FP focuses on Turkey’s unexpected foreign policy tool: soap operas (!)

and a roundup (with a focus on Cyprus elections)

Leave it to Turkish soap operas to conquer hearts and minds

Who said that capturing hearts and minds in the Muslim world is mission impossible? It’s just that the United States hasn’t figured out the right way to do it. Sometimes, it seems the U.S. government still thinks that public diplomacy is exchange students and a few diplomats who can speak Arabic and struggle on satellite television in the region to explain U.S. foreign policy.

Turkish Cypriots cast votes in key election

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Voters lined up to cast their ballots across the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state on Sunday in a leadership vote that could put a hardliner in power and jeopardise talks on reunification of the divided island.

Cyprus: local perception, European illusion , Hubert Faustmann

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Hubert Faustmann

?The view of some in the Greek Cypriot political arena that a European solution is on the cards is unwise and shows their ignorance of the European Union [?] I?m afraid that, from the very beginning, many Greek Cypriots have regarded the European Union not as a balance of rights and responsibilities that people assume when they join, but as a one-way ticket to getting everything they want and haven?t been able to get out of the international community over the previous period.?

A general view  shows a square decorated with  ...

A general view shows a square decorated with flags of Turkey (L) and breakaway Turkish Cypriot state (R) before an election rally by presidential candidate Dervis Eroglu (pictured on poster, C) in Famagusta, in the Turkish part of Cyprus, April 15, 2010. Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister and the leader of National Unity Party Eroglu is the main rival of Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the presidential election on April 18.? Read more »REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish Cypriot election could halt peace talks and jeoprodize Turkey’s EU membership bid

from Yahoo news
NICOSIA, Cyprus – Turkish Cypriots vote Sunday in a leadership election whose outcome could deadlock Cyprus peace talks and sink Turkey’s bid for European Union membership.

AMANDA PAUL – The Turkey-EU-Cyprus triangle

from Today’s Zaman
Today Turkish Cypriots go to the polls to choose a new president. It is without doubt one of the most (if not the most) important elections that northern Cyprus has ever held.

PREVIEW: Outcome of Northern Cyprus vote to impact Turkey’s EU bid

from Yahoo news
Istanbul – Sunday’s presidential election in Northern Cyprus could have ripple effects that go far beyond its tiny borders, possibly stalling the island’s fragile peace talks and impacting Turkey’s already troubled bid to join the European Union….

Turkeys EU  aspirations loom over Cyprus ...

Supporters of presidential candidate Dervis Eroglu in Famagusta, in the Turkish part of Cyprus, April 15, 2010. Analysts say a victory for Eroglu would undermine U.N.-backed reunification efforts and dash Turkey’s dreams of joining the EU.? Read more »REUTERS/Murad Sezer/Files

Turkey’s EU aspirations loom over Cyprus vote | World | Reuters

Davutoğlu: Turkey will not approve Iran sanctions

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Turkish FM Davutoğlu has said it would be out of the question for Turkey to approve a sanctions package for Iran in advance unless details of the package are revealed.

Interdisciplinary workshop and film screening on Turkey-EU co-organized by Changing Turkey

from Changing Turkey in a Changing World

The Reflections of Turkey-EU Relations Beyond Politics: Watching the Daily Life

Turkey and Europe: a shifting axis , Katinka Barysch

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Katinka Barysch

The EU accession process could yet be the strongest bond that Turkey has to the west. But Ankara?s other links in that direction seem to be slackening. Turkey?s relations with the United States have improved since Barack Obama replaced George W Bush in the White House ? but not as much as many people had expected. Turkish soldiers are serving alongside Nato allies in Afghanistan, but their country?s role in the alliance remains awkward. Turkey?s previously solid bond with Israel came under severe strain in 2009 (see Kerem Oktem, ?Turkey and Israel: ends and beginnings?, 7 December 2009).

For more: Amanpour: Blog Archive – Turkish PM won’t back Iran sanctions « – Blogs from CNN.com

Turkey’s president: A family quarrel | The Economist

Is Abdullah Gul ready to challenge Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

Apr 15th 2010 | ANKARA | From The Economist print edition
A Turk in his palace

THE elegant office of President Abdullah Gul says something about Turkey. Its bay window looks out over Ankara. On a wall hang landscapes by an Armenian Ottoman court artist, Ivan Aivasovsky. Under Mr Gul?s predecessor, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the window was walled in and the Aivasovskys rotted in the cellar. A dour former judge, Mr Sezer rarely travelled. Mr Gul completed his 61st foreign visit as president (to Oman) this week. Overtly pious, yet pro-Western and a free-marketeer, Mr Gul symbolises the new global ambitions of his country.”

La Turquie, une idée neuve en Europe de Nedim Gursel

by acturca

France 3, 30/03/2010

Culturebox

Nedim Gursel présente pour Le Jour du Seigneur son dernier ouvrage ?La Turquie, une idée neuve en Europe? dans le cadre du 30ème salon du livre à Paris.

Keeping Turkey out of the EU | ASU News | The State Press | Arizona State University

La Turquie

by acturca

France 2, mercredi 02 décembre 2009, 07:46

Mémoires présenté par Frédérick Gersal

Turquie : offensive vers l?est

by acturca

La Lettre de l?Expansion (France), 2 avril 2010, p. 2

Laure Marchand

Puissance économique émergente, la Turquie ne se contente plus du marché de l?Union européenne et se tourne désormais vers le Moyen-Orient. Ankara voudrait également établir un espace de libre-échange entre les pays musulmans.

EU asks Turkey, Greece to cut military budgets

ANKARA ? The European Union has requested reductions in the military budgets of Greece and Turkey. Officials said Brussels asserted that such a move would ease tension between the two neighbors and facilitate Ankara’s membership in the EU.”

A Guallist Turkey?

from Turkish Politics in Action by Ragan Updegraff

Brookings Institution Fellow and Today’s Zaman columnist Omer Taspinar writes “the real threat to Turkey?s Western orientation today is not so much Islamization but growing nationalism and frustration with the United States and Europe. If current trends continue, what we will see emerging in Turkey is not an Islamist foreign policy but a much more nationalist, defiant, independent, self-confident and self-centered strategic orientation — in short, a Turkish variant of ‘Gaullism.'” From the column:


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