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Turkey's Kurdish Weltschmerz

January 16, 2012  •  Hurriyet Daily News

Until a few years ago, tensions between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and its opponents dominated the headlines in Ankara, and some even worried about a confrontation with the military. Today, though, Turkish domestic politics are tranquil, except for the brewing Kurdish issue.

This issue is Turkey's key challenge in 2012. Lately, tensions have been rising in the country. The police have arrested thousands of Kurdish nationalists. Some of these people are perhaps connected to the outlawed and violent Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Yet, others represent the Kurdish nationalist Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), a legal force in the Turkish legislature that, nevertheless, refuses to condemn the PKK.

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The Empires Strike Back

January 14, 2012  •  The New York Times

As Egyptians and Tunisians vote to replace ousted despots and the Syrian government teeters on the brink, two old imperial powers are competing to exert their political influence over Arab countries in upheaval. And they are not America and Russia. After years of cold-war competition over the Middle East and North Africa, it is now France and Turkey that are vying for lucrative business ties and the chance to mold a new generation of leaders in lands that they once controlled.

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Turkey moves far beyond Europe

December 22, 2011  •  CNN Global Public Square

The Turks are selling pasta to the Italians, educating Papua-New Guineans in their universities, building airports in Egypt, running schools in Nigeria and establishing diplomatic missions in Latin America. Turkey has not felt and acted like the confident global player it is today since the heyday of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century.

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Portuguese Lessons for Turkey's Role in the Arab Spring

December 15, 2011  •  Hurriyet Daily News

On April 25, 1974, the "Carnation Revolution" shook Portugal's 48-year-old dictatorship. A group of army officers, joined by the masses and underground communist movement, rebelled against the regime. Surprisingly, the dictatorship collapsed like a house of cards.

Portugal, then ridden by poverty, illiteracy and authoritarianism, found itself at a crossroads: military rule or communist takeover. But neither happened. Thanks to the often untold story of efforts by Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) government and the Stiftungs (NGOs linked to Germany's political parties) to build centrist forces in Lisbon, the unexpected occurred: Portugal became a democracy.

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Syria's Unique Relationship with Turkey

December 4, 2011  •  Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey has recently emerged as a patron country of the Arab Spring - defying dictators, standing with protestors and building prestige across Arab societies. This, however, does not mean unfettered Turkish sway over Arab countries après dictators: Egypt is too nationalist and too big to simply fall under Turkish influence, Tunisia is too far and too Francophone and Libya is too complex and laden with resources to the point that one country cannot singlehandedly wield significant control over it.

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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...