Download or read book Insight Turkey 2015 Summer 2015 Vol 17 No 3 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a radio broadcast in 1939 Winston Churchill defined Russia in a famous quip as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ The chain of metaphors in Churchill’s famous maxim was to point the difficulty of making sense of the great political transformation Russia had gone through. Though perplexed, Churchill had a key to solve the Russian riddle: the national interest or more precisely ‘historic-life interests.’ The ‘new Middle East’ is also a riddle inside an enigma rolled up in a puzzle mat. The former is difficult to grasp even with metaphors. The national interest is not a ‘key’ either, for it appears more of a political ploy than an analytical edifice that can hardly be applicable to the haplessly artificial regional states. The enigma of the ‘Arab Spring,’ the mystery of the ISIL, the riddle of Russian intervention in Syria and the puzzle of Turkish national interests in the Middle East are few items in the long list of explanandum.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2015 Spring 2015 Vol 17 No 2 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy security, at the heart of energy policy, has become central to the dynamics of international relations. Political turmoil has overwhelmed many oil and gas producing countries, forcing them to adapt their national energy policies according to this continuous change. Specifically, because of the wars and instability in the Middle East and the Ukrainian crisis, global energy security is no longer guaranteed. One of the foremost experts on the energy industry, Daniel Yergin, identifies energy security as “the availability of sufficient supplies at affordable prices.” He also comments that every country interprets the definition of energy security with its own dynamics. In practice, the definition of energy security is polysemic and the topic of energy security is being explored daily, under the lens of numerous new studies, by scholars, energy experts, government officials, activists, and journalists.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2015 Fall 2015 Vol 17 No 4 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Last year was the year of elections in Turkey with two parliamentary elections and months-long electoral campaigns that dominated the political agenda of the country. The parliamentary elections of June 7, 2015 brought an end to the AK Party’s 12-year long era of parliamentary majority and single-party government in Turkey. Nevertheless, the endeavors to form a coalition government could not be concluded successfully and another election appeared on the horizon. The country was ruled by an AK Party-led interim government and the elections were repeated five months later on November 1, 2015. While close in time, the two elections were quite distant with regard to the political contexts in which they were carried out, and in their respective results. The November elections witnessed a comeback for the AK Party, which increased its votes by over 9 points with the addition of five million new votes in the ballot box.

Download or read book Troubled Waters written by Mehran Kamrava and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text examines the causes and consequences of each of those dynamics, both individually and collectively, that have made this small waterway and its surrounding areas one of the most volatile and tension-filled regions in the world. This pervasive insecurity, the book argues, is largely a product of four interrelated developments.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2017 Summer 2017 Vol 19 No 4 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Reclaiming the Region: Russia, the West and the Middle East” – The Latest Issue of Insight Turkey Is Published In its last issue of 2017, Insight Turkey discusses Russia who has a strong say in many fields and how it steers international politics. This special issue of Insight Turkey aims to discuss the continuities and changes in Russia’s foreign policy priorities and strategies since the end of the Cold War. Richard Sakwa, Igor Torbakov, Emre Erşen and Nikolay Kozhanov analyze some of the most current events. More specifically they address Russia’s relations with the Trump administration, Europe, Turkey and Iran respectively. Additionally, Yury Barmin and Muhammet Koçak on their papers deal with some crucial topics such as Russia’s oil policies and the security narratives on Islam in Russia. Three off-topic commentaries and one off-topic article finish off the dossier for this issue. Tun Khin in his commentary assesses the genocide taking place in Burma. The commentary of Othman Ali focuses on another important topic: the conflict in Kirkuk, which is under the rule of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Arguing on the importance that Kirkuk maintains for Turkey, Ali gives suggestions on the options Turkey has and how this matter could be resolved. Venezuela crisis, another important crisis of the last month, is brought to the readers through the commentary of Oliver Stuenkel. Lastly, Beril Dedeoğlu and Tolga Bilener portray the integration process between India and ASEAN. “Reclaiming the Region: Russia, the West and the Middle East,” is the last issue for 2017, which has been a very successful year for Insight Turkey. As with the previous issues, we trust that our readers will find this issue informative and constructive!

