The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 4 no. 2, 24 January 2011

ANALYSIS

AKP Seeks to Control Society - But Can It?
Halil M. Karaveli
The liberals who were instrumental in legitimating the ascension of the Justice and development party (AKP) are now dramatically revoking their support for the Islamic conservatives. Its erstwhile allies accuse the AKP of seeking to reintroduce a culturally conservative version of the old regime of state tutelage. Yet it is simply beyond the power of the state to impose an ideological straitjacket on Turkey, be it Kemalist or Islamist.

Turkish Influence in Iraq Surges
Richard Weitz
Though not pursuing an overt or perhaps even deliberate policy of balancing Iran, Turkey has managed to overcome years of tense ties with Iraq and emerge as a major force in that country’s political, economic, and cultural life.  Whereas the Shiite members of the new Iraqi government seek to limit the influence of the Persian Gulf monarchies, and non-Shiite leaders want to constrain Iranian influence in their country, neither they nor any other influential Iraqi group oppose Turkey’s growing sway in their country. As it quietly helps to keep Iraq out of Tehran’s orbit and by linking Baghdad to the West, Ankara is set to increase its own regional influence and, potentially, enhance its value as a strategic partner of Western and Persian Gulf governments.

What the Columnists Say
The main issue of the debate in Turkey lately has been whether or not the country’s liberal intellectuals and the ruling Justice and development party’s (AKP) have definitely parted ways and if the AKP has betrayed the liberals’ hopes and expectations. The AKP is being severely arraigned by its erstwhile liberal supporters who accuse the governing party of having reverted to old fashioned Turkish nationalism and of attempting to impose a religiously imposed order on society. Meanwhile, the conservatives retort that the liberals are overreacting and that the AKP, being a conservative democrat party, in fact cannot be expected to adhere to everything that the liberals hold dear.

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NEW Silk Road Paper published

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by Halil M. Karaveli, October 2010.



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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