Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran will become more acute in the years ahead. It is in this context that Turkey’s role as a secular power will become more important than ever.
The question of whether a government can and should enforce rules about personal morality is at the center of current political arguments in Turkey and the outcome of this dispute will determine the future direction of the country.
For Turkey, the U.S.-Russian agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons is at best incomplete and at worst a distraction from the real political goal: removing Assad from power.
Egypt’s morass, together with the unrest in Turkey, has plunged political Islam into a crisis of democratic confidence.
There are serious concerns in Ankara that Turkey’s security could be put at risk by a U.S.-led strike that is too limited in scope.
If a Security Council resolution for a military intervention in Syria is not realistic politically, there are at least three other options.
The United States has deemed the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons as “undeniable" and has taken measures to possibly strike the country.
Ubiquitous social media use is pulling back the curtain on governments' reliance on old tactics—policymakers can no longer rely on media censorship, public pressure, and overt force.
There is doubt whether the protests will have an imminent impact on Turkey’s parliamentary politics. But what is clear is that Turkish democracy has reached a new level of maturity by consolidating the peaceful right to dissent.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's shallow interpretation of democracy is the root of his current problems.
