The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 3 no. 5, 15 March 2010

ANALYSIS

Implications of the Failed Turkish-Armenian Normalization Process
Svante E. Cornell
In spite of great hopes and much foreign pressure, the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process can be said to have failed to bring about its intended result. Under current circumstances, the likelihood of the ratification of the Protocols signed in August 2009 is close to nil, barring some major turn of events. It is therefore time to reflect on the reasons that the process failed; and the implications for Turkey and the wider region. The process itself is in fact illustrative of the erroneous assumptions that Western political leaders appear to have harbored about regional realities.

Turkey's Missile Defense Challenges
Richard Weitz
By dint of geography and its strategic relations, Turkey has assumed a pivotal role in Europe’s future ballistic missile defense (BMD) architecture. The United States has been lobbying Ankara to participate in its program within a NATO framework, while Iran and Russia have encouraged Turkey to keep its distance from Washington’s BMD plans. Turkish officials have strived to balance these competing forces while leveraging them to advance Turkey’s own regional security interests.

What the Columnists Say
Subsequent to the Armenian genocide votes in the U.S. House Foreign relations committee and in the Swedish parliament, the Armenian question has become a major topic in the Turkish debate. It is in particular noteworthy that the AKP government has come under strong criticism for having issued stark condemnations of the Armenian resolutions. Commentators who are supportive of the liberal reforms of the AKP find it incomprehensible and repulsive that Prime Minister Erdoğan and Foreign minister Davutoğlu have taken upon them to defend the Young Turks, the nationalists that ruled the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Another topical issue is the realignment of power in the country; the general consensus is that the recent arrests of high ranking military officers signal the end of the regime of military tutelage. 

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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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