Cyprus Gas Discovery Raises Political Stakes

The discovery of large quantities of natural gas offshore Cyprus could give a push for ending the decades-long dispute dividing the island. But it could also end up ratcheting up tensions with Turkey

Balancing the East, Upgrading the West

The United States' central challenge over the next several decades is to revitalize itself, while promoting a larger West and buttressing a complex balance in the East that can accommodate China's rising global status

A Kinder, Gentler Hamas?

Is there a new Hamas in the making, one ready to put down its arms and live in peace with Israel? Or is it the same old Islamist movement putting on the airs of moderation as it abandons its old friends Syria and Iran and makes new ones in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar?

Why Does America Defend the Weak and Small?

Only the United States seems to have an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable countries. Israelis, anti-communist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks and Armenians have a few things in common. They have relatively small populations, aggressive neighbors, few strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States, and a tragic history of persecution and genocide

Turkey Needs Further Reforms

The European Commission presented its annual Progress Report on Turkey, arriving at positive and negative conclusions regarding Turkey's stalled EU accession process

The Black Sea: A Forgotten Geo-strategic Realm

The expectations of the last ten years that the states surrounding the Black Sea would follow the example of the Balkan region and shape themselves into a security community have not been realized. Perceptions of stagnation have replaced the hopes of a working and stable geo-strategic framework, based on a balance of cooperation and conflicts

Turkish Troops Cross into Iraq in Pursuit of Kurdish Attackers

Turkish troops entered northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish separatists who ambushed and killed 24 Turkish soldiers in southern Turkey

Making Room for Religious Minorities

With the opening of Turkey's parliament on October 1 and the start of work on replacing the country's constitution, members of the country's religious minority groups are hoping that years of institutional and legal discrimination will come to an end in the not-too-distant future

Cyprus: Waters Roil in Eastern Mediterranean

Once the preserve of fishing boats and yachts, in the space of just a few weeks the serene waters of the Eastern Mediterranean have become a field of contention. As Greek Cyprus begins exploiting its potentially vast gas and oil reserves, Turkey asserts its growing role as a regional power, and a worried Israel is pushing back

Sinking Lira Defies Soaring Economy

Turkey's bid to join the European Union has been on ice for years, but the economic bloc's financial woes have made the country's currency something of an honorary member

Arab Spring Turkish Harvest

As the greatest beneficiary of the Arab Spring, Turkey is going head to head with both Syria and Israel

Erdogan Pushes for Common Future with Balkan States

Speaking alongside leaders of the Balkan states, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan stressed the cultural and historical ties between Turkey and the Balkans, while calling on the region to overcome its troubled history to co-operate and integrate to form a common future

Ankara Intimidating Academics, Restricting Free Speech

With the recent arrest of a leading academic, concern is spreading among intellectuals in Turkey that they will have to think twice before voicing criticism of the government in the future

Turkey Ratifies Railway Agreement to Integrate with Balkan States

The railway deal aims to significantly reduce travel times, improve passenger and freight transport and increase competitiveness

Earthquake Strikes at Poorest

Turkey's earthquake devastation accentuates widening economic gap between country's east and west

Is Quake Aftermath Widening Ankara-Kurdish Rift?

The catastrophic earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on October 23, and the ensuing aid and rescue effort, has brought wide sections of Turkish society together. But as the atmosphere in Gedikbulak attests, it has also at times underscored the bitter dispute dividing Turks and the country's Kurdish minority

Balkans Summit Extols Regional Co-Operation

Meeting at a summit in New York, Balkan leaders delivered a strong message in favour of regional reconciliation and co-operation, despite lingering differences

Azerbaijan Faces Difficult Choice Between Turkey and Israel

Policymakers in Azerbaijan are facing a dilemma: can an enemy of a friend be a friend? Specifically, can Baku maintain cordial relations with both Turkey and Israel at the same time?

Turkish PM Erdogan Encounters Two Egypts on Historic Visit

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Cairo to crowds of cheering Egyptians, but analysts say he is likely getting a less enthusiastic reception in the corridors of power, as he encounters resistance to his bid to make his country the leading regional power

Violence Casts Pall Over Constitutional Reform Efforts

A fatal blast in Ankara and increasing violence in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast are overshadowing the country's long-awaited constitutional reform process.

Turkey: How Much of a Safe Haven for Political Dissidents?

No one quite knows how Syrian dissident Hussein Harmoush went from the safety of a Turkish refugee camp into the clutches of the regime he thought he had escaped. But his case has his fellow political exiles nervous

Turkey's Neo-Ottoman Foreign Policy

Whereas Turkey's foreign policy mantra used to be 'no problems with the neighbors,' Turkey now seems to want to become the chief bully in the eastern Mediterranean, escalating tensions between the NATO member and Israel, a key US ally

Israel: The Cost of Arrogance

A triple diplomatic challenge to Israel from Turkey, Palestine and Egypt both reflects the region's political transformation and reveals the key flaw in Israel's attitude to its neighbors

Israel - Turkey Tensions Here to Stay

Israel has little prospect of restoring its once-close ties to Turkey anytime in the near future and will likely find itself under pressure from Ankara in Egypt and in the Mediterranean

Kurds Announce Plan For Democratic Autonomy

As the Kurdish political party's parliamentary boycott continues, an announcement of 'democratic autonomy' for Turkey's Kurds brings even more urgency to the issue

'Ottomania' on the Rise

While the renewed interest in Ottoman culture and history may be commercialisation to some, it can also provide a reference point for Turkish foreign policy and domestic politics

Turkey's Never-Ending Kurdish Question

AKP's success has been based on its domination of the Turkish centre ground, and if that centre ground is against making concessions to the Kurds, it will be hard for the party to move any further than it has, even if it wants to

Cartoonist Faces Trial for Asserting that 'Religion Is a Lie'

Not too long ago, when the military acted as the enforcer of a rigidly secular system, a politician in Turkey could be punished merely for reciting religious poetry. Now, with the military's influence waning and moderate Islamists firmly in charge of the machinery of state, government agencies are trying to punish a cartoonist, Bahadir Baruter, for blasphemy

Turkey - Russia Relations and Missile Defense

Ankara's new independent image in Moscow could be threatened by the radar decision

Turkey-Israel: What's next?

