Alper Coşkun is a senior fellow within the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. His research focuses on Turkish foreign policy, especially in relation to the United States and Europe.
He is a retired career diplomat of thirty-two years with extensive experience in both bilateral and multilateral settings. He was the director general for international security affairs at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2016-2019), covering NATO, transatlantic relations, as well as Euro-Atlantic security/defense and arms control/disarmament matters. Before that, he was ambassador to Baku, Azerbaijan (2012-2016), where he oversaw one of Türkiye’s most active and largest diplomatic missions with a wide multiagency composition.
He has held positions within the Turkish Foreign Ministry at various levels on issues related to maritime jurisdiction affairs, counter terrorism/intelligence, and NATO/Euro-Atlantic security matters. He has served in the cabinets of both the minister of foreign affairs and the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His foreign assignments include Turkish missions in Moscow, Athens, and the United Nations, as well as NATO, where he was the deputy permanent representative. Previously, he was a faculty member of the NATO Defense College in Rome. He is married and has two daughters.
As the United States continues to divert its energy to respond to China’s rise, the EU could start laying the foundations of a new security architecture on the European continent.
The postponement of Erdoğan’s Washington visit may be a missed opportunity, but the NATO Summit in July offers a chance to get back on track.
In contrast to the deadlocked land war, Ukraine’s tactics in the Black Sea have dealt Russia humiliating defeats, with Turkey emerging as the sea’s maritime power
The agreement, paired with Türkiye’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession, is a much-needed opportunity to put the countries’ distressed relationship back on track.
Not only could the policy proposal create jobs in Türkiye, including for the 3.3 million Syrian refugees there, but it could also provide a much-needed boost to Türkiye-U.S. relations through enhanced bilateral trade.
The country faces deep societal divisions about major aspects of its identity, with consequences for its future as an international actor and a regional power.
Türkiye wants to maintain strategic independence by working with Russia and China even as it sustains its ties to the West.
An interview detailing the nuances of Turkey’s foreign policy
It would need to take bold action and leadership while outmaneuvering Russia’s obstructive strategies.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks to Alper Coskun, former deputy permanent representative for Turkey's NATO mission, about Turkey's objection to Sweden's NATO bid.
