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Turkish National Security Policy in 2010 and Beyond

Turkish foreign policy was more visible in 2010 than ever before. If one is optimistic, one can hazard that we will see a “regression toward the mean” in Turkey’s relations with the West. If 2010 was generally a bad year for that relationship, the situation… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks Scandal Deprives Turkey’s Ruling Party of its Cherished American Cover

U.S. power still matters in Turkey, and the revelation that the AKP does not enjoy universal American support is unwelcome news for the ruling party. The perception that it enjoyed full U.S. support was instrumental in the… Continue reading

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Poll Reveals Frightening Popularity of Revolutionary Islamism

There’s a lot of interesting material in the Pew Foundation’s latest poll of the Middle East, a survey that focuses on attitudes toward Islamism and revolutionary Islamist groups. The analysis that accompanies the poll… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Israel Vreesde Een Nucleair Radicaal Islamitisch Pakistan

Op 17 Augustus 2007 had Meir Dagan, hoofd van de Israëlische Mossad, een ontmoeting met Nicholas Burns, toenmalig staatssecretaris buitenlandse zaken van de VS tijdens de Bush-regering. Gedurende de ontmoeting werden verschillende ontwikkelingen in het Midden Oosten… Lees verder

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Changing Of The Guard: Judicial Reforms Reinforce Concerns About the AKP’s Increasing Authoritarianism

The restructuring of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which is responsible for appointments and disciplinary procedures in the Turkish judicial system, was one of the key reforms in the package of constitutional amendments which were approved in a referendum… Continue reading

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Turkey Moving Toward A Semi-Dictatorship

Soner Cagaptay, senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, writes in an article that since 2002, when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power… Continue reading

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Turkey Declares Israel As A Threat

Only hours ago I wrote about the Turkish regime’s decision, in its official main strategy document, to drop revolutionary Islamism or Iran as threats–because they are now its allies–in the main NSC document. It was only a matter of time, I added, before they declared Israel or… Continue reading

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Turkish Islamist Regime Sounds Just Like Iran

Often, though, there is internal evidence in such statements that shows the problem goes much farther, as in the growing extremism of the Islamist regime in Turkey. Take Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks in Pakistan, for example. He was complaining about the… Continue reading

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IHH Plans New Flotilla to Challenge Naval Blockade of Gaza

The Turkish-based IHH group that sent terror activists on a flotilla ship in May to clash with IDF soldiers, hoping to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, now plans to launch a second attempt to coincide with the anniversary of the Cast Lead counter-terrorism war… Continue reading

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Foreign Minister of Turkey Says Turkish Relationship With Israel Might Be A Permanent Problem

On thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the relationship between Turkey and Israel might be a permanent problem, because Turkish civilians were killed during Israel’s raid on the Mavi Marmara… Continue reading

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Turkey’s Referendum Doesn’t Mean Popular Support for a Regime Aligning With Iran

It is true that the passage of the referendum in Turkey with 58 percent of the vote can be seen as a victory for the AKP regime. But that point shouldn’t be exaggerated. The bad feature of the reforms–in terms of consolidating the Islamist government’s power–is to strengthen the regime’s control over the courts and to… Continue reading

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Turkish Journalist: Mavi Marmara Crisis Was a Calculated Gamble

Preparations made by IHH for confrontation with the IDF and the violence exercised by that organization’s operatives as photographed and documented in a book by Şefik Dinç, a Turkish journalist who took part in the Mavi Marmara flotilla… Continue reading

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Torn Turkey, European Turkey

Sam Huntington was right to consider Turkey his chief example of a “torn country.” The results of the Sept. 12 vote on the constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP, show that officially secular Turkey is torn not just between the East and the West, but that it is also divided… Continue reading

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The Aim of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Was to Isolate Israel

In a speech given by IHH leader Bulent Yildirim two months prior to the Marmara flotilla, he presented a radical Islamic ideology with anti-Western and anti-Israeli motifs. He said that the aim of the flotilla was to isolate Israel by “breaking the siege” and stressed his determination… Continue reading

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The Scary European Model

There has been speculation about where Turkey is heading ever since the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002… Continue reading

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Turkish Jurist Specializing in International Law Strongly Criticized Conduct of the Organizers of the Mavi Marmara Flotilla

Articles recently appeared in the Turkish press (primarily the opposition newspapers) critical of the MV Mavi Marmara flotilla and its outcome. Some raised the question of… Continue reading

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The AKP’s Hamas Policy: Countering Radicalization

For Turks today, after seven years of propaganda, Hamas appears to be a good organization as it has been a guest in Istanbul seven times and has had multiple contacts with the government… Continue reading

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The AKP’s Hamas Policy: How Turkey Turned

Why are the Turks turning anti-Western? Why are Turks viewing themselves in contrast to the West – meaning the United States across the world – Israel in the Middle East and Europe within… Continue reading

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British Prime Minister David Cameron and Western Suicide in Turkey

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s July 27 speech in Turkey will not live on in history. But it should, as an example of the decline of Western diplomacy, of suicide by Political Correctness… Continue reading

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The IHH Violence Against the IDF Was Similar as the Violence Against the Egyptian Security Forces

A comparison of the IHH violence directed against the IDF during the Mavi Marmara flotilla and the violence employed by the Lifeline 3 activists against the Egyptian security forces shows many similarities… Continue reading

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The Devil in the Detail: Turkey’s Ergenekon Investigation Enters a Fourth Year

July 10, 2010 marks the second anniversary of the publication of the first indictment in what has become known as the Ergenekon case. A total of over 600 suspects have been detained… Continue reading

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The AKP’s Hamas Policy: “Us vs. Them”

At home, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has promoted the Islamist mindset of “us Muslims” in conflict with “the bad others” through the media and also by spreading Hamas’ views throughout Turkey… Continue reading

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Profile of the Turkish Felicity Party

The Felicity Party is an Islamic party with an anti-Western and anti-Israeli agenda, which supports Hamas. Two of the party activists were killed while taking part in fighting against the IDF alongside the hard-core operatives of IHH… Continue reading

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Erdogan’s Turkey, Islamism and the Ottoman Empire

Under the Islamist Erdogan government, Turkey can no longer be considered an ally of Israel or the West… Continue reading

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Turkish Government involved in the Gaza Flotilla

According to some people who are in a position to know: Erdoğan assured Israel that the ship’s passengers were peaceful and there would be no violence. That’s why Israel approached taking and diverting the ship in the manner it did. Is this true? I don’t know but it is definitely a story to… Continue reading