Deterioration of ties between Turkey and Israel poses a heightened risk for the region, analysts say.

Akyol, An Apostle Of The Third Way

For many Westerners concerned with reaching a permanent accommodation with the east -- or specifically, the Middle East -- Mustafa Akyol is 'the acceptable face of Islam.' It is a phrase that has to be accompanied by quotes -- and a health warning.

Young Turks Returning Home to Chase Economic Dreams

For decades, thousands of Turks immigrated to the West, in particular Germany, in search of work. Now Turkey's economic prosperity has young Turks abroad looking homeward.

Syrian Opposition Tries to Unite

Syria's fragmented opposition is on the edge of forming their leadership, as the unrest in the country is about to enter its sixth month

Eastern Mediterranean Olive Oil Producers Seek Markets in Far East

There's a revolution taking place in the eastern Mediterranean and it's all about oil ... olive oil

Turkey Grows Nervous Over Economy

Turkish politicians are expressing concern that the country's booming economy is at risk as the nation's consumers binge on buying and borrowing while Europe struggles to put out the debt fire in Greece

Greek Schools Struggle Amid Funding Shortage

On Istanbul's main shopping street a Greek flag flutters from the Sismanoglu Megaron that contains Turkey's first private Modern Greek language school. But this is more than just another language school

Military Resignation Strategy Misfires

It seems Turkey's generals, so long a force in the country's politics, are going out with a whimper, not a bang

The Rise of Turkey in the Balkans

Turkey has carried out a multi-dimensional and multi-regional foreign policy. With its EU membership prospects in limbo, the country has not only looked to the east, but also towards its 'near abroad' in the Balkans

Cyprus Solution By The End of The Year?

Hopes are rising for the reunification of Cyprus following a string of positive statements by Turkey's foreign minister and the UN secretary-general

Western Turkey: Beyond Istanbul

Turkey is changing fast. And it's modernizing fast. For my vacation this year, I hit the road in Turkey, with romantic memories (a few years old) of horse-drawn carriages and villages with economies powered by hay, dung, and ducks

Turkey in Position to Lead Region Out of Tumultuous Century

There was an article a few days ago in The International Herald Tribune by Anthony Shadid, writing in Gaziantep, Turkey -- an old Hittite city, bordering Syria, strategic during the Crusader wars, center of Turkish resistance to the French occupation in 1920-21. He wrote of its people's nostalgia for the Ottoman past when Turks and Syrians 'were brothers'

Elections and Strained U.S. Relations

Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) won recent Parliamentary elections, which means it will remain in power for a third term. The popular vote made the AKP the most popular party by far. More important, the AKP failed to win a super-majority, which would have given it the power to unilaterally alter Turkey's constitution

The New Wannabe Ottomans

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly identifies more with the old transnational Ottoman sultanate than with Kemal Ataturk's modern, secular and Western nation-state. Indeed, he has bragged that he is a grandson of the Ottomans and announced that Turkey's new goal was to restore the might of the Ottoman Empire

Turkey's Dilemma: Economy or Constitution

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a fateful decision as he tries to square the need to cool an overheating economy with plans for a constitutional overhaul, economists said a day after his Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerged victorious in elections

Turkey Setting Poor Example for Other Arab Nations

Since the very beginning of the Arab uprisings, over and over again we've been hearing politicians, commentators -- almost everyone with an opinion -- express the ardent hope that new Arab governments will emulate 'the Turkish model,' a supposed moderate Islamic democracy. Well, think again

Israel, Turkey and Iran: Neighbourly Strain

Tensions between Turkey and Israel have been growing, and at the core of their tensions lies their disagreement over foreign policies in Iran

Managing a More Assertive Turkey

Turkey's recent diplomatic differences with the United States and its sharpened deterioration of relations with Israel come from Turkey's desire to reestablish its role as a major influence in the Middle East and Central Asia, says F. Stephen Larrabee, an expert on Turkey

Will Iran Look More Like Turkey, or Turkey Like Iran

The great historical question is whether, at the end of the day, Iran will look more like Turkey, or Turkey like Iran

Pax Ottomana? The Mixed Success of Turkey's New Foreign Policy

Turkey does not fit neatly into anyone's conception of the world order. For centuries, people have debated or fought over whether it is part of Europe, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, or Eurasia. Some see its current government as careening toward 'Islamist fascism'; others believe it is integrating into a basically pluralistic, secular, globalized international order

An Unlikely Trio: Can Iran Turkey and the United States Become Allies?

Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. When it comes to the Middle East, writes Stephen Kinzer, Washington has been doing just that. Hence, in Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future, he proposes that the United States needs to partner with Iran and Turkey to create a 'powerful triangle.'

Turkey Takes the Veil

See what's happening in Turkey, the West's old ally and new adversary. The danger to freedom there becomes ever more clear and present every day. But the tragedy of it can scarcely be apprehended without an appreciation of the dark past out of which this current Turkey arose, and to which it is about to return.

An Act of Piracy on the High Seas

Forget what country did it. Consider, first, the facts: Armed commandos attack an unarmed ship in international waters, open fire and kill nine civilians, including one American. What do you call that? An act of piracy. It doesn't matter what country did it