Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Turkey

Iran’s Nuclear Program: How to Succeed in Baghdad?

Iran’s Nuclear Program: How to Succeed in Baghdad?

  The following is a guest appearance by Lawrence J. Korb, a Senior Fellow at American Progress. Mr. Korb is also a senior advisor to the Center for Defense Information and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Mr. Korb was also assistant secretary of defense during the administration of President Reagan. The following originally appeared in […]

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A New Quest to Challenge Media Coverage of the Middle East and North Africa

A New Quest to Challenge Media  Coverage of the Middle East and North Africa

The following is a guest appearance by by Adam Hedengren, co-founder and managing editor, and David Hedengren, co-founder and editor-in-chief of YourMiddleEast.Com We are two brothers on a quest to challenge the major media companies’ Middle East and North Africa coverage. We believe that there are no satisfactory sources of news and information in English about […]

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Will 1980 coup trial heal Turkey’s wounds? A skeptic’s perspective

Will 1980 coup trial heal Turkey’s wounds? A skeptic’s perspective

Yesterday, I joined Al-Jazeera’s ‘Inside Story’ for a panel discussion on Turkey’s 1980 coup trial. The program offers an introduction to the coup as well as the coup case, so I will not mention them here. Apart from what I had mentioned in my brief comments, I want to expand on my arguments in this blog […]

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Syrian American Council Urges a Crackdown on Assad’s Regime

Syrian American Council Urges a Crackdown on Assad’s Regime

  Since the reign of terror from President Bashar-al Assad’s regime began the UN estimates that over 9,000 innocent Syrian civilians have died at his hands. The local coordination committees estimate that the number of those killed is upwards of 11,000 in addition to those who are injured or incarcerated. Syria has accepted a peace plan from […]

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Turkey’s Arms Sales Reach ‘Record High’

Turkey’s Arms Sales Reach ‘Record High’

While Turkish foreign policy makers have been emphasizing concepts such as ‘soft power’ and ‘zero-problems policy’ after the ascent of the AKP government in 2002, the Arab Spring effectively heralded an era in which Turkey is retaining its soft power advantages, while simultaneously pursuing a more Realist (as in IR theory) outlook, similar to its […]

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Turkey’s Syria Calculations: The Kurdish Dimension

Turkey’s Syria Calculations: The Kurdish Dimension

This article originally appeared on the Fikra Forum (March 22, 2012) —————————– In recent months, as uncertainty over Assad’s future continues, Turkey’s position with regard to its potential military or humanitarian intervention has been heavily debated. While Turkish leaders have condemned the Syrian government’s brutal suppression of dissent since February 2011 and warned several times […]

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Turkey and Syria: The Alawite Dimension

Turkey and Syria: The Alawite Dimension

This following post is from Nazim Can Cicektakan, a PhD candidate at the University of Essex, Department of History, who recently returned back from a research visit to the Turkish province of Hatay, on the border of Syria. I asked him whether he could write a summary of his thoughts for the FPA blogs and […]

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A Candid Discussion with John R. Bradley

A Candid Discussion with John R. Bradley

From John R. Bradley, the Middle East correspondent and writer who correctly predicted the Egyptian revolution, comes a new message about the Arab Spring: “everything we have been told about it is wrong”. John R. Bradley sat down with Reza Akhlaghi of Foreign Policy Association to discuss his latest book: ‘After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked the […]

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The Enigma of the London Conference on Somalia

The Enigma of the London Conference on Somalia

If there is any consensus on the nature and the outcome of the London Conference on Somalia – that brought together representatives of over 50 nations that included a number of Muslim nations – it must be the fact that it was a puzzling event that raised much speculation. Now that the fanfare has ended, […]

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Editor’s Murder Verdict Sparks Public Outrage in Turkey

Editor’s Murder Verdict Sparks Public Outrage in Turkey

  The verdict in a five year-old murder in Turkey is causing a serious public outcry. 18 people were accused in a lengthy trial over the killing of newspaper editor Hrant Dink, and only 2 were sentenced to punishment of any kind. According to Turkish media, the decision is considered bogus by the public because […]

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The ‘G’ word and Turkey’s Caucasus policy (interview)

The ‘G’ word and Turkey’s Caucasus policy (interview)

Dear FPA Blogs followers, Azeri APA News Agency recently conducted an interview with me regarding the French National Assembly’s decision to criminalize the refusal to refer to the events of 1909-15 as a genocide and how this affects Turkey’s Caucasus policy. This is the transcript of that interview:   ————————-   http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=163076   New York. Isabel […]

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Turkey: Cold War v2.0

Turkey: Cold War v2.0

I have recently read an opinion piece by Fehim Tastekin, a Turkish Caucasus expert, who regularly writes for the Turkish daily Radikal. I found the article very important, so I translated it to the attention of FPA Blogs followers: ————————————————————————– http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalYazar&ArticleID=1073865&Yazar=FEHIM-TASTEKIN&Date=30.12.2011&CategoryID=100 Amidst its growing engagement in the Middle East and the Arab Spring, as well […]

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Separatism – Looking for Your Views

Separatism – Looking for Your Views

2011 proved a tumultuous year for states. The Arab Spring evidenced that stifling dissent through oppression and supporting autocracies should not be the status quo policy of the United States. Now we see states being made anew. How will these states fully differ from their previous forms? Will their previous economic or political strongmen truly be ousted […]

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Turkey: Year in Review

Turkey: Year in Review

Summary of Turkish foreign policy in 2011 2011 was in many ways a milestone in modern Turkish history. First, the Arab Spring not only shook the Western influence in the region, it also ended the post-colonial period in the Middle East, marked by authoritarian-suppressive regimes, which in their way mirrored and reflected their perception of […]

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2011 – An Unexceptional Year for American Exceptionalism?

2011 – An Unexceptional Year for American Exceptionalism?

2011 evidenced our inability to predict substantial change and respond to tumultuous events. The ramifications of foreign policy decisions will not show their true colors for some time. Below, I discuss notable states – Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Cuba, Burma, Ivory Coast, Norway, Israel, and Palestine – that I believe are important because of their effects on peace […]

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