Podcasts by Hot Pursuit

How to decode Turkey's rapid turn to clear the way for Sweden and Finland into NATO? - Marc Pierini from 2022-06-29T17:51:45

After a series of surprises, crisis and turns of Turkey, Sweden and Finland are formally invited to NATO as members. Marc Pierini, a former ambassador of the EU in Ankara and currently a senior res...

Why Biden continues to give Erdoğan the cold shoulder - Merve Tahiroğlu from 2022-06-08T11:27:26

U.S. President Joe Biden’s distancing of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is becoming more tangible and a crisis within NATO, created by Turkey’s objections to the membership of Sweden and Fi...

'Endgame? Erdoğan's game has no end...' - Prof Hamit Bozarslan from 2022-06-02T13:17:19

It is very difficult to see an endgame for Turkish foreign policy, because for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, there is no endgame, said Hamit Bozarslan, Director of the Centre for Turkish, Ottoman...

Extraditions to Turkey out of question but easing of sanctions may be possible - Prof Jan Hallenberg from 2022-05-24T15:52:36

President Erdoğan's announcement of an imminent incursion onto northern Syria has complicated his spat with NATO. What will Sweden and Finland do, to meet Turkey's conditions to lift its veto on NA...

Why is Erdoğan Gov't 'low key' on Russian invasion of Ukraine? - Suat Kınıklıoğlu from 2022-02-27T15:19:01

Yavuz Baydar speaks with Suat Kınıklıoğlu, a top expert on Turkish foreign policy.

How Erdoğan bolstered Turkey’s neo-Ottomanist ideology - Cengiz Çandar from 2021-10-13T10:53

Turkey’s decades old neo-Ottomanist ideology has been transformed and strengthened under the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Cengiz Çandar, a senior Turkish columnist and Mid...

Fair elections in jeopardy in a post-Erdoğan Turkey - Steven Cook from 2021-10-04T08:55:37

Turkey’s crisis of democracy may not end with the departure of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as there is ample reason to question whether fair elections would occur in a post-Erdoğan Turkey, said ...

A loud call from Osman Kavala's friends and human rights observers for his immediate release from 2021-10-02T18:36:03

Erdoğan might be walking into a Putin trap at bilateral meeting – Aykan Erdemir from 2021-09-28T08:18:16

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees it as a success to secure a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he may well be walking into a trap, Aykan Erdemir, senior d...

CoE’s decisions on Demirtaş and Kavala show that Turkish judiciary is not independent, Yavuz Aydın says from 2021-09-19T10:46:22

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe’s latest decisions on jailed politician Selahattin Demirtaş and jailed human rights defender and businessperson Osman Kavala, show that Turkish j...

Erdoğan's moves in North Cyprus will only complicate things further - Hasan Kahvecioğlu from 2021-07-22T11:16:24

Hasan Kahvecioğlu, journalist from Cyprus, spoke to Yavuz Baydar.

No genuine reset with US until Erdogan abandons his autocratic manner-analyst from 2021-06-16T05:51:52

Turkey is never going to have a great relationship with the United States as long as Erdogan continues to behave in autocratic ways, Nicholas Danforth, a non-resident senior research fellow at the ...

No new page for the U.S. Turkish relationship without real reforms - Tahiroğlu from 2021-06-14T09:01:44

Even if Turkey manages to come up with a solution to the S400 issue or the eastern Mediterranean issue during the NATO meeting on June 14 between U.S President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart...

'Upcoming Biden-Erdoğan meeting will be a true watershed moment for Turkey' - David Phillips from 2021-05-30T10:12:34

Yavuz Baydar, Editor-in-Chief of Ahval, spoke with Kurdish scholar David Phillips.

Erdogan's magic is unlikely to work with Biden this time around from 2021-05-29T19:12:31

Turkey's strongman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will try to use some "magic" to reset the relationship with U.S. President Joe Biden at their upcoming meeting in June. His “magic,” howe...

Shaken but not stirred by ‘Mobstergate’, Erdoğan to double down on opposition from 2021-05-28T10:01:25

The accusations levelled by the exiled mafia boss Sedat Peker regarding the Turkish deep state activities, political assassination of a Cypriot journalist and many other shocking revelations paint ...

'Mob boss Peker's videos show us the second side of the cartel state of Turkey' - Prof Hamit Bozarslan from 2021-05-15T13:44:55

'Mob boss Peker's videos show us the second side of the cartel state of Turkey' - Prof Hamit Bozarslan

'Draghi's 'Dictator Erdoğan' statement will be remembered as a historic remark...' - Marco Ansaldo from 2021-04-09T14:08:28

Real damage of protocol crisis in the EU-Erdoğan meeting will be on the political level - Amb. Marc Pierini from 2021-04-07T18:38:47

What do the EU Summit conclusions on Turkey signify in reality? from 2021-03-27T17:40:01

What will be the consequences of the closure case against pro-Kurdish HDP? - Merve Tahiroğlu from 2021-03-18T12:24:26

In the latest crackdown on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party, the HDP, Turkish authorities on Wednesday stripped Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a prominent HDP legislator and human rights advocate, o...

