Yesterday (December 6) Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan concluded a two-day visit to Greece in a sign of a continuing rapprochement between the two neighbors. However, although the recent improvement in ties has undoubtedly considerably reduced the possibility of the two countries going to war,... MORE

Turkey has stepped up its efforts to secure as much as possible of its defense procurement requirements from local manufacturers. Turkey has long regarded the development of an indigenous defense industry as a strategic priority. Few in the Turkish military have forgotten the U.S. arms... MORE

Evidence presented to the court during the trial of five youths accused of killing three Christians in the southeastern town of Malatya earlier this year have raised questions about the involvement of state officials in the murder. On April 18, the five are alleged to... MORE

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will target Kurdish voters in the run-up to the March 2009 local elections, AKP Deputy Chairman Hayati Yazici has announced. Yazici said that the AKP had set its sights on taking control of the municipality in Diyarbakir, the... MORE

The proportion of Turkish women who cover their heads has risen by more than five percentage points over the last four years, according to a survey by the Konda research company and published in the daily newspaper Milliyet. The survey, which was conducted on September... MORE

With the November 21 launch of the long-stalled Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad project that will link Azerbaijan and Georgia with Turkey, Ankara has made headway toward its goal of creating an economic zone in the Caucasus. But there are still obstacles to overcome before making that... MORE

Turkey’s Supreme Military Council (YAS) meets today (November 29), with the proposed formation of a specialized anti-terrorism force expected to be high on its agenda. YAS traditionally meets twice a year to discuss issues related to personnel, training, and future plans for the armed forces:... MORE

As Turkey continues to mull limited air strikes and commando raids against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkish authorities appear to be stepping up their efforts to weaken the PKK by exacerbating divisions inside the organization. In late October... MORE

On November 25, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will make public the details of a new Turkish constitution on December 15 (Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Radikal, November 26). Erdogan’s statement came on the last day... MORE

Buoyed by its increasing engagement with Central Asia and the Arab world, Turkish officials have begun to discuss institutionalizing what they regard as Turkey’s growing regional influence. When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the Turkish Republic in 1923, he explicitly set Europe as the new state’s... MORE