In the last week of March 2009, Ankara and Beijing may have taken another step toward upgrading their military cooperation. This has become evident during a visit from General Hasan Aksay, commander of the Turkish military academies, who spent three days in China, starting March... MORE

China’s soft and quiescent reaction to Pyongyang’s rocket gamesmanship seems to contradict the image of global statesmanship that President Hu Jintao projected at the G20 summit in London earlier this month. And Beijing’s last-minute agreement to a UN Security Council chastisement of the Kim Jong-Il... MORE

The nearly year-long negotiations between Armenia and Turkey look set to prove fruitless after Ankara has revived its long-standing linkage between the normalization of bilateral ties and a resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly made clear this month... MORE

The trilateral commission established between Turkey, the United States and Iraq to facilitate security cooperation against the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq continues to operate. However it remains uncertain if it will produce tangible results that satisfy Turkey's expectations... MORE

Claims relating to the re-opening the Turkish-Armenian border and imminent rapprochement continue to intensify ahead of April 24, the day the Armenian diaspora proclaims as "Genocide Day." The Turkish press has added to mounting speculation of a breakthrough based on a Wall Street Journal article... MORE

Rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia has been fast tracked as diplomats intensified their work in the past two months on possible ways of addressing the issue (EDM, February 10, March 27). Ankara and Yerevan now appear poised to find a solution to their bilateral problems.... MORE

On April 6-7, Istanbul hosted the second United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) forum, co-chaired by Turkey and Spain under the auspices of the UN to foster international dialogue and cooperation. The forum was attended by five heads of state, 26 foreign ministers, 11 ministers... MORE

Anti-Americanism has noticeably mellowed in the Russian mainstream media since the London summit between presidents Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev. Some commentators emphasize that strategic arms control is the easiest problem to tackle, but the new positive tone in the dialogue makes the habitual U.S.-bashing... MORE

President Barack Obama's visit to Ankara was well received by the majority of Turkish people, apart from a minority in Ankara complaining about traffic jams due to enhanced security measures. Obama's visit to Turkey was a well planned public diplomacy event by U.S. policy planners.... MORE

NATO members took important decisions during the April 3-4 summit, celebrating the Alliance's 60th anniversary. Following intense negotiations to ameliorate Turkey's reservations, on April 4 NATO leaders named Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Ramussen as their new Secretary-General. Turkey's agreement sparked controversy in Turkey as... MORE