Erdoğan's warning on FETÖ threat in Kyrgyzstan
Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan along with a large delegation, including myself. The top two items on the agenda were the economic integration of the Turkic world and the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
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5 Questions: The French Manifesto against the “New Anti-Semitism”
Why does this manifesto reflect the anti-Muslim rhetoric that prevails in France?
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The U.N. vote on Jerusalem that rejected Trump's declaration seems to harm the U.S.'s ties with member countries
Perhaps the most consequential and drastic decision in Turkish foreign policy in recent months was to engage in direct negotiations with Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. This is significant because, since the onset of Iraq War in 2003, Turkey has sought to ignore or marginalize Iraqi Kurds, and has refrained from all acts that could be viewed as concessions or de facto recognition. Although the Iraqi Kurdish leadership has received red-carpet ceremony in Ankara in the1990s, Turkish foreign policy toward northern Iraq, since the war, has been stymied by anxiety and emotional rhetoric. Indeed, the fear of Iraq’s disintegration and the rise of an independent Kurdish enclave in the north, inspiring or even assisting separatist sentiments in Turkey, have appeared to cloud the possibility of rational evaluation of the pros and cons of policy alternatives. As a result, the policy of projecting illegitimacy to the Kurdish Regional Government has cost Turkey a significant loss of clout not only in northern Iraq but also in the wider Iraqi political affairs, as Kurds have come to occupy significant positions in the central government as well.
Turks in Germany are no longer transitory gastarbeiter (guest worker) people but de facto settlers in Germany, despite the dominant official political discourse that constantly reiterates that Germany is not a country of immigration. The parameters of this political discourse are based on an ethnocentric interpretation of citizenship and nationhood in Germany, which emphasizes volknation, a cultural nation, and leads to the political exclusion of ethnic minorities.
SETA PANEL Chair: Talip Küçükcan SETA Participants: Dr. Bashir Ansari Afghan intellectual and writer Prof. M. Nazif Shahrani Chair, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures & Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Indiana University, United States Date: August 13, 2009 Time: 11.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara
Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Future Reflecting on the Past
Bosnia-Herzegovina remains as divided as ever. In the past year Turkish foreign policy in Bosnia-Herzegovina has become more assertive and outcome-oriented. The successes of the new Turkish assertiveness have helped to initiate a much-needed reconciliation process between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Turkey derives its assertiveness not only from Foreign Minister Davutoğlu’s vision of sustainable peace but also from its shared history and cultural practices throughout the region. Turkey’s efforts could strengthen the efforts of the international community to integrate BiH into European and trans-Atlantic bodies.
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The Europeanization of the Western Balkans
Any regional conflict in the Balkans, would not only allow the countries to drift into turmoil, but would also threaten the security of Europe.
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Some Western nations, including the United States, are likely to be irked by a Turkey that intensifies its Somalia policy and takes other steps with the aim of restoring area balances, but that is the only way in which Turkey could contribute to bringing durable peace.
The biggest obstacle standing in front of the opposition to expand its constituency geographically is its unwillingness to break out of its comfort zone.
Moody's criteria in rating countries mainly include political stability, growth potential, debt dynamics and economic stability. Based on these factors, there seems to be no excuse for not upgrading Turkey to the fit-forinvestment level long before 2013.
If the leaders want to avoid crises that can endanger the economies of the countries, they will find a way to contain these crises. In this sense, apology diplomacy between the countries will have its own cost.
