Russia knows that soft power requires hard power. Given the mutually hurting stalemate in Syria, the only way to convince Assad that the terms of peace will not be against his interests was to back him up militarily. 

The consul generals to Istanbul of three European Union countries have staged a courtesy visit to daily Hürriyet’s editor-in-chief following the two violent attacks on the newspaper’s offices last week. Domenach said they had come to visit Hürriyet to support freedom of the press, as well as to express their good wishes to all newspapers in the country and the Turkish people. 

In a speech delivered at the reception he hosted late on Sept. 10, British Ambassador Richard Moore emphasized his belief in the value of educational and cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and Turkey in helping create the conditions for success in business and diplomacy, and the important role of the British Council over the past 75 years in building trust and understanding between the two countries. 

In the past few years, Turkey has taken upwards of two million Syrian refugees into the country and provided large quantities of aid to them as well. Aid to Syrian refugees has increased the overall humanitarian aid Turkey gives each year and this spending is seemingly aimed at increasing Turkey’s soft power internationally, and regionally with the Middle East. Often we in Turkey hear ideas from major media outlets about supporting the Middle East based on shared culture and religion, or a shared historical Ottoman legacy.