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2017 Summer 2017 Vol 19 No 3 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Trump’s America” – The Latest Issue of Insight Turkey Is Published In this issue, Insight Turkey, deals with the events in world politics with the interpretation of Turkish and foreign authors. The issue discusses how U.S. President Donald Trump won the presidential election, and the changes and challenges that Trump brought to the U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Inderjeet Parmar, Lütfi Sunar and Tuncay Kardaş focus on the internal issues that the U.S. is facing under the Trump Presidency. Parmar addresses the legitimacy crisis of the American elite while Sunar emphasizes the effectiveness of Trump's election campaign by alienating Muslims living in the United States. On the other hand, Kardaş examines Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential Election in the context of cultural, political and structural factors. Moving towards the international affairs, Mustafa Kibaroğlu and Tom Sauer justify why Trump should remove the nuclear weapons form Europe, while Andreas Krieg and Samuel S. Kim analyze the U.S.’ foreign policies towards the Middle East and China, respectively. This issue of Insight Turkey also examines some current events in the world politics. Abdallah Marouf Omar examines the resistance Palestinian Muslims have given on the restrictions imposed by the Israeli forces regarding the entrance in the al-Aqsa Mosque. Moreover, Talip Küçükcan reviews the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative project and the main opportunities and challenges that the participatory states will face in context of the Middle East. Emrah Kekilli scrutinizes the Libyan crisis and how regional and global actors have been a big influence on the instability Libya has faced in this period. By focusing on the main elements of both the Gülen structure and Kemalism, Çaylak ve Dinç, make a comparison between these two. Lastly, Hamza Preljević evaluates the results of the Serbian genocide in Bosnia and the efforts of religious communities to provide peace and security in a divided society, with a special focus on the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina We trust that our readers will find this issue informative and constructive!

Download or read book Insight Turkey Winter 2018 Vol 20 No 3 Fault Lines in The European Union written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union is a success story. It brought enemy countries together, combined their powers, fostered economic and social development, successfully competed with the American market and also resisted against the Soviet expansionism. As the most developed supranational international organization in modern history, the EU maintained Europe at the center of world politics. With the end of the Cold War, the member states attempted to transform the organization from an economic institution into a political and military structure having the ultimate goal to create a federal state-like institution. However, after unexpected changes in the global system and the emergence of new political actors, the EU began to experience many difficulties. As a result, today the EU is in a political deadlock and it seems that the continental unity achieved by the EU has begun to shatter. The reasons behind this are several. First of all, increasing illiberalism and authoritarianism in the West began to threaten the main liberal values that provide the expedient environment for social development and also for peaceful coexistence. The increase of xenophobia, racism, fascism, ultra-nationalism, and anti-Islamism uncovered the illiberal European traditions. As a result we now witness a division not only between Europeans and non-Europeans, but also between Europeans themselves. Namely, there are many fault lines, which divide and alienate the European countries from one another. For instance, there is an increasing friction between relatively robust economies of the north and volatile economies of the south. Second, the member states of the EU have lost their common other/enemy. Throughout the Cold War most European countries stood behind the U.S. in order to struggle against all global and regional threats such as the spread of communism and the expansionism of the Soviet Union. However, today European countries have different national priorities. For instance, while some European countries have begun to spend more in their defense budget, others refuse to increase their defense allocation and continue to prioritize economic development. A similar division can be seen in terms of the stance towards Russia. Third, the future of the EU is closely associated with the future of NATO. Maintaining the unity in military and security issues requires cooperation in other sectors, especially in the economy. Many European countries are not happy with what the U.S. does regarding NATO. The Trump Administration has been following a nationalist, unilateral and therefore conflictual economic policy towards Europe. Considering the European trade surplus with the U.S, Trump declared Europe “as bad as China.” These developments have further deepened the gap between the EU and the U.S. Fourth, the EU institutionalization was at its peak after the collapse of the Cold War system and the EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, it faced important challenges stemming from new topics such as defense and foreign policy, and the accession of possible new members. Following the accession of Eastern European states, the gap between the most advanced members and relatively less developed states widened. Consequently, the EU lost its attractiveness for many European states and the British, who did not want to share the burden of other member