Monthly Archives: October 2014

An unusually vitriolic campaign waged by Turkey’s authoritarian leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, against opponents and critics using baseless accusations and full-blown conspiracies has torn apart unity and bipartisanship even on the most critical national security matters. The main reason … Continue reading →

Diehard political Islamist leaders who have long harbored deep suspicions about the role of the United States in the Middle East but are extremely sensitive about how Washington views them seem to have given up on the improvement of Turkey-US … Continue reading →

If only Turkey were blessed with rich hydrocarbon resources like those of Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, Vladimir Putin’s Russia or Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government of his care-taker Ahmet Davutoğlu could have a real shot in … Continue reading →

The main paradigm defining relations between Turkey and the Arabian Gulf, especially with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the regional security, defense, trade and energy cooperation. The UAE appears to have positioned itself well to complement Turkey’s role in … Continue reading →

The failure of an operation against police chiefs who exposed corruption and became a symbol of resistance to intimidation from the authoritarian regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has exposed how political Islamists were willing to abuse the criminal justice … Continue reading →

The steady erosion of democratic practices and institutions under Turkey’s chief political Islamist president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, shows no sign of abating after his relentless and systematic campaign to dismantle the independent and impartial judiciary in the country shifted into … Continue reading →

A stern warning to level the playing field for investors with a strong emphasis on transparency and openness in government procurement was personally delivered to top Turkish leaders last week by the US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who led a … Continue reading →

The long-term challenge in the battle against terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which exploit Islam for misdirected political purposes, is how best to counter the ideological diatribe that was used … Continue reading →