Chinese Take-Apart: Regional Power Crushes Global Hegemon! #Tokyo2020

Japan: Turkey's 3-0 pounding of favourites China in the women's volleyball tournament has sent shock waves through the sport – and provided one of the most electric moments thus far of #Tokyo2020 #FileninSultanları

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) July 26, 2021

The 25-21, 25-14, 25-14 scoreline underlined the extreme degree of Turkish dominance as the team led China throughout their Pool B clash, and could signify a big shift #Tokyo2020 #volleyball #FileninSultanları

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) July 26, 2021

Analysis: in the 2010s, Turkey emerged as the pre-eminent force in women's club #volleyball – winning 6/10 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship titles – and the signs are there that they can replicate this dominance at national team level #FileninSultanları #Tokyo2020

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) July 26, 2021

To watch: Turkey now face European rivals Italy in another heavyweight clash (27/07), while China go toe-to-toe with the United States – the planet's #1-ranked team – on the same day #volleyball #Tokyo2020 #FileninSultanları https://t.co/YT141Zh2U9

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) July 26, 2021

Much Ado About Nothing: Turkey Tunes Out of Vaccine Passports! #tourism #COVID19

Ankara: Turkey's tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has confirmed that his country will not require vaccination passports from international travellers #VaccinePassports #vaccine #COVID19

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 20, 2021

Turkey is offering a special insurance package – which starts at less than €14 – to cover all COVID19-related medical expenses for international tourists #tourism #VaccinePassports #Summer2021

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 20, 2021

Analysis: Turkey's decision to waive the requirement for vaccine passports is further proof that there is life beyond #COVID19, and that at least some countries are conducting serious cost-benefit analyses #VaccinePassports #vaccine

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 20, 2021

To watch: Turkey's tourism rivals now have serious decisions to make about whether they impose a #VaccinePassport requirement on international tourists; doing so will further cripple already-shattered economies https://t.co/666Ht3rjRu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 20, 2021

#RoadToTokyo2020 Latest: Turks Conquer Europe! #volleyball

The Turkish women's national volleyball team's seismic 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) victory over Germany means that they grab the final #Tokyo2020 spot #RoadToTokyo2020 #Turkey

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 12, 2020

#Turkey are the rising star of women's #volleyball and Turkish clubs utterly dominated the European and world tournaments during the 2010s, but qualification for only their second #Olympics is nevertheless a giant step #RoadToTokyo2020

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 12, 2020

Analysis: #Turkey's remarkable recent success at women's #volleyball flies in the face of a number of standard #media narratives, which is one reason why it has not yet registered internationally to the extent that it really should do #FileninSultanlariTokyoda

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 12, 2020

To watch: #Turkey looks set for a spectacular 2020s when it comes to both their men's soccer and women's #volleyball national teams; the only question is whether they will fulfil their enormous potential #FileninSultanları #Euro2020 https://t.co/pCaJZ2VlcH

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 12, 2020

 

Building the Future: Belgrade and Sarajevo Uniting Under the Turks!

Construction has begun on a long-awaited highway that will link the capitals of #Serbia and #Bosnia-Herzegovina – and the symbolism could hardly be more ironic #Turkey

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 13, 2019

The #Belgrade–#Sarajevo highway is being built and financed by Turkish corporations, a paradoxical act which marks the complete and final collapse of modern Serbian nationalism #Bosnia #Serbia #Turkey

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 13, 2019

Analysis: the start of construction on the new highway linking Serbia and Bosnia illustrates that 'othering' narratives are an irrelevance in the face of overwhelming #capital flows #revisionism #history #historyteacher

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 13, 2019

To watch: Serbia's deepening alliance with #Turkey includes a pledge to increase defence cooperation; the two nations seem to have belatedly realised that they have almost everything of note in common #Balkans https://t.co/f8A2SKaSD7

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 13, 2019

Full-Spectrum Domination: Turkish Clubs Own Women’s Club Volleyball! #Vakıfbank

#Vakıfbank İstanbul's increasingly convincing victory over Belo Horizonte's Minas Tênis Clube 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19) in the final of the #FIVBWomensClubWorldChampionship2018 reinforces #Turkey's position at the pinnacle of women's club #volleyball

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 10, 2018

The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship – which is the women's #volleyball equivalent of soccer's FIFA Club World Cup – was dominated by teams from #Turkey and #Brazil, but realistically the title was always heading back to #Istanbul

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 10, 2018

Analysis: since the tournament's revival in 2010, clubs from Organisation of #Islamic Cooperation ('#OIC') member states have won 7/9 FIVB #Volleyball Women's Club World Championships; #Turkey now leads #Brazil 6-3 in the overall table

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 10, 2018

To watch: #Turkey are just beginning to translate their utter domination of women's club volleyball into the international arena; 10/14 players on the victorious #Vakıfbank İstanbul roster are domestic players https://t.co/o5HkXIbasD

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 10, 2018

Giving You Wings: Air Albania Gets Ready for Take-Off!

