as expected, “EU progress report criticizes pressure on Turkish press

EU progress report criticizes pressure on Turkish press

EU: Turkey needs new constitution

Accused of Supporting Terrorism

LALE KEMAL – Is Turkey ready for cyber warfare?

Response: It is not Cyprus standing in the way of Turkey’s accession to the EU

The real stumbling block is its illegal occupation of our republic since 1974

Martin Kettle’s claim that the EU’s relationship with Turkey is “held hostage by the atavistic parochialism of a Greek Cypriot statelet”, in his article on Turkish membership of the EU (Disgracefully, Turkey’s EU accession bid is going nowhere soon, 29 October), portrays a lack of understanding of the fundamental principles of the union. Population and GDP have never been prerequisites either for EU membership or for statehood. Aggression and the threat of use of force, however, have always been incompatible with the founding principles and goals of the EU. Let us not forget that historically it emerged out of the ruins of the second world war, aiming at the reunification and pacification of the continent.

In Brief: Greece Concerned Over a Newly Assertive Turkey

canadaeast.com – Greece raising concern with Washington about Turkish assertiveness

JOOST LAGENDIJK – Turkey-EU cooperation on the Balkans

Turkey to head Council of Europe decision-making body

Conference Announcement: ?Layers of Gendered Silencing: Converted Armenian Survivors of 1915? by Dr. Ayse Gül Altınay

LSE Contemporary Turkish Studies Research Seminar

?Layers of Gendered Silencing: Converted Armenian Survivors of 1915?

Speaker: Assistant Professor Ayse Gül Altınay
Date: MONDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2010  18.00-20.00
Venue: Cañada Blanch Room, J116 (First Floor), Cowdray House, Portugal Street, LSE
An unknown number of young Armenians survived the massacres of 1915 as adopted daughters and sons of Muslim families. Fewer others became wives and, in exceptional cases, husbands. While some of these survivors (particularly young men) re-united with their families or relatives in later years, or were taken into orphanages by missionaries and relief workers, many others lived the rest of their lives as ?Muslims,? taking on Turkish, Kurdish, or Arabic names. Until recently, the stories of these survivors have been silenced, either in the form of total erasure or of serious trivialization, by Turkish and Armenian historiographies alike. The presentation analyzes this silence in historical and contemporary works and discusses the challenges that the recent unravelling of this gendered silence poses for existing narratives of identity and belonging in Turkey.

Turkey has only itself to blame if it is shunned by the EU | Robert Ellis

The vandalism and looting of Cyprus’s cultural heritage that has occurred since 1974 is unworthy of any civilised nation

Martin Kettle’s claim that Turkey is “held hostage by the atavistic parochialism of a Greek Cypriot statelet of fewer than one million people and with a declining GDP of $23bn” is far from the truth.

BÜLENT KENEŞ – Generations-long Cyprus problem

ÖMER TAŞPINAR – Time to rethink Turkish-American relations (2)

Turquie: pour en finir avec l?agenda caché islamiste de l?AKP

Mediapart (France), 7 novembre 2010

Pierre Puchot, de notre envoyé spécial en Turquie

C?est la vieille rengaine qu?une partie de la presse internationale ne peut s?empêcher de ressortir du placard dès que l?on parle de la Turquie : depuis l?arrivée au pouvoir de l?AKP, la laïcité à la turque, produit de la «révolution» amorcée par Mustapha Kémal au début de siècle, serait menacée par le plan secret d?un gouvernement issu de l?islam politique, et qui pour l?heure se tiendrait tranquille en attendant le grand soir islamique. Faiblesse de la couverture de l?actualité turque (beaucoup de quotidiens d?importance, comme le Guardian, ne jugent pas utile d?employer un correspondant à plein temps sur place) ; difficultés à saisir les nuances d?une société qui évolue vite à la faveur d?un printemps économique qui ne se dément pas. Problème d?écoute, aussi, car l?AKP a construit son ascension sur un message clair : «Politiquement, nous sommes des conservateurs, économiquement, nous sommes des libéraux.»

The Quote of the Week: ?Turkey and the Gulf States? by Dr. Sean Foley

Excerpt from Sean Foley (2010), ?TURKEY AND THE GULF STATES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, Volume 14, No. 3.

This article argues that Turkey?s improved relations with the Gulf states in recent years reflect Ankara?s refusal to allow Washington to use its territory to invade Iraq in 2003, Turkey?s promotion of regional trade, and the decline of traditional Cold War security alliances in the Middle East. Ankara and Gulf states have increasingly seen each as viable alternatives to their traditional strategic partners?the European Union for Turkey and the United States for Gulf governments. Nonetheless, one should not overstate the importance of this alliance: Turkey and the Gulf disagree about Iran?s nuclear program and other regional issues.