Anatolian Dispatch

Washington’s lack of consultation with NATO allies encourages Turkey to pursue policies of self-reliance in national security and foreign relations, said Rich Outzen, a retired colonel and former senior adviser to U.S. special representative for Syrian engagement James Jeffrey.

In Afghanistan, the Biden administration rushed the process of deciding when and how to exit the country and allies were left in the dark, Outzen, who also served as U.S. military attaché to
Afghanistan, said in a guest appearance on Ahval’s Anatolian Dispatch podcast.

Turkey’s long-standing relationship with Afghanistan has “survived even the dark days of the Soviet occupation” and has deep roots in the humanitarian, cultural and military assistance spheres, Chris Kilford, history scholar and Canada’s former defence attaché to Turkey and several neighbouring countries, told Edward Stafford in an episode of the Anatolian Dispatch podcast series.

According to Kilford, Turkey tried to play all its cards “to keep itself at the airport”, but could not “get rid of the NATO tie-in”.

The U.S. troops’ presence in Syria is preventing terrorism inside Turkey, Chris Kilford, a retired Canadian Air Defence Officer and former Defence Attache to Turkey and Azerbaijan said.
As long as the U.S. stays in eastern Syria, Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) realise that they cannot trade problems with Turkey, Kilford said, speaking to retired U.S. diplomat Edward Stafford for Ahval’s Anatolian Dispatch podcast.
“It’s kind of ironic that Turkey is yelling at the Americans because they’re supporting the YPG in Syria but at the same time the U.S. is dampening down the situation in Turkey because the YPG know that launching attacks to Turkey in this time is not a good strategy for their long-term survivability,” he said.

Turkey’s use of soft power, including diplomacy and commerce, laid the foundation for calculated risk-taking and military and geo-strategic gains, said Rich Outzen, a retired U.S. army colonel and a geopolitical strategist.
Military interventions in Syria’s Idlib, Libya and the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh showed that some risks were worth taking, Outzen said in a conversation with Edward Stafford for Ahval’s Anatolian Dispatch podcast series.
Outzen spoke with Stafford to expand on his July 9 article published on the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy entitled "Deals, Drones, and National Will: The New Era in Turkish Power Projection”.

The Turkish Democracy Project (TDP) seeks to help Turkey return to its more secular and liberal roots, Mark D. Wallace, an American businessman, former diplomat, and lawyer who has served in a variety of government, political and private sector posts, said on Thursday in a podcast for Ahval.

Dr. Chris Kilford is a Fellow with the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy, and teaches courses at the Canadian Forces College focused on geopolitical issues. He served as Defense Attaché to Turkey from July 2011 until July 2014 with cross accreditation to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan. Kilford reflects on failed coup attempt and its aftermath with the host of Anatolian Dispatch Edward Stafford, retired U.S. diplomat.

The relationship between the United States and Turkey was always one of necessity for Turkey and practicality for political leaders in Washington, said Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, the director of the Ankara based German Marshall Fund. “There’s no such thing that Turkey and the United States once had a golden age in their relations and now it has been lost. The reality is that they never had one,” Ünlühisarcıklı told Edward Stafford in a podcast for Ahval’s Anatolian Dispatch on Tuesday.

No disagreement between Turkey and the United States has been resolved in two presidents’ meeting in Brussels, Chris Kilford, former Canadian Defence Attache to Turkey said.

In the last 5-10 years Turkey-Canada relations have been shaped by Armenian lobby activity, Canadians’ choice of Turkey as a favourite tourist destination and Turkish diplomats’ use of Gülenist social and cultural networks, Bruce Mabley, a Canadian former diplomat to Turkey, told Edward G. Stafford in Ahval’s Anatolian Dispatch interview series on Thursday. Mabley maintained that there are no major conflicts between the two countries. “On a scale of 1 to 10 Canadian Turkish relations in last 5 years I would put it at around 7,” Mabley said.

The communication between Washington and Ankara has been fairly low profile so far, a retired US Army colonel Rich Outzen told Anatolian Dispatch's Edward Stafford this week during a podcast interview.

Outzen said, some ways, in this particular bilateral relation between the United States and Turkey, in the last decade or so, “no news is the good news.”

Retired Canadian Air Defense Officer and former Defense Attache to Turkey and Azerbaijan opines on mafia boss Sedat Peker's latest revelations as well as other top Turkish foreign and domestic issues along with retired US diplomat Edward Stafford.

U.S. reaches out to many stakeholders concerning recent Hamas-Israel fighting but so far ignores Ankara, Edward Stafford, retired U.S. diplomat said during Anatolian Dispatch podcast with Ahval's Ilhan Tanir.

Biden's minimal engagement with Erdogan reflects diminished importance of Meast for the US, Mehmet Yeğin, a visiting fellow in the Americas Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and an assistant professor at Istinye University, Istanbul said during a podcast with Edward Stafford, retired U.S. diplomat.

In his latest book, called "A Coup in Turkey: A Tale of Democracy, Despotism & Vengeance in a Divided Land", British writer Jeremy Seal writes then Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes' rise and fall. Anatolian Dispatch's host Edward Stafford this week joined by Seal to discuss 1960's coup against Menderes as well as 2016's against Erdoğan.

Turkey and Russia’s "competitive cooperation" speaks volumes about U.S. missteps - Outzen

Retired Canadian Air Defence Officer and former Defence Attache to Turkey and Azerbaijan Dr. Chris Kilford opines on Islamisation of Turkish Military, Arms Embargo, and Game-changing value of Bayraktar drones with Anatolian Dispatch.

Blaise Misztal, Vice President for Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) in Washington D.C spoke to Anatolian Dispatch podcast to discuss the latest developments between the U.S. and Turkey as well as Turkish Government response to 103 retired Admirals' letter with former U.S. diplomat Edward Stafford.

Dr. Chris Kilford is a Fellow with the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy, and teaches courses at the Canadian Forces College focused on geopolitical issues. He served as Defense Attaché to Turkey from July 2011 until July 2014 with cross accreditation to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan. Kilford discussed top three agenda items of the week with the host of Anatolian Dispatch Edward Stafford, retired U.S. diplomat

- US Secretary of State Blinken makes S-400 removal essential for better relations;
- Erdogan misses Trump these days - his only friend in Washington, DC
- Chinese Foreign Minister makes a visit to Ankara, Erdoğan complains about vaccine delivery but no mention of Uighurs

Retired U.S. Diplomat Alberto Miguel Fernandez, speaking to Anatolian Dispatch, discussed Turkey's role in Syria and its relations with Arab neighbors. Amb. Fernandez told Anatolian Dispatch's Ed Stafford that many Arab states see Turkey as a threat not a friend.