The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 3 no. 18, 25 October 2010

ANALYSIS

Turkey and China Establish Strategic Partnership
Richard Weitz
The recent, unprecedented joint exercise between the Turkish and Chinese air forces is a signal event. Turkey and China are rapidly developing not only their economic relations, but the two countries have also been drawn closer by a shared ambition to question the Western-dominated world order. Although it is probable that U.S. pressure will ultimately work to constrain Turkey’s potential interest in developing close defense ties with China, the evolution of the Turkish-Chinese relationship may nonetheless have important geopolitical and strategic repercussions.

The AKP Promotes Headscarf at the Expense of Societal Cohesion
Halil M. Karaveli
Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is seeking to promote a secularist-conservative reconciliation. However, instead of seizing on the opportunity to advance the cause of mutual understanding and societal cohesion, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has chosen to uphold the battle line against the secularists. The maximalist response of the AKP to the CHP’s headscarf overture does not inspire any confidence that the victorious Sunni conservatives are ever going to bother to try to accommodate the losing side in the battle over Turkey’s identity.

What the Columnists Say
The recent Turkish debate has been entirely consumed by the matter of the Islamic headscarf. The ruling Justice and development party (AKP) has declined to allay the fears of the seculars that the ban on the headscarf in government offices and in high and elementary schools is eventually going to be lifted, now that the symbol of the Islamic movement has been accepted in the universities.  The insistence of the AKP to promote the freedom of the headscarf, while it neglects other aspects of democratization, has drawn sharp criticism from quarters that are usually supportive of the ruling party. Liberal commentators observe that the AKP understands freedom as being more or less exclusively about the headscarf.

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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 welcomes 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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