FeniksPod

In this episode of FeniksPod’s Atlantic Series, Dr. Mehmet Yegin hosted Dr. Aylin Matlé, a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations’ Security and Defense Program. In the discussion, Dr. Matlé explores the consequences of NATO’s new 2022 Strategic Concept for Europe and Germany and weighs in on debates of whether or not German defense policy is experiencing a so-called “Zeitenwende” – or sea change.

In this episode of Fenikspod’s Atlantic Series, Dr. Mehmet Yegin spoke with Dr. Amin Tarzi, Director of Middle East Studies at Marine Corps University, about the protests in Iran, their demographics, rationale, likelihood of success, and impact on the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s Atlantic Series, Dr. Mehmet Yegin hosts Vanessa Vohs from the Berlin-based German Institute of International and Security Affairs, SWP. Vohs comments on the increasingly popular and war-tested Turkish drones' autonomous future with new capabilities and problems.

At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s Atlantic Series, Mehmet Yegin hosts Dr. Paul T. Levin Founding Director of the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS). Dr. Levin commented on Turkey’s reaction to NATO accession talks with Sweden and Finland and what Ankara aims to get in return.

North Macedonia’s long awaited and disputed census results were finally announced on March 30, leaving almost every ethnic group unpleased, including the country’s third largest ethnic group, Turks. Ankara-backed campaign has fallen short of its aim to boost the recorded percentage of North Macedonia’s ethnic Turks to 6 percent.

Turkey’s opposition parties have taken important steps to present a united front against Erdogan in next year’s presidential elections. Still, in and of themselves, these measures won’t be enough to secure them an electoral victory in 2023 if they fail to wisely select their presidential candidate.

As the rest of the World, Russian Invasion of Ukraine took the Balkan countries by surprise. The new future geopolitical reality will certainly have significant political, financial and societal implications for the Balkan region in which democracy, the rule of law, economic development as well as the EU integration deteriorated in last decades. At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s EU&Balkan series, Hamdi Fırat Büyük hosted Srecko Latal, a senior journalist and political analyst from Sarajevo. Latal commented on the effects of Russian Invasion of Ukraine in the Balkans, the UK and the US sanctions against Bosnian Serb and other Balkan politicians, the fragile political environment in Bosnia as well as the Hungarian and Serbian election results.

On top of the political and economic crisis in Tunisia, the announcement of the President Kais Saied on the dissolution of the parliament put the country's young democracy in peril. Monica Marks, a distinguished expert from the NYU/Abu Dhabi, explains the effects of the recent developments on Tunisian politics and Turkey-Tunisia relations.

At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s Turkey Series, Hamdi Fırat Büyük hosts Dr Mehmet Yegin from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP. Dr Yegin who is also an editorial board member of FeniksPolitik commented on Turkish opposition’s joint initiative against Turkish President Erdogan’s alliance and other related important issues including the characteristics of the opposition’s joint presidential candidate against Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s Atlantic Series, Mehmet Yegin hosts Hamidreza Azizi, Alexander von Humbolt Fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Azizi commented on ongoing Russian Invasion of Ukraine's effects of JCPOA talks in Vienna as well as the revival of JCPOA's regional impacts particularly on Turkey.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may create new fronts within Europe’s most fragile region. Throughout the Balkans, pro-Russian groups have eagerly awaited a Russian agenda that could topple current regional peace and security dynamics and Russian Ambassador to Bosnia has recently threatened Bosnia if it decides to join the NATO. At the latest episode of FeniksPod’s EU&Balkan series, Hamdi Fırat Büyük and Abdullah Sencer Gözübenli discussed the effects of Russian Invasion of Ukraine in the Balkans, the Western response and the similarities between the fallen Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog paid a historic visit to Turkey for healing the relations between the two nations which have been suffering from years long deadlock due to several disagreement in regional and bilateral issues. At FeniksPod’s Middle East Series, Büşra Nur Özgüler Aktel explains Israel’s cautious optimism in its future relations with Turkey while Ankara hurriedly eyes on a quick recovery.

