Latest Articles about Turkey
Turkey Urges International Cooperation in its Struggle against Kurdish Militants
Turkey has recently intensified its international effort to limit the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan - PKK) in the international arena. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has written a letter to European leaders, suggesting that merely recognizing the PKK as... MORE
Alevis Highlight Their Demands in Ankara
On November 10 Turkey's Alevi community, a religious group that differs from Sunni Islam, organized a "Grand Alevi Rally" for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic. Approximately 50,000 Alevis from different cities came together to demand rights for Alevi communities. The... MORE
Erdogan visits the United States: Economy and Relations with Obama on the Agenda
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the United States to attend the G-20 Summit, where he joined the leaders of developed and industrializing nations to discuss the global financial crisis. In addition to his participation in the summit activities, Erdogan held bilateral meetings with... MORE
Ergenekon Network Exacerbates Anti-Americanism in Turkey
The reading of the 2,455-page indictment against 86 suspects in the first trial against Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government, was completed at the trial's 11th hearing. When the process of reading the indictment ended, suspects started giving testimony in... MORE
Turkey and EU in Trade Row over Boron
In Turkey's convoluted "long march" toward European Union membership, Ankara has exhibited immense patience during the accession process, which began 21 years ago, when on April 14, 1987, Turkey applied to join the EU, having been an associate member of the European Union and its... MORE
Firat Resignation May Indicate a Hardening of AKP Kurdish Policy
On November 7, after the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), it was announced that Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat had resigned from his position as a deputy chairman of the (AKP). Firat is known for being a relative of... MORE
Turkey Develops Special Relationship with Azerbaijan
On November 5 and 6, after his reelection last month, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev visited Turkey, where he discussed the developments in the Caucasus, relations with Armenia, and deepening cooperation between the two countries.On November 5 he attended a dinner given by his host President... MORE
Iran’s Kurdish Militants Under Pressure from Joint Turkish-Iranian Assaults
Until recently, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (Parti Jiyani Azadi Kurdistan – PJAK), an armed Kurdish separatist group active in Iran, was beginning to emerge as a genuine military irritant to Iran’s government, killing in excess of 100 Iranian security forces per year... MORE
Obama Presidency: a New Era in Turkish-American Relations?
Many Turks joined the worldwide rejoicing over the Democrats’ victory and Barack Obama’s election as the next president of the United States. The Turkish public is sympathetic to Obama’s call for change as they find parallels in his story to Turkey’s experience with the reformist... MORE
European Commission 2008 Progress Report on Turkey Details AKP Shortcomings
On November 5 the European Commission released its 2008 progress report about Turkey. The report examines political and economic criteria as well as Turkey’s ability to assume the obligations of membership in terms of state and social structure, that is, intellectual property rights, free movement... MORE