Tũrkish Pulse

by Martin Aslan Since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a new wave of far-right Turkic solidarity has been rising amongst Turkish volunteers and lead to the creation of the Turan battalion. Their involvement, while not endorsed by any Ankara officials, highlights the complex dynamics of foreign volunteerism in the conflict and the rise of a renewed Panturkism, fueled by far-right ideology. The Turan Battalion: A Panturkic Initiative Established on November 20, 2022, the Turan Battalion is a unit of volunteers enlisting individuals from Turkic-speaking nations, including Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, amongst others. Founded by Aidos Sadyqov, a Kazakh opposition activist, the battalion is led by Almaz Kudabek Uulu, a Kyrgyz national who previously worked as a hairdresser in Kyiv. The name ‘Turan’ refers to the ancient mythical homeland of Turkic populations in Central Asia. The battalion embraces a Panturkist ideology that is dating back to ...

by Martin Aslan Türkiye is playing a dangerous diplomatic game with its Libyan partners and places itself in the middle of a potentially explosive situation. Türkiye-backed western Libya is in the edge of internal conflict due the tensions rising between armed groups related to the Government of National Unity (GNU). Instead of resolving this problem by diplomatic means, Türkiye is moving closer to the clan of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, which had previously opposed the GNU. Ankara appears to be attempting a change of alliance. This rapprochement is all the more hazardous because Marshal Haftar's presumed successor is his own son, General Saddam Haftar, who is particularly known for embezzling funds and violating human rights. While claiming to be dealing with Libya's fundamental problems in the general interest, Türkiye is actually driven by its economic ambitions. The benefits of a divided Libya Since the 2011 uprising during the Arab Spring, which culminated in the overthrow of ...

by Martin Aslan With the arrival in power in 2002 of the AKP and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a new strategy was put into place to enable Türkiye to develop its ties with Africa. The Gülen movement, an ally at the time, was the first non-governmental organization to invest massively in Africa. This opportunistic alliance enabled Türkiye to strengthen its influence on the continent. However, this alliance broke in 2013, leaving a very significant pro-Gülen imprint to the detriment of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 's power. Turkish soft power has been transformed and strengthened by TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency), which became a state agency in 2018, and by the creation of the MAARIF foundation (a state-run organization focused on international education) in 2016. Numerous humanitarian NGOs gravitate around these two major organizations. The difference from before is that the government has now much tighter control over these institutions. TIKA, a multi-skilled state a...

by Martin Aslan Türkiye has established a real presence in regions such as Africa, especially in Libya and Somalia, as well as in Central Asia. Yet, one part of the world remains relatively under the radar in Turkish foreign policy: Latin America. Despite the geographical distance, it seems Ankara has been quietly working to expand its defense footprint in the region. Interestingly, the roots of Türkiye’s connection to Latin America stretch back to the 19th century, when immigrants from the Ottoman Empire, mostly Arabs, settled in South America. Locals called them "Los Turcos" (The Turks), a nickname that still stucks despite their actual ethnic origins. High-level visits and diplomatic expansion Türkiye launched an “Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean” in 1998. It was revised in 2006, when Türkiye declared that year as the “Year of Latin America and the Caribbean”. The plan served as a formal roadmap for engaging more seriously in the region. The first Turkish pr...

by Martin Aslan Türkiye is struggling to find willing sellers for modern fighter jets. Ankara faces significant challenges in acquiring its next-generation combat aircraft and remains entangled in ongoing diplomatic disputes. The F-35 fallout Ankara originally intended to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets from the United States beginning in 2002, when Türkiye joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program as a partner nation. Over the following years, it invested in the development and production phases of the aircraft. However, in a significant shift, Türkiye signed a deal with Russia in 2017 to acquire the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. The first deliveries of the S-400 system began in July 2019. This decision sparked concerns among NATO allies over interoperability and security, as the S-400 is not compatible with NATO defense infrastructure. As a result, Türkiye was officially removed from the F-35 program in July 2019. The move marked a turning point in Türkiye’s defense policy...

By Derya Vogel Why would Central Asian nations—key members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS)—publicly challenge a Turkish-backed entity in the Mediterranean? At the EU–Central Asia Summit in Samarkand on April 3–4, 2025, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan made a surprising move: they endorsed UN Security Council Resolutions 541 and 550, which reject the legitimacy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a breakaway state recognized only by Türkiye. These resolutions reaffirm the Republic of Cyprus as the island’s sole legal government and call on all UN members not to recognize the TRNC or support its consolidation. To understand this shift, we must look back to 1974, when Cyprus was divided following a coup by Greek Cypriot nationalists aiming for unification with Greece. Türkiye responded by intervening militarily, leading to the island’s partition. The TRNC declared independence in 1983, but has remained diplomatically isolated. Türkiye, however, has consis...