The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 2 no. 20, 9 November 2009

ANALYSIS

Turkey and the IMF: What Delays the Deal?
Joris Gjata
Since May 10, 2008 Turkey has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over another three-year Stand-by Agreement, the corresponding loan and its conditionality. Despite debates on the need for such agreement, implicit in the statements of the IMF and Turkey’s authorities, the fact is that they both want it. However, there is no deal yet, its conclusion being delayed by the Turkish government. The reason for such a delay is not the political cost of an IMF agreement, as is generally supposed: it is the lack of a compelling political benefit from announcing the decision early. Yet, the reluctance of the Turkish government risks coming at a cost for the recovery of the Turkish economy.

Islamic Conservative and Nationalist Views on Jews and Israel: Another Convergence of Perceptions?
Halil M. Karaveli and M. K. Kaya
The attitude toward the Jewish “other” offers a prism through which Turkey’s ideological affiliation may be appraised. The Islamic conservatives and the secularist nationalists come across as similarly apt to be suspicious of the Jewish “other”. They are parented heirs to an illiberal tradition that has flourished throughout the nominally secular republican era. The conclusion that imposes itself is that the Turkish modernization endeavor remains hampered by an inability to fully internalize the values of liberal, universal civilization.

What the Columnists Say
The role of the military in politics is once again at the focus of attention in the Turkish debate. The revelation that a blueprint for a coup may indeed have been prepared at the General staff has led to a more or less general condemnation of the perennial military habit of intervention in politics. Most columnists have taken it for granted that plans for the undermining of the AKP government – by means of agent provocateur operations directed against civil society – have indeed been made up at the General staff, although there are diverging views concerning the role of the Chief of the General staff General Ilker Basbug in the process. Several columnists demand his resignation. The tone of the public debate clearly suggests that the military is in the process of being politically marginalized, put on the defensive, and with the traditional deference to it belonging to a bygone era. 

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NEW Silk Road Paper published

Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey's Ergenekon Investigation, by Gareth H. Jenkins, August 2009.


The Turkey Analyst
The Turkey Analyst is a publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center, designed to bring authoritative analysis and news on the rapidly developing domestic and foreign policy issues in Turkey. It is published weekly, and includes a topical analysis, as well as translations and summaries of selected Turkish news reports. It is edited and compiled under the supervision of Svante E. Cornell, Halil M. Karaveli, and M. K. Kaya.

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The Joint Center
The Joint Center, created in 2005, is the product of the merger of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and the Silk Road Studies Program, at the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy.

The Turkey Initiative
The Joint Center launched a Turkey Initiative in 2006 in order to improve understand of Turkish domestic and foreign affairs in Europe and the United States.

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