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Turkey Faces Difficult Challenges in a Volatile Foreign Policy Environment

Foreign and defense policies did not figure prominently in the recent general election in Turkey… Continue reading

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Tough Times Ahead in Search of Turkey’s New Soul

Polarizing the society over religious and cultural identities has been the power tactic of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) almost all along… Continue reading

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Fading Hopes, Rising Demands: Kurdish Problem Moves Closer To the Point of No Return

In the general election of June 12, 2011, candidates backed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) won 36 seats in Turkey… Continue reading

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A Divisive Campaign in a Polarized Turkey

The June 12 general election was historic as it was the first general election in Turkey over which the shadow of the military… Continue reading

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Turkey’s Urbanization: The Secret Behind AKP’s Third Consecutive Electoral Success

At 12 June’s general election, Turkey’s governing Justice and Development party (AKP) pulled off a rare political hat trick… Continue reading

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Is the AKP that “Vanquished” the Military Caught in the Trap of Militarism?

There is a grim irony to the fact that while the AKP’s 2007 victory represented a defeat for the military, victory four years later requires… Continue reading

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Turkey’s Threshold

Turkey faces what could be historic elections on June 12. Opinion polls suggest the ruling Justice and Development Party… Continue reading

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The AKP’s Election Manifesto: The Silences That Ring Alarm Bells

In late April 2011, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) announced their manifestos… Continue reading

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The Nominations of Candidates for the June General Election: A Choice Between Status Quo and Renewal

The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) choice of candidates to the general election in June reflect a desire to entrench the power base… Continue reading

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Assad’s Bloody Crackdown Protest Threatens Sectarian War

President Bashar Assad, while abrogating Syria’s detested 48-year old emergency laws Tuesday, April 19, immediately replaced them with… Continue reading

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Will Turkey’s Next Constitution be a Societal Covenant Imbued with Respect for Differences?

Agreeing upon the rules for how they are going to live together, with mutual respect for differences, is the fundamental challenge that faces… Continue reading

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Turkey Remains an “Angry Nation” but could still serve as a Democratic Inspiration

Turkey remains an “Angry nation”, tormented by the many ghosts of its history, some of which still lurk in the shadows. Its political system… Continue reading

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Squaring the Circle: The PKK Return to Violence and Turkey’s Intractable Kurdish Problem

On February 28, 2011, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced that it was abrogating its unilateral ceasefire first declared on… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Saudi Arabia Rated a Bigger Threat to Iraqi Stability than Iran

Iraqi government officials see Saudi Arabia, not Iran, as the biggest threat to the integrity and cohesion of their fledgling democratic state… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Kurdish Leader Discusses 2009 Turkish Local Elections

In an April 22 roundtable at Chatham House on Turkey’s recent elections, Kurdish political leader Ahmet Türk gave prepared remarks and took… Continue reading