In the aftermath of the Georgian-Russian confrontation, Ankara sees an opportunity to expand its trade relations with Central Asia, particularly the rising petro-states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Seeking to capitalize on the changing geostrategic environment for Caspian energy exports, Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Koksal Toptan, accompanied... MORE

On October 17, Turkey was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2009-2010, securing 151 votes in the first round of voting. Turkey finished comfortably ahead of its two rivals: Austria, which took the second seat allocated to countries from the... MORE

Recent opinion polls suggest that a string of corruption scandals and the slowdown in the pace of economic growth in Turkey are eroding popular support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). An opinion poll conducted from October 8 to 12 by the Metropoll... MORE

On October 14 the Turkish authorities announced that the Turkish Interior Ministry would be restructured to improve coordination of Turkey’s counter-terrorism efforts (Radikal, Milliyet, Vatan, NTV, October 15). The announcement was contained in a statement released after a meeting earlier in the day of the... MORE

Turkish engineers swelled with pride when the first Bogazici Koprusu (Bosporus Bridge) opened in 1973, spanning Istanbul's historic channel between Asia and Europe. When opened, it was the longest suspension bridge outside the U.S. It was followed 15 years later by the Fatih Sultan Mehmet... MORE

On October 10 the Turkish government announced that it was preparing to initiate a long-term dialogue with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in an attempt to increase pressure on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whose main camps and bases are located in the mountains of... MORE

On October 9 Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler predicted that the evaluation of the winning bid in Turkey’s first nuclear power plant tender at Akkuyu on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast would be completed by the end of October. He added that the government was currently working... MORE

At around 5:30 P.M. on October 8, six people were killed and 21 wounded when militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ambushed a bus carrying police personnel in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Eye-witnesses reported that the assailants hurled hand grenades and sprayed the... MORE

The military confrontation between Georgia and Russia in August highlighted the West's misconception that the Caspian energy transit through the Caucasian nation is a totally secure means of bypassing Russia and Iran, a key tenet of the U.S. administration’s policy. In the aftermath of the... MORE

In the early hours of October 7, Turkish warplanes struck at suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq for the third day in row as Turkey continued to reel from the October 3 PKK attack on a military outpost in the... MORE