The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 3 no. 1, 18 January 2010

ANALYSIS

As Dogan Yields, Turkish Media Freedom Plummets
Svante E. Cornell
Following billion-dollar fines and the prosecution of its owner, Turkey’s largest media group, Doğan Media, appears to have capitulated to the AKP government. Over the New Year holidays, personnel changes in DMG removed the most controversial individuals from managerial and editorial duties, while the sale of a large chunk of the company’s assets to a pro-government business was being prepared. The fall of the remaining large independent media group in the country is not an isolated incident, but the completion of a systematic trend beginning already in 2004.

Turkey and Russia Deepen Energy Partnership
Richard Weitz
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s January 12-13 visit to Moscow did not achieve a major breakthrough in bilateral relations, but it did highlight Russia’s emerging role as Turkey’s leading energy partner. The two governments made further progress on several important joint energy projects. At the same time, evidence persists of continuing differences between Turkish and Russian officials over Nagorno-Karabakh, partly due to the diverging energy interests involved. Overall, the visit did not alter the mixture of overt friendship and restrained competition that has characterized Turkish-Russian energy relations during the last decade.

What the Columnists Say
The decision of the constitutional court to close down the Kurdish Democratic society party (DTP) and the ambush in which seven Turkish soldiers were killed have dominated the Turkish political scene. Notably, several liberal commentators have leveled harsh criticism at the PKK, which they accuse of colluding with the forces of Turkish nationalism in ambushing the “democratic opening” of the government. In general, the closure decision has been interpreted as proof that the “democratic opening” does not enjoy the support of the state establishment. Several commentators have noted that recent developments have above all served to make it plain that the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan remains the most important Kurdish political player. 

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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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