Strait Talk TRT World

It was a record turnout for Turkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections. But after more than 55 million votes were cast, no candidate passed the 50% threshold in the first round, setting the stage for a run-off scheduled for May 28. The record number of voters coincided with several new political parties entering the race for the first time. The People's alliance led by the ruling AK party is set to maintain its majority, as the country waits anxiously for the presidential run-off later this month.

Guests:
Helin Sari Ertem- Associate Professor at Medeniyet University
Vehbi Baysan- Associate Professor at Ibn Haldun University
Valeria Giannotta- Director of CeSPI's Observatory on Türkiye

For decades, Western countries have engaged the African continent with a mixture of aid packages that often came with strings attached. Straddled with the legacy of colonialism, many African countries were often left dependent on their former rulers to develop their economies. But over the past decade, new players started engaging the African continent, offering alternatives to the West. Russia with its security and defence deals, and China with its massive infrastructure projects and loans. But now Turkiye is also trying to get into the mix, with its own unique approach.

Guests:
Alex Vines
Director of Africa Programme at Chatham House

Jihad Mashamoun
Research Fellow at Exeter IAIS

One of the biggest hurdles in US-Turkish relations has been the stalled sale of F-16 fighter jets, that Ankara requested back in October 2021. Being stuck in Congress for a year and half, a small part of the deal could be about to move forward. The US State Department recently approved the sale of F-16 software upgrades to Turkiye, in a deal worth $259 million.

US President Joe Biden has notified Congress, putting the onus on them to officially approve the sale. But the agreement is just a fraction of a much wider package that Turkiye is seeking, which includes 40 F-16 fighters and dozens of modernisation kits, worth about 20 billion dollars. The deal was a compromise after Turkiye was removed by the US from the F-35 fighter programme, due to Washington's complaints that Ankara had purchased air defence systems from Russia. But this latest deal being pushed by President Biden comes after Turkyie's approval of Finland's entry into NATO, and easing tensions with Greece.

Guests:
Jaroslaw Strozyk
Former Director at Polish Military Intelligence

Ahmet Keser
Associate Professor at Hasan Kalyoncu University

Bitter enemies Iran and Israel have been fighting a shadowy proxy war in Syria and beyond for years. But this low intensity conflict is seeing more and more armed UAVs. Even the US has thrown itself into the mix, including a drone strike that was launched in Syria earlier this month. The US military says it killed a suspected Daesh member who was planning an attack in Europe.

Just a few weeks before that, the US said it retaliated against Iran-linked groups in Syria, after a drone attack killed an American contractor. US intelligence said the UAV strike was of Iranian origin. Earlier this month, Israel also said it shot down an Iranian drone that flew into its airspace from Syria. Just hours earlier, Israel had launched air strikes on Iranian targets in the country. Iran has also accused Israel of using unmanned aerial vehicles to launch attacks deep inside its borders. On February 2, three drones reportedly attacked a military site in the city of Isfahan, which Tehran blamed on Israel. And Iran said it foiled a similar drone attack in the same city earlier this month, adding the attempt didn't not cause any damage.

Guests:
Federico Borsari
Leonardo Fellow at CEPA

Mohammed Soliman
Technology and Cyber Security Analyst

For more than a year, an estimated $300 billion dollars that belongs to Russia's central bank, has been sitting in accounts frozen by the US and its allies. Immediately after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, the US and several Western governments, blocked Moscow from accessing those funds. Now debate is growing both in Washington and Brussels on what to do with that money.

Some US lawmakers are calling for it to be sent to Ukraine, to fund its war against Russia. Since February last year, the US and its allies have allocated nearly $200 billion dollars in support for Ukraine. But more than 13 months into the war, concerns are growing about sustaining that level of support. Tax payers in the West, already burdened by rising inflation, have been pressuring lawmakers for relief. One US senator is working on a new bill that would allow President Joe Biden to seize Russian central bank assets and make them available to Ukraine. But would that open up more legal and political problems and what precedent would it set?

Guests:
Evan Criddle
Professor at William and Mary Law School

Gregory Simons
Researcher at Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has paid an official visit to Ankara where he met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. The two ministers said they are taking concrete steps in reappointing ambassadors and will enhance cooperation to ensure stability in Libya. The meeting comes just weeks after Cavusoglu made a landmark visit to Cairo, the first of its kind in a decade.

Shoukry's visit to Turkiye is his second since March when he toured the country's south in a show of solidarity following the February 6th earthquakes. Diplomatic ties between the two countries had been cut off after a 2013 coup in Egypt overthrew then-president Mohammed Morsi. But the recent meetings have raised expectations that full diplomatic relations will be restored soon. Their rapproachment follows others in the region, including Iran, which recently reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia. Bahrain and Qatar also announced restoration of diplomatic ties, ending a years-long dispute.

Guests:
Jane Kinninmont
Policy and Impact Director at European Leadership Network

Cengiz Tomar
Professor at Marmara University