Latest Articles about Turkey
AKP FACING THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS OF ITS FAILURE TO CREATE JOBS
The latest employment figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) suggest that, despite six years of robust macro-economic growth, Turkey is failing to create enough jobs for its growing population. On March 17, TURKSTAT reported that, at the end of 2007, the unemployment rate... MORE
TURKEY HEADING FOR PERIOD OF SUSTAINED POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY
The application by Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the public prosecutor at the High Court of Appeals (Yargitay), to the Turkish Constitutional Court for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has initiated what appears likely to be a period of sustained uncertainty amid the... MORE
TURKEY AND PAKISTAN PARTICIPATE IN NATO NAVAL EXERCISE
While the spotlight has recently focused on Turkey’s army and air force as a result of their recent operations against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Turkish navy has been quietly conducting exercises with allies from distant corners of the... MORE
NEW YORK TIMES TOUTS OLD KURDISH INVESTMENT PLAN AS NEW INITIATIVE
Recent reports quoting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as announcing $12 billion in new investments in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey have been greeted with considerable skepticism inside the country. Erdogan is currently provisionally scheduled to visit southeastern Turkey on April 6. On... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY, GOVERNMENT PRESENT COMMON FRONT ON IRAQ INCURSIONS
Perhaps the most significant, if overlooked, component of the recent Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq was the common goal of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) high command and Ankara to explain their concerns, motivations, and intentions to the international community. Given the limited objectives... MORE
TURKISH POLICE FOIL ALLEGED DHKP-C ATTACK ON ERDOGAN, U.S. COMPANIES
The recent arrest in Istanbul of three members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C) on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and attack U.S. companies suggests that, though weakened, Turkey’s most dangerous militant Marxist organization still retains the will... MORE
TALABANI CONDEMNS PKK, CALLS ON TURKEY TO ENGAGE WITH KRG
During his recent two-day recent visit to Ankara, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, pleased his hosts by condemning the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and inviting Turkish businesses to bid for Iraqi infrastructure projects. But he also defied Turkey’s reluctance to acknowledge the Kurdish... MORE
U.S. MILITARY STATEMENTS REVIVE TURKISH SUSPICIONS ABOUT WASHINGTON’S TRUE INTENTIONS TOWARD THE PKK
Recent statements by U.S. military officials have revived Turkish suspicions about Washington’s true intentions toward the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a nearly 24 year-old insurgency for greater rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. Although the PKK is included on both the State... MORE
TURKEY PREPARES TO WELCOME TALABANI FOR “WORKING VISIT”
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is due to arrive in Ankara tomorrow (March 7) for a three-day visit, with energy cooperation and the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq expected to top the agenda. However, Turkey has refused to classify the trip... MORE
TURKEY WIDENS TRADE TIES WITH IRAN
Since March 2003 U.S.-Turkish relations have been strained over Iraq. Now Washington has an additional cause for disquiet, as Turkish-Iranian economic relations go from strength to strength, further weakening Washington’s 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. Bilateral Turkish-Iranian trade exceeded $8 billion in 2007, up 19.5% over... MORE