Thousands of Turks gathered in some 40 cities and towns around the country on Sunday, May 15th, to join marches organized on Facebook against state Internet censorship. The trigger for the protests was a decision by Turkey’s Internet regulator, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, or BTK, to introduce a selection of filters that Turkish […]
A recent Ipsos survey has indicated that Turkey is the most critical NATO member of the operations in Libya. According to the survey the most support for military intervention is in Belgium (78%) followed by strong support in France (72%) and Canada (70%), whereas the weakest support among NATO countries registers in Hungary (54%), Italy […]
While the Turkish Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) record on democracy and foreign policy is less than perfectly in accord with European or U.S. preferences, the Turkish opposition has often appeared even worse, given its chauvinistic nationalism, shortsightedness, and anti-Western views. Signs indicate, however, that this dynamic is changing. Since taking over as chair of […]
As NATO prepares to take over the command of Libya air operations, NATO spokesman has indicated on March 25 that the İzmir NATO Airbase in Turkey will act as the command and communications center for further air operations. With this capacity a Turkish major-general and an American lieutenant-general will have the ‘authority and responsibility’ for […]
Turkey as the ‘protecting power of the United States’ in Libya ‘Turkey has agreed to be our protecting power in Libya,’ Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters today, referring to the new role Ankara will play serving US interests in Tripoli. There were signs Turkey was effectively playing such a role when Turkish […]
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s visit to Greece two weeks ago produced the usual positive rhetoric about a “new impetus” in Turkish-Greek relations, but a closer look reveals growing strain and urgency. With the Cyprus issue in deadlock, the main issues under discussion are territorial disputes in the Aegean and illegal immigration into the EU […]
Military Intervention: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had spoken during the Leaders of Change Summit in Istanbul March 14, 2011 and held out against growing international calls to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, saying such operation would be unhelpful and fraught with risk. “Military intervention by NATO in Libya or any other country would […]
Turkey on Wednesday reiterated its commitment for a Russian-built nuclear plant in an important show of confidence in atomic energy as Japan tried to prevent major radioactive contamination. President Dmitry Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed that nuclear power could be safe even for earthquake-prone areas such as Japan and Turkey. “I […]
Sunday’s Wikileaks release containing some 250,000 diplomatic cables included headline-creating news regarding Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. One of the cables, marked as “confidential” (not a terribly high level of secrecy) was “classified” and perhaps written by Donald Lu, who at the time was the US Chargé d’Affaires in Baku. The cable summarizes in great detail […]
After decades of mistrust, the relationship between NATO and Russia is finally improving. A genuine partnership must develop in the long term, however at the summit in Lisbon on November 19 and 20, NATO intended to adopt a new strategy and also improve its relations with Russia. This is not the first time since the […]
The tension between Turks and Greeks have always been remarkable due to long history of wars. The elderly population from both sides continues to pass on their judgments to next generations. Even though there is hope for talks between Turkish and Greek youth for the sake of economical relations, it seems like the hatred still […]
Various sources report that dozens of Turkish journalists are jailed, and hundreds are facing trial. Chief among the reasons for so many to be jailed and facing legal action is their criticism of the government. Over 40 journalists are in jail, and over 700 more are facing lawsuits with the threat of imprisonment, according to […]
JERUSALEM—Dozens of international journalists and media workers being held in an Israeli jail were expected to be released by Wednesday evening, local time. Thirty-eight of them were from Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Pakistan, and the U.K. The other 38 were Turkish. Some were identified by the companies they work for and others by their professional associations […]
I’ve often wondered if the pace of modem life, the 24/7 new cycle, and the need for governments to respond in real-time to what is happening have had a negative impact on the conduct of diplomacy. Take, for example, the odd incident last week in which two American allies made great progress in a matter […]
By Rich Basas (originally posted on FPA’s Latin America blog, here) The last summer created a great shift in the discussion on security and the nuclear issue worldwide. Protesters in Iran took to the street after a perceived action by President Ahmadinejad in fixing the elections in Iran to maintain himself in power with the […]