Latest Articles

Turkey Lost Turkey

July 12, 2010  •  The Wall Street Journal

U.S. President Barack Obama last week partly blamed the European Union for supposedly driving Turkey away from the West by stalling the country's EU accession. Mr. Obama is confusing cause and effect. The real problem is that the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) doesn't share the dream of a liberal, Western Turkey.

While I have always supported Ankara's membership bid, it is time to admit that the reason Turkey will not join the EU any time soon is not because of European reservations toward a Muslim country but because of the Turkish government's reservations toward European values.

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The AKP's Hamas Policy III: Countering Radicalization

July 9, 2010  •  Hurriyet Daily News

For Turks today, after seven years of propaganda, Hamas appears to be a good organization as it has been a guest in Istanbul seven times and has had multiple contacts with the government. It even has fundraisers in Turkey. Therefore, one should not expect today that the Turks would oppose Hamas' vision or policies. This would be the case especially with young people in their teens or twenties who have come of age under the AKP.

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The AKP's Hamas Policy II: "Us vs. Them"

July 5, 2010  •  Hurriyet Daily News

At home, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has promoted the Islamist mindset of "us Muslims" in conflict with "the bad others" through the media and also by spreading Hamas' views throughout Turkey, whether through official Hamas visits to Turkey or through AKP-supported conferences and fundraisers.

Recent changes in media ownership in Turkey under the AKP are closely related to the spread of anti-Western sentiments in the country. Turkey is a country with free media. Media independence in Turkey, however, is increasingly under threat.

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The AKP's Hamas Policy I: How Turkey Turned

June 29, 2010  •  Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey has not traditionally boasted strong popular support for Hamas, or any other groups with a violent Islamist agenda. Turks generally have had an attitude of benign indifference towards their country's ties with Israel. Lately though, this is changing. Whereas anti-Israeli demonstrations would have typically attracted only a few thousand people in the past, today pro-Hamas and anti-Israeli demonstrations attract hundreds of thousands of people in Turkey, and the country is witnessing drastic changes in popular attitudes toward Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian issue.

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Turkey's Clash of Civilizations

June 8, 2010  •  The Wall Street Journal

Ever since the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power in 2002, Turkish foreign policy has made a 180-degree turn. The country's once-strong ties with the United States and Israel have been weakened, and entry talks with the European Union have stalled while Ankara has come to the defense of the Iranian nuclear program and Hamas. The reason for this shift is simple: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government believe that Samuel Huntington was right, that there is a clash of civilizations. Only they are on the side of the Islamists, not the West.

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Soner Cagaptay's Book

Islam, Secularism, and Nationalism in Modern Turkey Who Is a Turk? by Soner Cagaptay Routledge, 2006. 256 pp. $180 January 13, 2006 Details and Reviews...