Turkey's ideologically driven foreign policy and economic management lay in tatters - Özdalga from 2021-03-10T07:53:28

Turkey's European Union membership candidacy trajectory is unsustainable and the country sees the steady demise of freedom and human rights, said former two term deputy of the Justice and Developme...

Turkey sees the US a declining rival - Analyst Howard Eissenstat from 2021-02-14T05:22:16

Turkey considers the United States not simply a rival but a declining rival which has abandoned foreign intervention in the Middle East since the Obama Administration leading to political vacuum, H...

Turkey's S-400 purchase sign of shifting strategic view on United States – Turkey expert from 2021-02-10T16:32:57

Turkey engages in transnational repression targeting dissidents from 2021-02-05T13:41:18

Duel in the East Mediterranean: Who will win, Erdoğan or Sisi? - Nicholas Danforth / ELIAMEP from 2021-02-01T14:35:12

Duel in the East Mediterranean: Who will win, Erdoğan or Sisi? - Nicholas Danforth / ELIAMEP

'Biden will have big challenges with Turkey, but the ball is fully in Erdoğan's court' - Max Hoffman / CAP from 2021-01-26T18:57:35

'Biden will have big challenges with Turkey, but the ball is fully in Erdoğan's court' - Max Hoffman / CAP

'EU accession is over: EU and the USA stand at a watershed with Turkey' - Marc Pierini Carnegie from 2021-01-23T05:41:29

'The recent appointment on top of Bosporus University is deeply concerning' - Prof Üstün Ergüder from 2021-01-03T17:30:29

'2020 was the year Erdoğan's Cartel State has run out of its options' - Prof Hamit Bozarslan from 2020-12-30T14:17:07

'2020 was the year Erdoğan's Cartel State has run out of its options' - Prof Hamit Bozarslan

'CAATSA sanctions now underway, Turkey heads for a perfect storm, here's why' - Aykan Erdemir / FDD from 2020-12-04T20:12:42

- Hot Pursuit -

How Erdoğan became the hostage of the mafia-backed 'cartel state' he constructed - Prof Hamit Bozarslan from 2020-11-25T12:50:50

How Erdoğan became the hostage of the mafia-backed 'cartel state' he constructed? - Prof Hamit Bozarslan

What is Erdoğan's endgame in Caucasus? - Gerard Libaridian from 2020-11-20T10:13:31

'Picnic' in Varosha: What is Erdoğan's endgame with North Cyprus? - Hasan Kahvecioğlu from 2020-11-17T11:44:11

'Picnic' in Varosha: What is Erdoğan's endgame with North Cyprus? - Hasan Kahvecioğlu

Karabakh peace deal may lead to a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement in post-Erdoğan era from 2020-11-10T19:49:36

Journalist Thomas de Waal, spoke to editor in chief of Ahval Yavuz Baydar

If Biden wins, a 'reset' of Turkish - U.S. relations on Turkey's terms is not likely - Steven Cook from 2020-11-01T09:19:19

Turkey can expect significant changes in its relations with the United States under a Joe Biden presidency, Steven Cook, senior fellow for the Middle East and North Africa at the Council on Foreign...

'Erdoğan is the one who won the elections, loser is Northern Cyprus' - Hasan Kahvecioğlu, Cengiz Aktar from 2020-10-19T09:39:22

'Erdoğan is the one who won the elections, loser is Northern Cyprus' - Hasan Kahvecioğlu, Cengiz Aktar

2nd Kavala indictment is the most ridiculous one ever written - Henri Barkey son from 2020-10-14T03:55:35

'Erdoğan government dials up opposition crackdown by seizing assets’ from 2020-10-08T06:28:11

'Erdoğan government dials up opposition crackdown by seizing assets’

Azerbaijan, and not Armenia, becomes the challenge for Russia in Karabakh conflict - Tom de Waal from 2020-10-05T17:50:35

What does the widening of atrocities in Karabakh region mean? How should one read into the spillover of clashes into Armenia and Azerbaijan? What is Turkey’s strategy in its direct involvement on A...

'Armenia lacks incentives to launch military action now, Azerbaijan moved in first' - Thomas de Waal from 2020-09-27T17:05:04

There is no reason for Armenia to kickstart another bout of conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Thomas de Waal, British journalist and expert on the Caucasus, told A...