After a gap lasting the best part of seven years, #Albania finally has a national flag carrier again as Air Albania records its first return flight 🇦🇱

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 15, 2018

Air Albania's ownership is split between the 50.88% share owned by Albcontrol and MDN Investment, and the remaining 49.12%, which is the property of none other than Turkish Airlines #TurkishAirlines

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 15, 2018

Air Albania's first return flight involved the transportation of 80 #Albanian #students from Istanbul to Tirana; the venture will deepen ties between two states of genuine, if differing, strategic importance

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 15, 2018

To watch: cash-rich and ranking-topping Eurasian and Middle Eastern carriers are snapping up and transforming the #airlines of smaller nations, a trend which is likely to intensify in the next few years https://t.co/ARnIsirv3f #travel

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 15, 2018

No More Brother Wars: Istanbul Friendly Match Mirrors Diplomatic Avalanche!

The 28/05/2018 friendly match between #Turkey and #Iran was the first encounter between the two nations in 45 years – and symbolises a paradigm shift in international relations #Diplomacy

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 29, 2018

The #Istanbul exhibition match between #Turkey and #Iran is a clear sign that both countries – in their very different ways – seem to have arrived at roughly the same conclusion about their increasingly broad foreign policy options

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 29, 2018

#Turkey and Iran inked a trade deal with #Qatar on 26/11/2017 which essentially cemented the existence of two Middle East blocs; an increasingly desperate-looking Saudi Arabia, #Egypt and Israel head up the other group

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 29, 2018

Analysis: the Iran-Turkey-Russia alliance is a key obstacle to the realisation of American, Saudi and Israeli ambitions in the region, but it could have the net effect of preventing the next world war #WorldWarThree

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 29, 2018

To watch: Saudi Arabia's dwindling oil reserves are the background to seismic changes in the Middle East which could easily dwarf anything that the #ArabSpring generated https://t.co/OYNZtqSroF

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 29, 2018

Women’s Volleyball Final Result: Turks Conquer Europe – Again!

#Vakıfbank Sports Club's thrashing of Romanian hosts CSM Volei Alba Blaj means that the Women's CEV Champions League trophy is once again heading back to Istanbul #volleyball

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 7, 2018

#VakıfBank's victory in the final of the most prestigious tournament in European women's club #volleyball means that Turkish teams ended up winning two out of three continental titles in 2017-18, with #EczacıbaşıVitrA picking up the CEV Cup

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 7, 2018

Analysis: Turkish clubs have now won a stunning six out of the last eight Women's CEV Champions Leagues, a fact which deserves much wider recognition #volleyball

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 7, 2018

To watch (1): the next challenge for #Turkish #women's #volleyball will be to translate the near-full spectrum dominance enjoyed at club level – by teams with overwhelmingly domestic rosters – into sustained national team success

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 7, 2018

To watch (2): Turkish success in #women's #volleyball represents an enormous soft power boon which is arguably not being fully utilised; this can and must change https://t.co/LkoXyvndE3

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 7, 2018

This Time, It’s Different: Turkish Snap Elections ‘Represent Systemic Risk’

#Turkey's snap #elections – announced on 18/04/2018 and scheduled for 24/06/2018 – come at a time when the status quo is starting to look jaded and fundamentally short of #ideas

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 29, 2018

#Turkey's presidential and parliamentary #elections were originally inked in for 11/2019, but have been brought forward seemingly for the sole reason of damage limitation as the political spectrum recalibrates #Erdogan

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 29, 2018

Specifically, the recent appearance of a fresher, rightist rival to the #AKP – the #İyi Party, led by veteran politician Meral Akşener – has apparently engendered a moment of cool panic within #Turkish government circles

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 29, 2018

Analysis: Akşener's #İyiParti has some encouragingly specific and qualitative policy positions, including making #Turkey a top 20 country in the #PISA #OECD #education rankings and increasing the number of inbound tourists to 50m/year #tourism

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 29, 2018

To watch: recent #Turkish #elections have been characterised by questionable vote-counting practices, razor-thin margins and bitter divisions; while 06/2018 looks unlikely to buck this trend, the medium-term picture could be surprisingly positive https://t.co/VU15ZmT0ux

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 29, 2018

Dollar Shave Club: Emerging Economic Bloc ‘Could Dump World’s Reserve Currency!’

A proposal floated at the 9th Summit of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (@d8org) in Istanbul highlights the decline in the global faith of the US dollar to continue acting as the world's reserve currency #currencywars #D8 #OIC

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested that D-8 member countries should trade between themselves using local currencies, stating that such a move could 'make a revolution' – and shield D-8 economies from wild fluctuations against the US dollar

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017

The Erdoğan proposal seems particularly portentous because 7/8 members of the D-8 are – at the very least – not countries normally associated with challenging perceived US hegemony; #Turkey itself is a member of NATO

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017

The D-8 itself raised little more than a smirk when it was first mooted back in October 1996, but its share of world trade is rapidly increasing and in both structure and scope, it is beginning to resemble a mini-#BRICS

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017

To watch: alarming American policy blunders and continued economic anaemia risk a catastrophic flight from the US dollar by the international community; the #Trump administration must act to restore confidence that it is an essentially coherent political entity #UnitedStates #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017

Further reading: Erdoğan urges trade in national currencies at Istanbul D-8 Summit https://t.co/RGhqcsFxlM

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2017