Monthly Archives: February 2012

The mushrooming of companies of Iranian origin in Turkey in recent years at an unprecedented rate seems to me quite an unusual development considering the mediocre size of the current trade volume between the two countries. The fact that Iran … Continue reading →

In the first review of the landmark Ergenekon trial, a case where a vicious terror organization plotted to wreak havoc in the country in order to pave the way for a military coup, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights … Continue reading →

The smokescreen surrounding the abduction of Syrian Col. Hussein Harmush, who defected to Turkey in June 2011 before being handed over to the Syrian secret service in September 2011, has begun to clear in recent weeks following a judicial probe. … Continue reading →

The long-stalled judicial reform package for the expansion of press freedom in Turkey was supposed to be discussed by the parliamentary Justice Commission this week. However, the reform package fell victim to an emergency bill submitted by the government at … Continue reading →

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe published an excellent analytical piece titled “Report on the Democratic Oversight of the Security Services” in June 2007. The overriding theme of the commission’s report is that control of the intelligence community … Continue reading →

Mustafa Vehbi Koç, the CEO of Koç Holding A.Ş., a Fortune Global 500 corporation and the largest conglomerate in Turkey, is one of those people who call attention to the risk of booming private debt stock to the financial stability … Continue reading →

Turkey has finally caved in to unrelenting American pressure to adopt a comprehensive law combating the financing of terrorists and money laundering activities, known by the acronym AML/CFT. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had to submit the … Continue reading →

In 2003 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that banning the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party (NPD) — the most significant neo-Nazi party to emerge since 1945, which campaigns on an anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic platform — was unconstitutional. The … Continue reading →