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TLF ANALYSIS: Ankara’s Harsh Rhetoric Deepens Rift with Pro‑Reunification Turkish Cypriots

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has ignited a fresh storm in northern Cyprus after describing some Turkish Cypriot critics as “more hostile to Turks than an ordinary Greek Cypriot,” language that many on the island see as an open attempt to delegitimize the pro‑reunification camp and to frame domestic dissent as a security threat. In a recent interview on the pro‑government broadcaster A Haber, Fidan claimed that within the Turkish Cypriot community there are people who, although they “call themselves Turks,” are “far beyond a standard Greek in their hostility toward Turks.” He said he had been aware of such groups “since [his] time as head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT),” describing them as “marginal” circles operating within certain “interest networks.” While reaffirming Ankara’s line that only a two‑state arrangement based on the “independence” of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) can work, Fidan added: “Either you exi...
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Turkish University Accused of Censoring Coverage of Student’s Suspicious Death

Nearly 1,000 news reports and social media posts about the suspicious death of 21-year-old student Rojin Kabaiş have been blocked in Turkey at the request of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYÜ), sparking accusations of a cover‑up and an assault on press freedom. According to an investigation by journalist Ali Safa Korkut for Kısa Dalga, at least 974 URLs — including news articles, social media posts and entire accounts — have been rendered inaccessible. Six court orders secured by the YYÜ rectorate since 8 September alone targeted 794 URLs, all justified on grounds of “protecting national security and public order.” Kabaiş, a first‑year pre‑school teaching student at YYÜ, disappeared on 27 September 2024 after leaving her state dormitory. On 15 October her body was found on the shore of Lake Van, about 20 kilometers from where she was last seen. Family members say that on the day of the funeral the Van governor and the university’s rector told her father, Nizamettin Kabaiş, that his daug...
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Nearly a Decade After Failed Coup, Turkey Targets Alleged ‘Secret Network’ in Armed Forces

Nearly a decade after Turkey’s failed July 2016 coup attempt, authorities are still conducting large-scale operations targeting alleged followers of the network Ankara blames for the putsch within the Turkish Armed Forces. On 18 November 2025, prosecutors ordered the detention of 22 people in a probe into what officials describe as the group’s clandestine structure inside the Land Forces Command. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ankara Başsavcılığı) said the operation targets the “mahrem yapılanma,” or secret structure, of the group within the Land Forces, according to a written statement cited by the news outlet Kısa Dalga. In its announcement, the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the prosecutor’s office said the suspects are believed to have maintained contact with so‑called “civilian imams” — alleged coordinators of the network — by using payphone-style fixed lines in public venues such as kiosks, corner shops and small markets around Ankara. Call records from these...
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Sudan’s War, Ethnic Killings Finally Push Global Media to Pay Attention

In a dusty northern Sudanese town, a mother queuing for a sleeping mat for her child is one of millions uprooted by Sudan’s war. More than two years after fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), tens of thousands have been killed and an estimated 12 million people forced from their homes, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. For much of that time, however, the war scarcely registered in major Western news outlets. In a recent analysis for Middle East Eye titled “Why the ‘international’ media suddenly cares about Sudan,” journalist Barry Malone argues that global attention spiked briefly in April 2023, when foreign embassies were evacuated from Khartoum, then quickly faded once mostly white diplomats and aid workers were flown to safety. Now, after the RSF last month seized the city of El-Fasher, the army’s final stronghold in the long-suffering Darfur region, residents and survivors describe wide-scale,...
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Beyond F-35s, MBS Seeks Strategic Reset in High-Stakes Washington Visit

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman will arrive in Washington on Tuesday for talks that Riyadh is framing as a generational reset of US-Saudi relations , reaching far beyond the much-discussed question of F-35 fighter jet sales or potential normalization with Israel . Saudi officials and commentators say the visit will center on defense, nuclear power , technology and regional security , as well as economic diversification and energy cooperation . Faisal J. Abbas , editor-in-chief of Arab News, wrote that the summit could “set the course for the next 80 years of US-Saudi ties,” likening it to the landmark 1945 USS *Quincy* meeting between King Abdulaziz and President Franklin D. Roosevelt that cemented the oil-for-security partnership . This time, however, Riyadh wants to broaden the foundation. “The relationship is no longer confined to oil and security,” Abbas noted, highlighting nuclear cooperation, space, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies ...
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Greek Communist Daily Warns U.S.–Backed LNG Deals ‘Smell of War’

Greece’s rapid transformation into a regional gateway for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) is drawing sharp criticism from the country’s communist opposition, which warns that the new energy architecture ties the country more deeply to dangerous geopolitical rivalries rather than enhancing “security” and “stability” in Southeast Europe. An opinion column published in the Rizospastis, the Communist Party of Greece’s (KKE) newspaper, argues that the narrative of safety around U.S.–Greek energy agreements is “a bad joke” in a region already aflame with imperialist competition.  The intervention comes days after Athens hosted the Transatlantic Energy Cooperation Conference (P‑TEC), attended by senior U.S. officials and energy executives. There, American representatives and Greek government figures promoted Greece’s role as an “entry gate” for U.S. LNG into Europe, framing it as a pillar of regional stability and a tool for peace in Ukraine. One argument heard at the meeting, echoed in...
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Thousands March in Heavily Policed Athens as Greece Marks 52 Years Since Polytechnic Uprising

Athens was brought to a standstill on Monday as tens of thousands of people flooded the streets to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, with the historic slogan “Bread – Education – Health – Freedom” echoing through the city centre. Authorities estimated more than 15,000 demonstrators joined the main march in the capital, while large rallies were also held in Thessaloniki and other cities. From early morning, the gates of the National Technical University of Athens (the Polytechnic) on Patission Street were open for wreath-laying and tributes. The President of the Republic Konstantinos Tasoulas, Athens mayor Haris Doukas and party leaders were among those who honoured the dead of November 1973. Shortly after 13:00 the gates closed and organisations began forming columns for the traditional march to the U.S. Embassy, seen as a symbol of American support for the 1967–74 military dictatorship. At the head of the main procession were the Association of Imprisoned a...
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