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Post-Election Turkey: Now What?

No one among Turkey’s politicians wants an early election… Read more

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How Serious is Erdogan about Joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Instead of the EU?

Erdoğan is not going to initiate a divorce from the EU, but he may very well hope that the Europeans will “relieve” Turkey… Continue reading

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Erdogan’s Volatile Authoritarianism: Tactical Ploy or Strategic Vision?

In recent months, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made a string of highly controversial public statements which appear indicative of an authoritarian mindset… Continue reading

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Bluff and Bravado: Turkey’s Long Presidential Campaign

President Abdullah Gül criticized the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan for its failure to push ahead with Turkey’s bid for EU membership and protested the continuing imprisonment of seven elected opposition members of the assembly… Continue reading

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The Snake that Doesn’t Touch Me: Turkey’s Special Authority Courts

In response to increasing international concern about controversial cases such as Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and KCK, the AKP has repeatedly insisted that the judicial system is independent and that there is nothing that it can do… Continue reading

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Has Erdogan Reached His “Democratic Limits”?

Internal and external dynamics no longer compel Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to transcend his democratic limits… 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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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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Turkish Election: Voter Fraud?

Daniel Pipes wrote an article asking if the June 2011 election would be the last free and fair election in Turkey… Continue reading

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Turkish Military High Command, Armed Forces Takes A Step Toward Islamism

Compare the election results from voters in the Turkish army general staff to that of the overall population… Continue reading

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The Outcome of the Turkish Election: Exclusive Report From Istanbul

This assessment is a bit more optimistic than mine, suggesting ways to limit the new government’s power… Continue reading

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Turkey’s Election: An Islamist Revolution

By the end of 2011 more than 250 million people in the Middle East may well be living under what are in reality anti-American Islamist governments… Continue reading

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Turkish Election: Islamism Triumphant

The AKP got almost everything it wanted. It will be in power for four more years, infiltrating institutions, producing a new constitution… Continue reading

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Erdogan headed for significant Win as Turks cast Votes

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected to return to office for a third consecutive term as Turks began voting… Continue reading

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Turkey’s June 12 Elections

This Sunday, Turks go to the polls for parliamentary elections that will determine their next government… Continue reading

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Turkey’s Election: Last Exit Before Toll

Because Turkey’s election Sunday is of such huge importance, not only for Turkey but for the region as a whole, Western interests, Israel, and… Continue reading

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U.S. Government Cheers As Turkey May Go Islamist and Anti-American

Will 250 million people live under revolutionary Islamist regimes by the end of this year… Continue reading

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Above the Threshold, Below the Belt: the Video Campaign Against the MHP

An internet website began broadcasting secretly-recorded videos of six members of the Turkish MHP engaging in extramarital sexual relations… 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 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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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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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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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