Monthly Archives: December 2010

Turkey was at the frontline of defense against the Russian-led Soviet threat for the transatlantic alliance throughout the Cold War, making its military and human assets readily available for deployment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). With the second … Continue reading →

The story has made it into the Turkish dailies numerous times, written and commented on by many for over three decades, but something happened recently to change the picture completely. In a heart-wrenching drama played out since 1982, the saga … Continue reading →

On Wednesday I was invited to have lunch with the head of the Higher Education Board (YÖK), the ultimate authority supervising all universities in Turkey, be it private or public, and had a chance to raise certain issues with him. … Continue reading →

In my interviews with both Secretary-General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Thorbjørn Jagland and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, during sessions both here in Ankara and later in Strasbourg, I distinctly … Continue reading →

Rome — Belonging to the Mediterranean region, in which many conflicts and problems of the eastern and southern seaboards wash over the shores of the Italian peninsula, officials in Rome seem to have much better grasp of what is at … Continue reading →

It was a grave mistake for Turkish foreign policy to cave in to Pakistani pressure to not invite India to the İstanbul summit on Afghanistan held in January of this year. The principles and values guiding Turkey’s foreign policy, including … Continue reading →

Abu Dhabi — I followed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital, last week and had a chance to see firsthand how the leaders of oil-rich Gulf Arab countries conducted the … Continue reading →

ABU DHABI — It seems the open hand extended by Turkey to further cooperate with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has not been fully reciprocated by the six-nation bloc because of the different outlook each member state presents and projects … Continue reading →

Every tragedy brings its own set of challenges as well as opportunities to exploit, so that further damage might be contained if one learns one’s lessons and makes the necessary adjustments. The extension of tragedy into diplomacy often brings a … Continue reading →