as the effectiveness of Turkey’s use of the funds allocated by the EU for the resettlement of refugees, protection from illegal migration across the EU’s external borders, and assistance to Greece – a transit point for most of these displaced people. However, as much as can be understood from Angela Merkel’s speeches and interviews, there will be no review of the migration policy of the EU as a whole…

The recent terrorist attack in Ankara resulted in the deaths of 28 Turkish servicemen. It gave the government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan another pretext to put the blame on Kurdish armed groups operating in Syria and inside Turkey…

The events of late 2015 – early 2016 show the US-Turkey ties are getting stronger. The Turkey’s role of a NATO's southern flank bastion is growing. The Islamic State, which is financed by illegal exports of oil through the Turkish territory, is used by Washington and Ankara to justify intense coordinated military activities. Turkey has permitted the use of İncirlik, Diyarbakır and Batman air bases by its Western allies…

Russia's economic sanctions imposed against Turkey following its downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syria on November 24, 2015, by Turkish fighter, came into force on January 1… Probably, Turkey will continue to be a serious destabilizing factor in the Middle East and adjacent regions. Meanwhile, the situation on the battlefield has changed in favor of Damascus. Hopefully, terrorists will be cut off from the supply routes across the Turkey’s border…

On October 10, Ankara, the Turkish capital, was hit by explosions in what appears to be the deadliest single act of terrorism to occur on Turkish soil in the country’s modern history. According to official data, at least 95 people were killed in twin blasts as left-wing unions gathered to put forward social demands and protest the war against Kurds…

The activities of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the countries of post-Soviet space have been on the radar screen in recent months. Scandals occur in succession to attract more public spotlight each time. The OSCE present activities appear to have little to do with the goals the organization is supposed to pursue…

On June 8, 2015, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov announced a plan to establish a high-level working group to focus on the development of bilateral cooperation in the fuel and energy sector. «A high-level working group, specially created within the framework of an intergovernmental commission, will devote itself to developing a partnership in the energy sector», said Ushakov at a briefing in Moscow…

As has been reported, last April the Monitoring Committee met during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.  A special subcommittee was created at that meeting – the Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Conflicts between Member States of the Council of Europe.  This new entity, which will be directly responsible for looking into so-called «frozen conflicts» in the former Soviet Union, should have official status and begin its work in June.  It met for the first time in Paris on May 27…