'Turkish foreign policy is a hostage of Erdoğan's personal interests' - Merve Tahiroğlu / POMED from 2020-09-20T12:47:57

'Turkish foreign policy is a hostage of Erdoğan's personal interests' - Merve Tahiroğlu / POMED

Turkey's self-isolating moves in the region elicits a containment policy, Erdemir says from 2020-09-17T19:40:29

Turkey's self-isolating moves in the region elicits a containment policy, Erdemir says.

'ECHR chairman Spano must resign, because...' - Şebnem Korur Fincancı from 2020-09-09T10:48

'ECHR chairman Spano must resign, because...' - Şebnem Korur Fincancı

'For Biden and his team Erdoğan represents a villain' - Merve Tahiroğlu from 2020-08-26T05:35:33

Ahval Editor Yavuz Baydar speaks to Merve Tahiroğlu, Turkey Director with POMED in Washington, on Erdoğan Government's hidden motives that drive its foreign policy

What led to the coup, and what is next for Mali? - Dr. Andrew Tchie from 2020-08-21T04:26:50

Senior Research Fellow for African Security at the Royal United Services Institute Dr. Andrew Yaw Tchie discussed the military coup in Mali with Ahval editor Ali Aslangül.

The dissatisfa...

Biden video a godsend for Erdoğan’s embattled government - analyst from 2020-08-17T20:20:28

The resurfacing of a video of U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden, in which he heavily criticises Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has very peculiar timing, said Aykan Erd...

Hagia Sophia one of Erdoğan’s many anti-secular steps envisaged ahead of 2023 – Turkish analysts from 2020-07-26T21:29:23

On Friday’s inauguration of Hagia Sophia as a Muslim house of worship, Turkey’s strongman communicated to both his domestic audience in Turkey and an international crowd that he was effectively pos...

July 15: Failed anti-Erdoğan military uprising followed by a pro-Erdoğan civilian coup from 2020-07-16T09:12:12

Four years on, there are as many question marks on the attempted coup in July 2016 as before. But its consequences are clear enough to analyze the nature of the ground-breaking ecent that changed T...

Four years on, basic elements of the July 15 coup still lacks clarity from 2020-07-14T12:16:41

Four years after the 2016's coup attempt, there are still a lot of controversy and lack of clarity over the basic elements of what happened July 15 night, said Ryan Gingeras, a professor at the Dep...

'Conversion of Hagia Sophia will deal another severe blow to the foundations of secular Turkey' - Yavuz Baydar from 2020-07-10T08:18:49

Several Turkish government-linked columnists and talking heads said this week that Turkey's top court has already approved the re-conversion of the Hagia Sophia from museum to a mosque. These insid...

'Erdoğan’s existential wars in the region unsustainable for Turkey' from 2020-07-07T07:42:26

Turkey's military operations across Libya, Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan are not financially, militarily and diplomatically sustainable, Ahval columnist and political scientist Cengiz Aktar, told in al...

Lacking solutions to national crisis, Erdoğan using foreign adventures as decoy – Turkey expert from 2020-07-01T19:12:05

What does a regime change in Turkey signify for the world? Has the Turkish opposition lost its momentum to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for good or are there further opportunities? Is t...

'A gambit that may spell the end of Erdoğan regime?' - Prof Cengiz Aktar and Yavuz Baydar discuss Turkey's intervention in the Libyan crisis from 2020-06-30T13:17:20

Prof Cengiz Aktar and Yavuz Baydar discuss Turkey's intervention in the Libyan crisis.

Steven Cook and Henri Barkey comment on Turkey - Egypt tensions and Libya crisis from 2020-06-24T13:32:13

Ahval's guests are Steven Cook and Henri J. Barkey on Hot Pursuit. They comment on the escalating tension between Turkey and Egypt over the power struggle in Libya. 

Have Turkey's moves in the East Med, Libya passed a point of no return? from 2020-06-19T10:59:51

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s military actions and drilling operations in the East Mediterranean challenge the status quo and appear to be setting in motion new dynamics in the region.

Listen

Erdoğan's priority is to keep turning the wheels of economy over virus from 2020-04-04T06:47:58

The priority of the Turkish government is to keep turning the wheels of the economy rather than taking necessary and urgent steps to tackle the spread of the deadly Coronavirus, said Ahval's editor...

Nurcan Baysal interrogated by the police for her articles: 'They want to silence me entirely' from 2020-03-30T15:27:12

In what seems like an unexpected move, Nurcan Baysal, columnist with Ahval and a human rights activist, was called by the police in Diyarbakır to come to the headquarters in the city to be face acc...

Yannis Koutsomitis: After Erdogan's failed talks with the EU, expect more war of attrition over refugees from 2020-03-10T12:46:29

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan failed to reach an agreement with European Union officials on the future of refugees living in Turkey as thousands of them attempting to reach Europe.
Er...