states, decided to leave the EU. This was the first step towards disintegration of the EU and this backward tendency will most probably continue. Fifth, due to increasing shallowness and mediocrity, European politics has lost its visionary outlook and strategic depth. The new generation of European politicians on the whole lack the visionary outlook of the previous generations. They are trapped in conjuncture and populist policies with short-term concerns or gains. That is, they just try to save the day. This new political elite in Europe does not believe in EU values such as pluralism and the win-win strategy. Some EU members are reluctant to share the burden of other members. Southern tier EU countries have been experiencing economic problems and struggling against the influx of refugees, but the northern tier countries are relatively free of these problems and do not want to import these issues into their domestic politics. Last but not least, European countries have been otherizing migrants and foreigners. In this context Turkey has been considered as the main ‘other’ for many years. It seems that when it comes to Turkey, the EU institutions and member countries freeze most of their differences and problems, and prioritize Turkey’s domestic and foreign developments. The new generation of politicians welcomes the increase of ultra-nationalism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, anti-Islamism and anti-Turkism. Even mainstream politicians have begun to normalize this tendency and as such the animosity against Islam and Turkey is becoming widespread all over Europe. With these in mind, this new issue of Insight Turkey aims at providing a general framework regarding some of the most important issues that have a direct impact on the future of the EU, including here: German hegemony after Brexit, cyber security, EU relations with Turkey and the U.S. and the rise of the radical right. Simon Bulmer’s commentary focuses on the sources of German hegemony within the EU after Brexit to later suggest two possible scenarios, namely the Franco-German partnership’s revival or a form of German hegemony. André Barrinha, in his commentary, touches upon a very interesting topic that has gained a lot of importance lately. Cyber security has emerged as the focus of many western organizations, especially for the EU as they perceive Russia as a direct threat in cyberspace. In this context, Barrinha analyzes the response of the EU to the Russian threat and its effectiveness. Trump’s arrival has created a lot of chaos in the world and we witness the decomposition of liberal values every day. In such an environment, U.S.-EU alliance is facing many difficulties and the cracks are becoming more visible. Kılıç Buğra Kanat has presented a brief analysis on the transatlantic relations and contends that unpredictability is now considered the defining characteristic of the U.S. attitude toward Europe. Remaining within the context of the transatlantic relations, Şafak Oğuz’s article focuses on the missile defense system of NATO, entitled the EPAA and argues that it is one of the key regional missile defense projects for the U.S., which claims to protect Europe from the Iranian ballistic missile threat but actually is designed to protect the American homeland, and targets Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles with nuclear warheads. The standoff in the Turkey-EU relations has been present for some years now. By focusing on the topic of the customs union, Ciğdem Nas and Serdar Altay, present a brief analysis and suggestions for a possible new agreement between Turkey and the EU. In her commentary, Çiğdem Nas, contends that the upgrade of the customs union could bring a breath of fresh air to Turkey-EU relations and reignite the process of Turkey’s gradual integration into the EU. While arguing on the necessity of the upgrade of the customs union, Altay states that since membership is no longer an option, the sole contractual framework that will bind Turkey and the EU for the foreseeable future will be an upgraded customs union. As mentioned above, the rise of the far right constitutes a serious threat to European unity and as a result, to the EU itself. In the light of this, Aristotle Kallis addresses the EU’s policies toward the rising far right and argues that the EU needs to take into consideration the causes of citizen resentment without adopting the language and logic of the right wing populists. The article of Sertan Akbaba provides a more detailed analysis of the now dominant discourses in Europe used by the leaders of the far right parties, mainly in Netherlands, Finland, Italy and Hungary. The main targets of these populist discourses have been the Muslim people living in the European countries, for this reason in this issue we bring to our readers two compelling perspectives. On the one hand, Pamela Irving Jackson and Pete Doerschler provide qualitative and quantitative evidence of European identification by Muslims in France, Austria and the Netherlands as a response to the far right political mobilization. On the other hand, Enes Bayraklı, Farid Hafez and Léonard Faytre evaluate how the governments in Austria, France and Germany have tried to assimilate the Muslims living in these states via specific laws and institutions. According to them, the underlying message of these policies is the fact that European states consider the Muslims a security threat to the state and society. The weakening and defeat of ISIS will ironically have a negative impact on European security. This is what Kyle Orton has argued in his article. After providing a detailed analysis of the terrorist organization PKK and its offshoots, Orton explains how the foreign fighters that fought in Syria against ISIS are now going back in their homelands, mainly Europe, becoming