Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
If Islamic State militants were to gain control of Syrian Kurdish areas, it would trigger a political earthquake among the Kurdish communities of Turkey and Western Europe.
The Islamic State is posing an unprecedented type of threat to the West, especially to European states. The European Union must respond by focusing on five key priorities.
Chaos has descended along Turkey’s frontier with Syria. That raises a number of questions about Ankara’s efforts to combat the Islamic State militants.
The incoming president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, hopes to improve foreign policy coordination among the EU institutions. That is a laudable aim.
The appointments of a new European Council president and EU foreign policy chief will impact EU-Turkey relations, but the critical test will be how both players respond to events in the Middle East.
Now that Erdogan has won the Turkish Presidency, the question is how he will restore Turkey’s relationship with its allies and what the future of Turkish foreign policy will be.
A reshuffled EU leadership and a new Turkish presidency could provide a much-needed opportunity for a revamped EU-Turkey relationship.
The declaration of a Middle Eastern caliphate has wide-reaching consequences for the region and the world. The West needs to realize the significance of what is happening.
Reducing the role of the EU institutions in foreign policy making has severely dented the union’s standing, credibility, and influence in the Arab world and beyond.
Whoever will be the next president of Turkey will have the difficult task of rebuilding trust with the EU. The challenge is linked to Turkey’s foreign and domestic policies.