Karol Wasilewski, a Polish expert on Turkey from Wasilewski Future Consulting and Neo Swiat, explains at FeniksPod’s Turkey Series that how difficult Turkey’s balancing act is between Russia and the West while the War in Ukraine intensifies. Wasilewski thinks that Turkey’s balancing act already has a pro-Ukrainian flavour and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine may be a good starting point for healing relations between the West and Turkey if both sides recognise the opportunity.

Chatham House’s Mathieu Boulegue told FeniksPod’s Atlantic Series that Russia has been using the Ukraine crisis to extort Western concessions in what has become the greatest test to European and global security since the Cold War.

Host: Mehmet Yegin

Guest: Mathieu Boulegue

Europeanization had once been the starting point of Turkey’s relations with the Balkans, but over the last decade both have drifted away from the EU orbit. Ahmet Erdi Ozturk and Basak Alpan explain how and why on FeniksPod’s Balkan and EU Series.

During the episode, Ozturk and Alpan evaluated Turkey-Balkan relations from the perspective of Europeanization, referring to a special issue of the Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies entitled “Turkey and the Balkans: bringing the Europeanisation/De-Europeanisation nexus into question”. The special issue was co-edited by Ozturk and Alpan.

Hosts: Hamdi Firat Buyuk, A. Sencer Gozubenli

Guests: Ahmet Erdi Ozturk, Basak Alpan

After years of crisis, President Erdogan has decided to repair Turkey’s relations with Israel and Egypt, but it won’t be easy. Louis Fishman, an expert on Turkey and the Middle East, explains why on FeniksPod’s Middle East Series.

Host: Büşra Nur Özgüler-Aktel 

Guest: Louis Fishman

The Turkish government fails to produce comprehensive green policies amid worsening environmental crises. In a recent report, environmental researcher Gokce Sencan and her colleagues at the Ivme Movement urge the Turkish government to act before it’s too late.

Host: Hamdi Fırat Büyük

Guest: Gökçe Şencan

In her recent interview with FeniksPod, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Naheed Esar points outs that Afghan women were the first to take to the streets against Taliban rule. She notes that women’s resistance will continue, making it more difficult for the Taliban to provide stability despite its ability to maintain security in the country.

Internet and media freedoms continue to decline in Turkey under strict control of President Erdogan’s government stated Gurkan Ozturan from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in FeniksPod’s latest episode.

While Montenegro, a tiny Balkan country on the Adriatic coast, was hit by violent events and political crises evoked by the new head of the Serbian church in Montenegro, Metropolitan Joanikije’s ceremony in Cetinje, the former capital city of the country we spoke to Ljubomir Filipovic, Executive Coordinator of Civil Initiative May 21 and a political analyst at Café del Montenegro.

At FeniksPod, Filipovic explained the causes and effects of the high tensions and recent events in Montenegro, highlighting the role of the Serbian government and the Serbian Orthodox Church. He underlined that the only way forward is creating a front between Balkan countries with the support of the West for getting out of the political mass in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country.

Relations between Turkey and the West have been eroded by years of crises, and Turkish President Erdogan’s recent attempts at rapprochement have their limits. Still, while Turkey may be drifting further away from the US, European-Turkish relations have remained remarkably resilient.

Turkey has become an adversarial partner of the EU as the result of several international disagreements and the worsening state of Turkish democracy under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Still, both parties are signaling for new cooperation based on mutual interests in fields such as migration and the economy.

The secular identity, not subscribing to exclusionary secularism but a much more sensitive approach to religious claims, would be more inclusive and pluralist.

In the absence of President Trump’s personal relationship with President Erdogan, US-Turkey relations under the Biden administration will return to institutional avenues previously damaged by the actions of the Erdogan government.