Skip to Content

Research & Commentary Results

Filter by
1542 Results
Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 23-30
Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 23-30

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: Erdoğan falls ill, Kılıçdaroğlu rallies in an AKP stronghold, Erdoğan dials up the culture war, concerns grow over election security, and what the polls tell us.

    Fish Farmers in the Nile River Delta: Empty Lakes and Dirty Waters
    Photo courtesy: Egypt's National Company for Fisheries and Aquaculture
  • Analysis
  • Fish Farmers in the Nile River Delta: Empty Lakes and Dirty Waters

    Egyptian fish farmers are facing mounting pressures: Year after year, their fish are getting smaller and less healthy, their production decreases, and they are forced to take out loans they are later unable to pay back. The Egyptian government’s recent efforts to invest heavily in aquaculture, though intended to address future food shortages, may only worsen the position of local fish farmers in the Nile Delta by exacerbating the effects of urbanization and climate change while undercutting prices.

    April 25, 2023

    Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 16-23
    Photo by Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 16-23

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: The Kılıçdaroğlu campaign gets exciting, Erdoğan adds natural gas discount to pre-vote handouts and dials up the tension, and the top electoral body makes a surprising decision.

    Naturalized Syrians are in the spotlight ahead of Turkey’s upcoming elections
    Photo by Valeria Ferraro/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Naturalized Syrians are in the spotlight ahead of Turkey’s upcoming elections

    The most consequential elections in Turkey’s recent history are less than a month away, set to be held on May 14. While the more than 200,000 Syrians who have been granted Turkish citizenship since their arrival in the wake of the Syrian war will not play a significant role in determining the outcome given their numbers, migration is a top campaign issue, putting them at the heart of the vote.

    April 19, 2023

    Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 9-16
    Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 9-16

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: Erdoğan launches his re-election campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu announces pledges for the first 100 days, and İnce’s difficult week.

    Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 2-9
    Photo by Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of April 2-9

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: Kiliçdaroğlu and the carpet, Erdoğan talks tough to the Americans again, attacks on opposition parties, and coalition politics and the parliamentary elections.

    April 10, 2023

    Press Syndicate elections provide a rare chance for Egypt’s journalists to celebrate
    Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Press Syndicate elections provide a rare chance for Egypt’s journalists to celebrate

    Since Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi took office nearly nine years ago, placing all forms of media under total state control has been a top priority. So when seasoned opposition journalist Khaled el-Balshy narrowly won the Egyptian Press Syndicate election on March 17, it was considered a major surprise, and provided a glimmer of hope for weakened opponents that they could still challenge the heavy-handed tactics of the state.

    April 7, 2023

    Israel and Azerbaijan: Trusted friends and reliable partners
    Photo by Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Israel and Azerbaijan: Trusted friends and reliable partners

    Israeli-Azerbaijani relations are based on two main pillars: patient and cordial political relations as well as defense cooperation and arms sales. While the former reached a more intensive level this year, with the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Tel Aviv in late March, the latter pillar of the relationship was well developed long before, as Israel became Azerbaijan’s largest weapons supplier.

    April 3, 2023

    Turkish Election Watch: The Week of March 26-April 2
    Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of March 26-April 2

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: It’s officially a four-candidate race for the presidential election, Kılıçdaroğlu meets with İnce, Kılıçdaroğlu receives a warm welcome in an Erdoğan stronghold, and Bahçeli makes an unexpected move.

    Arab women break boundaries and stereotypes in Middle Eastern militaries
    Photo by Laughlin Air Force Base
  • Commentary
  • Arab women break boundaries and stereotypes in Middle Eastern militaries

    As Women’s History Month in the U.S. draws to a close, women in the armed forces of several Middle Eastern countries continue to achieve historic milestones, with many now serving as pilots, engineers, peacekeepers, and in special forces units. The role of women is steadily increasing as the result of new initiatives, policies, and gradually changing mindsets in the Middle East.

    March 28, 2023

    Turkish Election Watch: The Week of March 19-26
    Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • Turkish Election Watch: The Week of March 19-26

    Catch up with the latest developments about Turkey’s May elections with weekly updates from MEI’s Turkey Program. In this week’s installment of Turkish Election Watch: The HDP takes sides without taking sides, the dark horse candidate Muharrem İnce, and the AKP’s “People’s Alliance” coalition.

    March 27, 2023