Excerpt from Rabia Karakaya Polat (2010) ?How Far away from the Politics of Fear: Turkey in the EU Accession Process? in Tunkrova, L. and Saradin P. (eds.) The Politics of EU Accession: Turkish Challenges and Central European Experiences, London: Routledge, pp. 58-71.
Minister Davutoglu’s UN Security Council Speech from Mavi Boncuk Israeli government? Piratical Swine! from ORGANIZED RAGE by Mick Hall ALİ BULAÇ – On the way to Gaza The flotilla that intended to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has turned into an open concentration camp, was hit by Israeli warships before it was able … Read more
Foreign Policy (USA), May 20, 2010
By Ahmet Davutoglu
The Turkish government this week brokered an 11th-hour nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran. Turkey?s foreign minister explains the principles that made it possible.
Throughout modern history, there has been a direct relationship between conflict and the emergence of new ways of arbitrating world affairs. Every major war since the 17th century was concluded by a treaty that led to the emergence of a new order, from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 that followed the Thirty Years? War, to the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815 that brought an end to the Napoleonic Wars, to the ill-fated Treaty of Versailles that concluded the first World War, to the agreement at Yalta that laid the groundwork for the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. Yet the Cold War, which could be regarded as a global-scale war, ended not with grand summitry, but with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was no official conclusion; one of the combatant sides just suddenly ceased to exist.
Davutoglu is one of The World’s Kissingers …And the youngest of the four. Mavi Boncuk The List: The World’s Kissingers BY JOSHUA E. KEATING A country’s foreign policy is often defined less by its elected leader than its behind-the-scenes operators and elder statesmen. Here are four figures setting the global agenda for the world’s emerging … Read more
Turkey opens environment chapter in EU accession bid – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu smiles as he briefs the media after an accession conference at the European Union Council headquarters in Brussels December 21, 2009. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Turkey and the EU: hurtful uncertainty | Şevket Pamuk | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Istanbul Metro Station, Taksim: Turkish Conquest of Constantinople. Photo by Jenny White
(click here for the full NY Times article). FOUND IN: Ottomania: The Empire Strikes Back
Dutch MPs cancel trip to Turkey | Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Turkish MPs are disappointed the Dutch parliament has cancelled a fact-finding mission about the country’s wishes to join the European Union, the NRC reports on Thursday.
Foresight analysis measures the potential impacts of foreign and domestic policy actions. For the purpose of writing this column I have chosen a number of Dutch and Turkish actors as part of a simulation exercise, and without meaning it to be derogatory in any way, have put them into a grid system of four adjacent boxes.
ASSETS
* Thanks to economic growth and tight fiscal policy, since the 2001 financial crisis, public sector debt has come down to manageable levels..
* Reforms and restructuring have strengthened the banking sector.
* Economic growth rests on more solid foundations, driven by a dynamic private sector, productivity gains, and higher value-added production.
* The prospect of economic convergence with the European Union, demographic dynamism, and the country’s pivotal regional position tend to enhance the Turkish market’s attractiveness.
WEAKNESSES
* With its extensive external financing needs, the highest of all emerging countries, Turkey remains very dependent on capital markets.
* The sharp rise of foreign currency debt in the private sector has increased its exposure to exchange rate risk.
* The antagonism between the government and militant Kemalists remains a recurring source of instability.
What you need to know about the person shaping Turkey’s muscular new foreign policy.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu releases a white pigeon during the opening of the new Turkish Consulate in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad October 31, 2009. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly
Source: Turkish Daily Mail
Date: Saturday, 31 October 2009 0:24
Tags: Turkey and Middle East, Middle East, Kurd, Kurdish, Iraq
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ARBIL – Turkey extended a regional peace drive to Iraqi Kurds when Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with top Kurdish officials in a landmark visit to Arbil.
?It is time for Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to rebuild the Middle East. Therefore, it is time for everyone to take brave steps,? Davutoglu told a joint press conference with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani late on Friday. Barzani praised Davutoğlu’s visit, saying it is even more significant now as the Middle East is passing through such a sensitive time.
Davutoğlu’s visit to Arbil, the first by a Turkish foreign minister, is a sign that a taboo maintained in Turkish foreign policy until recently is no longer in place.
Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani (R) holds a joint conference with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, October 30, 2009. Picture taken October 30, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
The photo below has to be included here. From the Turkey-Armenia game. As far as I understood it was an operation by Young Civilians.
In the crisis between Israel and Turkey it should be noted Israel reacted too much to a serial that was not popular at all. I haven’t heard anybody discussing Ayrılık episodes. And as far as I know the serial was not in the top 100 ratings list. Now I hear producers are happy that people will be curious and watch the serial. There had to be a stronger reaction to Valley of the Wolves movie who had a substantive anti-semitic emphasis in some parts. Ayrılık hadonce made it to popular discourse through what Zeynep Tokuş , an actress and former beauty pageant winner was wearing:
A roundup follows:
Hail to the Turkey-Armenia deal to be signed today.
After a drama, the deal is about to be signed right now…Yes, it is signed. Signatories are so tense, as if anything could happen…
A roundup as usual:
