The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 2 no. 22, 7 December 2009

ANALYSIS

Not Yet Lost: Turkey's Foreign Policy and the West
Hüseyin Bağcı
Turkey’s recent international initiatives and not least its “openings” to neighbors with whom relations have traditionally been less than friendly, signal a qualitative as well as quantitative change of what was once a defensive and cautious foreign policy. Turkish as well as international observers are experiencing difficulties as they try to make sense of what is perceived as Turkey’s “new orientation”. Although it may be tempting to conclude that Turkey is being “lost” for the West, the country does in fact remain a principally Western power, albeit one that enjoys a much greater room for maneuver in the international arena than ever before.

Demographics Account for Turkey's Growing Clout
Rafis Abazov
Recent Turkish foreign policy initiatives have asserted the country’s growing influence in its neighborhood.  One of the important, yet overlooked, factors that underpin Turkey’s growing clout in international affairs is the demographic dynamics. Today’s Turkey is a country of about 76 million people, up from 56.5 million in 1990, making it the second largest European NATO country after Germany. However, the recent report by the UNFPA estimates that by 2050 the population of Turkey will reach 100 million people, making it the largest country in Europe outside Russia. This change has important implications that will affect the new geopolitical and geo-economic balance in Europe. However, although demographics offer Turkey an advantage, it also calls for well-balanced economic policies.

What the Columnists Say
The fate of the “Kurdish opening” and its implications for societal peace and national unity remains the major preoccupation of the Turkish commentators. In the wake of several incidents of inter-communal violence between Turks and Kurds in the western parts of the country, and not least the attacks on a convoy carrying representatives of the Kurdish DTP in Izmir, the specter of a looming civil war has come to haunt the commentators. The hopeful atmosphere of recent months has all but evaporated, with dire warnings about the future increasingly setting the tone of the debate. 

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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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