All eyes are locked on the Putin-Erdoğan meeting over Idlib on March 5 - Timur Göksel from 2020-03-02T20:25:55

All eyes locked on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting on March 5, Timur Göksel, senior editor-at-large at Ahval and former spokesman for the...

Timur Göksel: U.S.’ Idlib objective to cause a split between Turkey and Russia from 2020-02-24T21:14:15

The objective of the United States in Syria’s last rebel-held province of Idlib will cause a split between Turkey and Russia, Timur Göksel, former spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping miss...

Berlin summit will have little impact on change in Libya, says former Turkish ambassador from 2020-01-20T19:06:41

The Berlin summit on Libya and its final declaration will have little impact in changing the status quo in Libya, vis-à-vis the positions of Russia, Turkey and the warring sides, Turkey’s former am...

What drives Turkey’s hunger for crises? from 2019-12-16T15:34:01

Seth J. Frantzman, Middle East analyst of Jerusalem Post, said in an article last week that Turkey’s government had been thriving on a constant stream of threats and crises.
Frantzman, who is ...

A further escalation in east-Med will depend on Turkey’s actions from 2019-12-12T12:34:26

Turkey and Libya signed a maritime boundaries accord two weeks ago that sees the two countries as maritime neighbours, divides the eastern Mediterranean into two and ignores the territorial waters ...

The focus of the Kurdish issue likely to shift from Turkey to Syria - Cengiz Aktar from 2019-11-20T19:21:21

Political scientist Cengiz Aktar discusses today’s call by Turkey’s mainly-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP) for snap elections and the political landscape around the Kurdish issue.

North Syria ‘the most explosive place in the world’ from 2019-11-18T15:28:49

Marco Ansaldo, the senior correspondent for the Italian daily La Repubblica, discussed the situation in northern Syria after Turkey’s Oct, 9 military offensive, the conditions of civilians on both ...

Prof Barkey: CAATSA sanctions on Turkey are much less important than its loss of lucrative F-35 programme from 2019-09-06T09:44:54

The real damage has already been done by Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems and loss of F-35 fighter jets, Turkey expert Henri Barkey told Ahval's 'Hot Pursuit' on Thursday....

Turkey's former FM Yakış: US seeks less harsh way to urge Turkey away from activating S-400's from 2019-07-17T21:14:01

Turkey's former FM Yakış on Pentagon suspending Turkey from F-35 program: US seeks less harsh way to urge Turkey away from activating S-400's

The attack on civil society in Turkey is in a sense an attack on the essence of Turkey’s relationships with the West - Howard Eissenstat from 2019-07-17T06:00

Why the Gezi park trial is crucial from the perspective of Turkey's relations with the West? - Howard Eissenstat, associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University and a non-res...

Steven Cook: Turkey is decoupling from the United States from 2019-07-12T16:50:35

Senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Steven A. Cook discusses the delivery of S-400s with Hot Pursuit. Cook is an expert on Arab and Turkish p...

Koutsomitis: Mitsotakis government will tread carefully with Turkey from 2019-07-09T09:39:35

Elections in Greece are over, bringing to power a centre-right government under Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of New Democracy Party. The day after the elections Mitsotakis named his cabinet, appoint...

Prof Eissenstat: ''This is a referendum on Erdoğan's rule'' from 2019-06-21T21:00

Associate Professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University Howard Eissenstat spoke with Ahval editor-in-chief Yavuz Baydar on the possible outcomes of Istanbul’s mayoral election rerun o...

Prof Barkey: Istanbul elections will leave Erdoğan before two major choices from 2019-06-21T10:17:14

U.S. academic Henri Barkey evaluates the Istanbul elections for Ahval.

Prof Yahya Madra: ''It is likely IMF can turn Turkey down'' from 2019-06-09T09:00

Upcoming municipal elections in Istanbul has brougt Turkey to another existential watershed. The result will have implications on foreign policy choices and the economy. Prof Madra, with Drew Unive...

Cengiz Aktar: The first sentence of Turkey report says it all: process is dead from 2019-05-30T09:50:03

Ahval contributor Cengiz Aktar's take on annual European Commission report on Turkey.

Cem Özdemir: Election results mean, The Wall is back in Germany from 2019-05-28T14:57:51

Germany's leading politican Cem Özdemir commented on the European Parliament elections in Hot Pursuit Podcast program:

'Turkish Top Court's ruling on Kavala is simply shocking' from 2019-05-22T12:29:11

Turkey's Constitutional Court rejected Osman Kavala's individual application, found that his right to liberty and security has not been violated. Kavala was arrested on October 18, 2017 and has bee...