a serious threat to its security. Hakan Samur in his article evaluates the stance of the Kurdish people living in Turkey towards Turkey’s membership of the EU. Based on the research field that the author has conducted, Samur concludes by saying that while the Kurds are somewhat distrustful and skeptical toward the EU, they continue to support EU membership. The Balkans is one of the most important regions within Europe and it has a direct impact on European security, economy and policies. However, for a long time people living in this region have fought each other. In response to this, Mirsad Kriještorac, in optimistic tones, argues that in order to move past the enmity that has characterized the Balkans, it is necessary to display the region’s religious and ethnic diversity as an inherent quality, and a building block of cooperation and progress. Lastly, this issue of Insight Turkey brings an analysis of the June 24 elections in Turkey from the pen of Fahrettin Altun. After approximately one year since the Turkish people approved the transition to the presidential system in the April 16 referendum, in a consolidated majority Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the first president of the new Turkey. For those interested in Turkish politics, Altun’s commentary provides a general background to the new presidential system, the electoral campaign of the parties that participated in the elections and the impact that the results of these elections will have on Turkish politics. In conclusion, internal and external threats have weakened the EU and its political discourse of pluralism and peaceful coexistence. Furthermore, continental and global conjunctures are also at work against the principles of the EU. For this reason, it is possible that one questions the effectiveness and future of the EU. We are confident that this issue of Insight Turkey provides in depth information on important issues that are directly related to the EU and should be read carefully by anyone interested in the EU policies and its future.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2016 Summer 2016 Vol 18 No 3 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The date of July 15, 2016 is a watershed in the history of democracy as well as in the history of Turkey. On the night of July 15, the world witnessed an exceptional and historic event. The Turkish people heroically stood up against the brutal coup plotters; they became an example for other peoples on how to defend your nation and on what is the real meaning of national self-determination. At the same time, they gave a valuable lesson to the Western governments on how to support a democratically elected government. But more than anything, Turkish people proved to themselves that it is they who decide for themselves, for their future. After all, isn’t that what democracy is all about? The memory of what happened on July 15 will never be erased from the minds and hearts of the people who were in Turkey that night. We all lost someone on the night of July 15 –a mother, a father, a child, a friend or someone that we did not even know but we broke into tears when we saw them giving their life for this country.

Download or read book Insight Turkey Summer 2022 Embracing Emerging Technologies written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically speaking, technology has been one of the main determinants in international politics due to its impact on economic development and warfare. However, lately, its preponderancy is becoming more inclusive considering that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) Internet of Things (IoT), big data, blockchain, 3D printing, etc. are evolving faster than ever. From the Ukraine-Russia war and the energy crisis to the global economic and social crisis to the deepening great powers rivalry, all point to the importance of emerging technologies. Specifically, technology has become a key asset in the framework of international relations, and the so-called technopolitics –the entanglement of technology with politics– is impacting global affairs at the international and national levels. Primarily, emerging technologies have a transformative impact on the actors of the international order. While the existing Western-led international system had at its core the Westphalian principles, with states as the main actors, it is expected that in the close future this will be challenged by the tech giants who are now driving the technological revolution. Considering the state’s dependency on tech giants for the development of emerging technologies and the impact of these technologies on economic development and national security, it is understandable that the power of tech giants will increase. So, when faced with an international crisis, states and international/regional institutions will not be the only actors sitting at the table. Furthermore, the structure and hierarchy of the international system will be shaped by the evolution of technology. Seen both from the economic and military perspectives, the early adoption of these emerging technologies will provide a strategic advantage for the early users, which undoubtedly is directly reflected in the power of states and their position within the existing order. While some states become more successful than others in the production, development, and adoption of these technologies, the hierarchy between states will change as well, leading to a new global order. The ongoing great power competition –especially between the U.S. and China– can be understood within this framework as it would not be wrong to assert that technological competition is the main ground of rivalry. Both states consider technological development as the main asset to achieve their national goal, for the U.S. it is to maintain its leadership in the