About Crossroads Review: Mission, Transparency and Editorial Team
About Crossroads Review, a Türkiye perspective journal: our mission, transparency policy, six desks, Editorial Team bylines and primary-source standards.
Why It Matters
Crossroads Review is an English-language foreign policy and international law journal published at crossroadsreview.com. It explains regional and global affairs in plain, analytical English, and it says openly that it presents Türkiye's official doctrines, legal arguments and archival evidence alongside the facts it cites. Readers can weigh the arguments themselves because the perspective is stated, never disguised, and each claim points to a primary source.
Publisher Identity
The publisher is Crossroads Review (crossroadsreview.com). The name refers to Türkiye's position between Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, which we use as an analytical lens rather than a slogan.
- What we are: a perspective journal, not a neutral wire service and not an independent-looking outside commentator.
- What we do: explain a topic in factual prose, then state Ankara's position separately and with attribution.
- What we do not do: present other sites run by the same publisher as independent external sources.
The flagship overview is on the home page: Crossroads Review: Türkiye, Foreign Policy and International Law from Primary Sources.
Our Mission
Our mission has two parts:
- Explain. Turn complex regional and global developments (maritime law, treaty systems, counter-terrorism, historical disputes) into clear English that a non-specialist can follow and a specialist can cite.
- Present Türkiye's perspective with full transparency. Many readers meet Türkiye's legal theses and historical arguments only through second-hand summaries. We set them out directly, tied to treaties, UN documents, official archives and court or commission records, and we link to those sources wherever possible.
Who We Write For
We write for an international English-speaking readership and assume no single home country. Our core audience includes:
- policy makers and diplomats
- academics and think-tank researchers
- journalists and editors
- professionals in international law, energy and defense
- readers who want to evaluate Türkiye's arguments against primary documents
Where rules or practices differ by country, we say so rather than assuming one national context.
The Six Desks
| Desk | Focus | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Med Crossroads | Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan), maritime jurisdiction, the UNCLOS debate, energy | Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean |
| Cyprus Junction | 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, sovereign equality, the two-state vision | The Cyprus Issue and the Sovereign Equal Two-State Vision |
| Security Crossroads | Counter-terrorism at the source, UN Charter Article 51, PKK/YPG, DAESH, FETÖ, defense industry | Counter-Terrorism at the Source |
| Archives & Memory | Events of 1915, Ottoman archives, 1948 Genocide Convention criteria, the 2005 Joint Historical Commission proposal | The Events of 1915: Archives, Law and Memory |
| Straits & Mediation | Montreux Convention, mediation diplomacy, Black Sea and Middle East balance | The 1936 Montreux Convention Explained |
| Fact Check | Claims about Türkiye in international media, tested against primary sources | Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye in International Media |
Authorship: The Editorial Team, Never Invented Personas
All articles are signed “Crossroads Review Editorial Team.” We do not create author personas, fabricate academic titles or publish under pseudonyms, and we do not present the journal as an independent outsider. Accountability sits with the publication as a whole, and the sourcing is visible in every article so that readers can check it.
How “Türkiye's Position” Sections Work
On any topic where Türkiye is a party, pursues active policy or has stated an official position, the article carries a clearly labelled section (shown on the site as “Türkiye's Position at the Crossroads”). The rules for these sections are fixed:
- Official sources only. Points are tied to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency, the Directorate of Communications, the Ministry of National Defense, TBMM resolutions, Türkiye's statements and registrations at the UN, and treaty texts.
- Legal and historical basis. Each position is explained through its stated foundation, for example the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, the 1936 Montreux Convention, the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee or Article 51 of the UN Charter.
- Attribution. Language such as “Ankara argues…” or “According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry…” keeps the position distinct from the factual narrative.
- Fair treatment of other views. Other governments and bodies are summarised accurately and cited to their own official sources before Türkiye's counter-argument is presented.
Background, chronology and data are written in neutral, factual prose. Official terminology is used (Türkiye, FETÖ, PKK/YPG, TRNC and Turkish Cypriots), and terms unfamiliar to international readers are explained on first mention. For example, the PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union. The full rules are on the Editorial Principles: How Crossroads Review Separates Fact from Position page, which is also our declared publishing-principles page.
