Prime Minister Erdoğan addresses a crowd in Konya during a rally for his election campaign. Todays Zaman

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Is ‘Papa’ still a father figure to Turks?

Six months ago, an odd falling out occurred between Turkey‘s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan ? who is standing for re-election next Sunday ? and one of his allies in the country’s media, Ahmet Altan, editor of the newspaper Taraf.

Peculiar because Altan, via his paper’s pages, has produced a steady stream of alarming stories that had handily bolstered Erdogan’s view of the threat posed to his government by some members of Turkey’s coup-prone military…………….

Turkish finance minister ‘unfollows’ Economist over pro-CHP article

Turkey vetoes ex-Austrian foreign minister’s OSCE candidacy

Turkish FM warns Israel not to repeat last year’s flotilla ‘mistake’

Chairman of the Libyan National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil (L) meets Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara May 23, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Encountering the EU’s counter trends

EU Watch | Hey Waiter!

Pipelines in Turkey

Turkey is located between Europe and the oil rich countries of the Middle East and the former Soviet Republics around the Caspian Sea. The country is surrounded by important oil producing basins and its territory is cut by a large network of oil and gas pipelines that supply Europe. She is an important ally for the western world and is the new ?energy bridge? between the west and oil producing countries. Turkey has very good relations with her neighbors and shares historical, cultural and religious ties with them.