existing system; while China aims to leapfrog the U.S. and become a superpower. As technology shapes and changes the relations among states, so will other aspects of politics be affected, such as diplomacy and warfare. While the creation and advancement of the Metaverse are considered to revolutionize diplomacy, the application of artificial intelligence in the military is indeed revolutionizing warfare. As mentioned previously the proper and quick adoption of these emerging technologies in the political agenda is directly related to the reflection of a state’s power in the international system. In this context, lagging in this technological revolution would be detrimental to a state. Türkiye is one of the few states that is not only aware of the benefits of the early adoption of the new technologies but has also taken important steps in this regard. Becoming official in 2019, Türkiye has announced its policies called “National Technology Initiative” and “Digital Türkiye.” Both policies are impacting every sector of life in Türkiye –i.e., industry, health, education, defense, etc.– and aim to transform the state’s technological future by using its local capacities to produce high-tech products. As a result, Türkiye will gain more economic and technological independence which will place Türkiye among the most technologically developed states in the future. To illustrate this point, Türkiye’s defense industry has been revolutionized within the concept of the National Technology Initiative. Henceforth, today Türkiye has become one of the leading global actors in terms of the production and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The impact of the emerging technologies in every aspect of human life is unequivocal, however, this special issue of Insight Turkey will focus mainly on how technopolitics is shaping the states’ policies, with a special focus on Türkiye. Within this context, this issue includes 8 research papers and 5 commentaries, all of which offer a novel perspective on the subjects they address. Our commentary section features two on-topic and three off-topic pieces. In his inquisitive commentary, Richard A. Bitzinger seeks to illustrate how the technologies incorporated into the upcoming 4th industrial revolution, and AI in particular, promise to represent a radical paradigm shift in the form and conduct of combat in the future. Bitzinger’s analysis makes it clear that these technologies will probably also have a significant influence on international rivalries between large powers, aspirational regional actors, or governments who view technology as a vital force multiplier. This analysis, we believe, will shed light on how new and emerging critical technologies are challenging the traditional warfighting paradigm, as well as how militaries can access and leverage these innovations. In our second on-topic commentary Bruno Maçães challenges readers to consider climate change and its impact on global politics bravely and originally. According to Maçães, we cannot refer to climate change as a byproduct of the Anthropocene, the world that humans have created. Because of our limited potential to influence natural processes and consequent inability to control the unintended effects of our activities and decisions, climate change is still fundamentally a natural phenomenon that humans have only just begun to cause. Intriguingly, Maçães contends that joining the Anthropocene for the first time, as opposed to leaving it, is the solution to the climate problem. Our research articles cover a wide range of topics that are all important to the relationship between technological advancements and global politics. In the first paper of the line, Erman Akıllı launches a stimulating conversation about the future success of the Metaverse, which depends, according to the author, on the creation of universes that are founded on global organizations or regional integrations rather than monopolization. Instead of offering quick fixes, Akıllı poses some tough questions. For instance, he raises our attention to unanswered questions regarding state sovereignty in general and the issue of how a state can exercise its sovereign authority in the Metaverse. The author also emphasizes the vast prospects that the metaverse offers for nations to engage in cultural diplomacy. In line with this, the author describes efforts to build the Turkoverse, a metaverse based on the Turkic world, which would allow for unrestricted movement of people and goods inside the Turkic World while eliminating the physical gap between member states’ capitals. In the upcoming article, Javadbay Khalilzade describes how UAVs, or combat drones have proliferated and how this has changed and shaped modern warfare. The article looks at Türkiye as a manufacturer and active user of UAVs in wars in Africa and the Middle East. The case study in the article also looks at Azerbaijan, a third-tier small state that depends on drone exports but is ambitious enough to use drones to make its presence felt in the region and liberate its lands. The article makes the case that drones give militaries a tactical edge, improve combat precision, and broaden the arsenals available for fighting insurgencies; yet drone proliferation also makes states more prone to conflict and compromises regional peace and security. In the following research article, Nezir Akyeşilmen investigates the documents, policies, strategies, measures, and organizational structures of Türkiye’s national cybersecurity strategy. Is Türkiye’s cybersecurity strategy properly designed to deal with the new security environment in the hyper-anarchic world of cyberspace? Following a thorough examination of Türkiye’s cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses, Akyeşilmen responds prudently to this question: Türkiye’s technical