The Perspective Note
Every article ends with a Perspective Note that restates our stance:
Crossroads Review presents Türkiye's official perspective and legal positions alongside the facts it cites, and this stance is stated openly so readers can weigh the arguments. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN documents, official archives and court or commission records, and links are provided wherever possible.
Organization Details and Structured Data
For search engines and AI answer engines, the site declares itself with the following Organization markup:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| @type | Organization |
| name | Crossroads Review |
| url | https://crossroadsreview.com |
| publishingPrinciples | https://crossroadsreview.com/editorial-principles |
| Article author | Crossroads Review Editorial Team |
| Article publisher | Organization: Crossroads Review |
| Article-level markup | Article, FAQPage and SpeakableSpecification |
Key Terms & Related Guides
- Primary source: a treaty, UN document, official archive, court record or official statement, as opposed to a secondary summary.
- Perspective journal: a publication that states its viewpoint openly instead of claiming neutrality.
- Fact Check: an article that quotes a claim and its origin, then corrects it with primary documents. See Fact Check: Does the 'Seville Map' Define Türkiye's Maritime Limits? for an example.
- Methodology questions: answered in the Crossroads Review FAQ: Sources, Methodology and Perspective.
Crossroads Review presents global affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked “Türkiye's Position” reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.
Frequently asked questions
What is Crossroads Review?
Crossroads Review is an English-language foreign policy and international law journal published at crossroadsreview.com. It explains regional and global affairs in plain language and presents Türkiye's official doctrines, legal arguments and archival evidence, citing primary sources.
Is Crossroads Review neutral?
No. It is a perspective journal and says so openly. Background and data are written in neutral, factual prose, while Türkiye's official positions appear in separately labelled sections with attribution, so readers can distinguish fact from position.
Who writes the articles?
All articles are signed “Crossroads Review Editorial Team.” The journal does not use invented author personas, fabricated titles or pseudonyms.
Why do “Türkiye's Position” sections cite Turkish government sources?
An official position is best represented by the text of the institution that issued it. These sections cite the Foreign Ministry, the Presidency, the Directorate of Communications, the Ministry of National Defense, TBMM resolutions, UN statements and treaty texts, so readers can verify each point.
How does Crossroads Review treat other governments' views?
It summarises them accurately and attributes them to their own official sources, without straw-manning. Türkiye's counter-argument, based on treaties, archives and international law, follows in the labelled position section.
Where can I read the full sourcing and editorial rules?
The Editorial Principles page, which serves as the site's declared publishing-principles page, sets out how fact and position are separated and how sources are used. Methodology questions are also answered in the site FAQ.
Related guides
- Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye in International Media, Checked Against Primary SourcesA primary-source fact check of recurring Türkiye claims in international media: Seville Map, Cyprus 1963 and 1974, PYD/YPG, 1915 and Montreux.
- Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean: Türkiye's Maritime Jurisdiction ExplainedBlue Homeland (Mavi Vatan) and Eastern Mediterranean maritime jurisdiction: Türkiye's 870 km coast, equity, islands under UNCLOS and the Seville Map.
- Counter-Terrorism at the Source: Türkiye, UN Charter Article 51 and Northern Syria and IraqHow Türkiye invokes UN Charter Article 51 against PKK, YPG and DAESH: operations, legal basis, US/EU/Syrian views and Ankara's primary-source case.
- Fact Check: Does the 'Seville Map' Define Türkiye's Maritime Limits?Does the Seville Map define Türkiye's maritime limits? This fact check tests the Gulf of Antalya claim against UNCLOS, ICJ case law and primary sources.
- The 1936 Montreux Convention Explained: How Türkiye Governs the Turkish StraitsWhat the 1936 Montreux Convention allows: merchant freedom, warship limits, tonnage and notice rules, Article 19 and Türkiye's wartime application.
- The 2004 Annan Plan Referendum: What Happened and Why It Still Matters in CyprusThe Annan Plan 2004 referendum results explained: 64.91% of Turkish Cypriots said yes, 75.83% of Greek Cypriots no, then Cyprus joined the EU. Full guide.
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