Latest Articles about Turkey
NEW DRAFT TURKISH CONSTITUTION FORESEES EASING RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC IDENTITY
A draft of the planned new Turkish constitution has been leaked to the media, and it suggests that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is planning to ease restrictions on the expression of religious and non-Turkish ethnic identities while reducing the political influence of the... MORE
TURKISH POLICE FOIL MASSIVE BOMB ATTACK IN ANKARA
The discovery of a vehicle packed with explosives in the center of Ankara has once again raised questions about Turkey’s vulnerability to a mass-casualty terrorist attack. On the morning of September 11, two police sniffer dogs identified explosives in a Mercedes panel van in a... MORE
TURKEY LINES UP ALONGSIDE SYRIA TO CONDEMN ISRAELI INCURSIONS
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s blunt condemnation of an alleged violation of the Turkey’s airspace by Israeli warplanes has dealt another blow to already deteriorating relations between the two countries. In 1996 a military training agreement between Israel and Turkey was hailed by many as... MORE
EU, BUSINESS GROUPS PRESS AKP GOVERNMENT TO RESTART REFORM PROCESS
The European Commission has issued what is expected to be the first in a series of warnings to Turkey’s moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) to restart the stalled EU reform process. AKP has not implemented any substantive new reforms since formally opening accession... MORE
ANKARA MOVES TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON ENERGY IMPORTS
The good news in Ankara is that Turkey has one of the most dynamic economies of the Middle East, with an extraordinary GNP growth rate estimated at 6.7% for the first quarter of 2007. The bad news is that the rapid rise in oil prices... MORE
THE END OF “TAK”?
For the first time in four years, the summer is drawing to a close without a major attack by Kurdish militants on the Turkish tourism industry. Since the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) resumed violent attacks in June 2004 it has pursued a two-front strategy: a... MORE
COLLAPSE OF CYPRUS TALKS DELIVERS ANOTHER BLOW TO TURKEY’S EU AMBITIONS
The collapse of the latest attempt to restart the stalled Cyprus peace negotiations has come as a further blow to Turkey’s hopes of reviving its bid for full EU membership. On December 11, 2006, the EU suspended eight of the 35 policy chapters of Turkey’s... MORE
TURKISH STATE STEPS UP PRESSURE ON KURDISH POLITICIANS
Hopes that the presence of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Turkey’s new parliament would facilitate dialogue and the formulation of a solution to Turkey’s long-running Kurdish problem appear to be receding. On Tuesday (September 4) an Istanbul judge ruled that the prosecution of... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY BRACES FOR NEW BATTLE OVER CONSTITUTION
Following its failure to prevent the election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s president, the Turkish military is now regrouping and preparing for the next battle in what is likely to be a long campaign to preserve the ideological legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded... MORE
PRESIDENT SEZER SNUBS ERDOGAN IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE WAR OF ATTRITION BETWEEN THE AKP AND TURKEY’S SECULAR ESTABLISHMENT
On August 16, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer publicly humiliated Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first move in what is likely to be a long war of attrition between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey’s ruling secular military and bureaucratic... MORE