performance is relatively weaker than its legal performance, necessitating the development and implementation of a centralized cybersecurity strategy by a large and powerful institution. Following Akyeşilmen’s insightful criticism, Ali Burak Darıcılı evaluates the Turkish National Intelligence Organization’s (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) increasing operational capacity in the context of high-technology products. Darıcılı concludes that MİT’s domestic technology capabilities have made a significant contribution to Türkiye’s counter-terrorism activities, achievement of regional foreign policy goals, deployment of hard power in the field when necessary, and efforts to become a proactive actor in the region. Then, Cenay Babaoğlu questions how the pandemic process has affected the increasing digitalization of public administrations with the rising use of technology in administrative functions as our focus shifts from security to public administration. The author recalls that, with support from both supply and demand, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a driving force in government digitalization. As the author explains, following this trend, and particularly with the transition to the Presidential Government System in 2018, the Presidency Digital Transformation Office, which was established as the coordinator of digital transformation, played an important role in Türkiye during the pandemic. In what follows, Narmina Mamishova examines Türkiye’s vaccine diplomacy and its role in the country’s efforts to maintain and expand its stakes in the global power configuration. Highlighting how, since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, public health has emerged as a key issue of discourse among states, the authors show how Türkiye has managed to consolidate its strength in the international arena through both skillful balancing in terms of vaccine deals and well-packaged humanitarian efforts. The author argues that Türkiye has been successful in achieving this through persevering in the pursuit of a proactive, comprehensive policy, in which the sole standard for a move’s legitimacy would be its alignment with the nation’s national interests. As we shine a spotlight on the economy in the post-COVID-19 era, Bilal Bagis focuses on the ways a new instrument, central bank digital currency, is projected to improve contemporary payment systems, strengthen the effectiveness of the monetary policy, and assure financial stability in the new period. Following the 2008 Crisis and the 2020 Pandemic, as well as innovations such as the all-new cryptocurrencies and stable coins, many central banks have expressed an interest in introducing their own digital money, according to the paper. Anticipating that physical currencies will inevitably be digitalized, one way or the other, the author poses a valid question: “why not embrace the trend and the new technology, regulate and then make sure digital currencies satisfy all the functions of a regular conventional physical currency?” In a similar spirit, in our final research paper, Mehmet Rıda Tür makes the prediction that AI will soon overtake humans as the primary decision-makers in the energy sector. For the author, making the energy system more flexible and establishing a smart supply system with domestic and renewable energy resources at its core is necessary to prevent any bottlenecks in satisfying the energy demand of all countries including Türkiye. From our off-topic pieces, Mahmut Özer, the Minister of National Education of Türkiye, elaborates on the process of universalization from elementary to higher education in Türkiye, describing how it gave priority to areas with comparatively lower rates of schooling by making large investments and carrying out large initiatives. Özer explains how, because of recent changes the nation has undergone in the education sector, Türkiye’s educational system has been able to overcome the difficulties it had inherited from the past and has strengthened its capacity to become even more effective and equitable for all pupils. In the following off-topic commentary, Nurşin Ateşoğlu Güney focused on the most recent achievement of Türkiye in bringing the warring sides of Ukraine and Russia to an agreement on the transfer of grain from Ukraine’s ports. Güney contends that this is a result of Ankara’s long-standing sensible approach of maintaining communication with both capitals despite hostilities to maintain access to both. She concludes that the prospect of growing food scarcity conditions and subsequently the projected worldwide crisis appears to have been avoided for the time being thanks to Türkiye’s effective mediating performance, which will also be conducive to alleviating the negative conditions caused by the likelihood of food shortages in locations like Egypt, Lebanon, and elsewhere. The political and strategic repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine are examined by Sabrina P. Ramet and Aleksander Zdravkovski in the final commentary. The authors claim that because of the war in Ukraine, Serbia may now see an opportunity to conclude some unfinished business. Serbia has recently been buying weapons from China and Russia for this purpose, and it has also tried to buy 12 fighter jets from France. The recent armaments buildup by Serbia is unlikely to be for defensive purposes, as the writers draw our attention to the fact that none of Serbia’s neighbors or any other states for that matter pose a threat to Serbia. All things considered, we endeavored to explore as many facets as possible of the interplay between new technology advancements and Turkish technopolitics in the Summer 2022 issue of Insight Turkey. We hope and believe that the insightful and stimulating debates raised on the issue will be helpful to our readers.

