The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 3 no. 12, 21 June 2010

ANALYSIS

The PKK Insurgency Enters A New Era
Halil M. Karaveli
On June 19, 2010, eleven Turkish soldiers were killed and sixteen wounded in an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on a gendarmerie outpost in Şemdinli, close to Turkey’s border with Iraq. The death toll was the highest in a single PKK attack for nearly two years and came amid increasing evidence of an intensification and a broadening of the organization’s 26 year-old insurgency, including both new methods and new categories of target.   

Medvedev's Visit Marks New Stage in Russian-Turkish Energy Partnership
Richard Weitz
From 11-12 May, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Ankara and met with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and other senior Turkish officials. The trip coincided with the signing of 17 agreements between the two countries, with the ones dealing with energy potentially having the most importance for their relationship. If these deals are fully implemented, Turkey would become even more dependent on Russia for its energy supplies, perhaps for decades to come. Turkish officials have resisted some of Moscow’s demands, but Ankara’s ability to pursue polices strongly opposed by Moscow on important Eurasian issues remains questionable.

What the Columnists Say
In the wake of the confrontation with Israel and of the Turkish no vote in the UN Security Council to new sanctions against Iran, Turkish commentators have been busy trying to make sense of the direction of Turkey’s foreign policy. A recurrent theme in many comments is that Turkey needs to appreciate that it is not a risk-free exercise to challenge American and Israeli interests, and several commentators have pointedly warned that the Kurdish problem makes Turkey vulnerable. Meanwhile, the Turkish pundits continue to assess the new leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. It is in particular worth noting that his views on secularism and on the role of the military have been well received by conservatives, while his nationalism and opposition to the Kurdish opening is putting off liberals. 

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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.

The Turkey Analyst wlecomes article submissions.

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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