Monthly Archives: November 2012

The overriding goal of the Israeli offensive in Gaza last week was to derail Palestine’s bid to obtain non-member observer state status, very much like Vatican has now, with the ultimate strategy of thwarting the Palestinians’ long-sought goal to take … Continue reading →

For the last two years a team of dedicated Turkish researchers has been working tirelessly to map out properties on the divided island of Cyprus as part of the government’s action plan to challenge land dispute claims raised by Greek … Continue reading →

Opening up to Africa is not a new idea in Turkish foreign policy, and its origin certainly does not lie with the current Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The action plan to improve ties with Africa was formulated in … Continue reading →

The Turkish prime minister’s unannounced trip to Brunei last week was not scheduled in advance and in turn completely unexpected. Everything developed right on the spot when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah at the 5th … Continue reading →

What would it take for the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to give a real push in Parliament for a draft bill that criminalizes the financing of terrorism and combats money laundering? Considering that this draft has been … Continue reading →

Some time ago, I had lunch with a senior Western diplomat who served in Ankara before retiring from public service and who is currently working for a well-respected US think tank in Europe. He was doing research for a comprehensive … Continue reading →

Turkey’s straight-shooter Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could not resist throwing another punch at Israel this week while on the way home from visiting Germany. He reiterated three Turkish demands for the price of normalizing ties with the former ally … Continue reading →