A recent report in the business daily Referans suggests that Turkey’s hopes of using its water resources as a strategic asset to strengthen its ties with the Middle East countries are likely to be frustrated. The latest figures suggest that as the result of a... MORE

With less than a month to go before it is due to present its initial defense before the Constitutional Court in the case for its closure filed with by Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya on March 14 (see EDM, March 17), there are signs that Turkey’s... MORE

As Turkey broadens its military and economic contacts eastwards, it is now deepening its ties with a growing Asian superpower, India. On March 31 Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug arrived in New Delhi, India, to begin a five-day official visit. Basbug will be... MORE

On March 31, Turkey’s Constitutional Court agreed to hear the case filed by Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the indictment filed with the court on March 14, Yalcinkaya had asked for the AKP to... MORE

The deepening political and social polarization triggered by the attempts by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to change the Turkish constitution to lift the headscarf ban in universities (see EDM, February 11) currently shows no sign of abating ahead of the expected Constitutional... MORE

Turkey, located in the middle of the East-West energy corridor, and natural-gas-rich Turkmenistan have recently improved their relations after almost seven years without any high-level dialogue. This development has raised hopes for the revitalization of the long stalled, U.S.-backed Trans-Caspian pipeline (TCP) project aimed at... MORE

When covering Turkey’s complex relationship with its Kurdish minority, Western media outlets have tended to focus on the military activities in southeastern Anatolia against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The reality is much more complex, however. For nearly 40 years Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP)... MORE

Over a period of four days from March 21-24, two people were killed and several hundred injured in clashes with Turkish security forces, as hundreds of thousands of Kurds took the streets to celebrate the Kurdish New Year of Newroz. No reliable figures are available... MORE

The application to the Constitutional Court for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has had party officials poring over the statute books to see whether they can preempt the court’s decision by pushing through legal amendments that would make it impossible... MORE

On March 20, two members of the Turkish Gendarmerie admitted receiving detailed intelligence regarding a plot to assassinate Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and then, after Dink’s murder, trying to cover up their knowledge by lying to investigators. The confessions came as two Gendarmerie officers, known... MORE