The Turkey Analyst

Vol. 4 no. 14, 11 July 2011

ANALYSIS

Turkey Faces Difficult Challenges In A Volatile Foreign Policy Environment
Richard Weitz
Foreign and defense policies did not figure prominently in the recent general election in Turkey. Most Turks seem satisfied with the more assertive role that their government has assumed in recent years, while Turkey’s weak opposition parties have yet to offer a coherent foreign policy alternative to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Still, Turkish leaders will not be able to escape foreign and defense issues given Turkey’s dependence on its foreign economic ties and its location as a “front-line” state bordering the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Balkans. The situation in Syria is the most sensitive one for Turkey, and it could notably disrupt Turkey’s otherwise harmonious relations with Iran. Another crucial question is how much pull NATO will exercise over Ankara’s foreign and defense policies.

A Different Path: Assessing Turkey’s Foreign Policy In Latin America
Ariel S. Gonzalez Levaggi
Never before have Turkey and Latin America been closer than they are at present. Latin America has become an indicator of the extension of Turkey’s capacity for global influence. The regular exchange of high level political visits, the increase of commerce and the slow but sustained advance of cultural relations lays the foundations of a political convergence. From a geopolitical standpoint, the most important emerging association is the one between Turkey and Brazil. The relation of the two rising powers is of significant relevance as they promote a multi-polar international order, and it will bestow accrued legitimacy on them at an international level. The re-elected government of the AKP has a great opportunity to further deepen Turkey’s relations with Latin America, generating opportunities for dialogue and participation on the international stage.

What the Columnists Say
The composition of the new Turkish cabinet and the refusal of the opposition CHP and BDP deputies to take their parliamentary oaths have dominated the political agenda in Turkey. However, it is generally expected that the parties will soon reach an agreement that settles the issue in the parliament. The statement last Friday by Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish insurgency, in which he exhorted the Kurdish BDP deputies to return to parliament, seemed to confirm these expectations. Meanwhile, the police operation against Aziz Yildirim, the president of the Fenerbahçe football club, who was taken into custody, has generated wide attention. Several commentators have drawn a parallel to the arrests of generals, writing that there are no longer any untouchable “aghas” in the new Turkey.

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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 by Halil M. Karaveli.

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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