Download or read book Avoiding The Terrorist Trap Why Respect For Human Rights Is The Key To Defeating Terrorism written by Thomas David Parker and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 922 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'This book makes uncomfortable reading both in its detailed analysis of terrorism and its causes, and in the critique of state responses, particularly in modern times. It is unusual to have such a defence of a 'human rights framework' from a counter-terrorism practitioner rather than from within the legal fraternity. It is this that makes the case even more persuasive. All who are involved in counter-terrorism strategy should consider carefully the arguments put forward.'Global Policy JournalFor more than 150 years, nationalist, populist, Marxist and religious terrorists have all been remarkably consistent and explicit about their aims: provoke states into over-reacting to the threat they pose, then take advantage of the divisions in society that result. Yet, state after state falls into the trap that terrorists have set for them. Faced with a major terrorist threat, governments seem to reach instinctively for the most coercive tools at their disposal and, in doing so, risk exacerbating the situation. This policy response seems to be driven in equal parts by a lack of understanding in the true nature of the threat, an exaggerated faith in the use of force, and a lack of faith that democratic values are sufficiently flexible to allow for an effective counter-terrorism response. Drawing on a wealth of data from both historical and contemporary sources, Avoiding the Terrorist Trap addresses common misconceptions underpinning flawed counter-terrorist policies, identifies the core strategies that guide terrorist operations, consolidates the latest research on the underlying drivers of terrorist violence, and then demonstrates why a counter-terrorism strategy grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law is the most effective approach to defeating terrorism.

Download or read book Georgetown Journal of International Affairs written by Margaret Schaack and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-24 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Each issue of the journal provides readers with a diverse array of timely, peer-reviewed content penned by top policymakers, business leaders, and academic luminaries.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2020 03 Transformation of Turkey s Defense Industry written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turkey’s contemporary defense and military strategy can be best understood as a result of the historical process the country has experienced. This historical process has significantly altered the security environment surrounding Turkey while transforming her alliance relations, ultimately producing a new political vision for the country and a defense and military strategy that serves this vision. Firstly, although the end of the Cold War and the ensuing dissolution of the Soviet Union has ameliorated international security, Turkey was faced with both conventional and asymmetric threats on multiple fronts. This situation kept defense spending of the country at record levels despite military expenditures within NATO showing a rapid decline. On the other hand, the emerging political geography led to a series of new conflicts erupting in several hotspots, from the Balkans through to the Caucasus and the Middle East. Emerging conflicts were thought to require a common response which precipitated NATO’s evolution from a collective defense organization to a collective security organization. Concurrently, it meant that Turkey would actively join NATO’s new missions ranging from the peaceful resolution of disputes to stability operations with expeditionary forces featured by mobility, jointness, and readiness. Secondly, the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the U.S. created profound ramifications for Turkey’s regional security and her alliance relations. In particular, the American military occupation of Iraq jeopardized Turkey’s national security by effectively removing the political authority of that country and dismantling the Iraqi army. While the emerging political vacuum was filled by sectarian politics, the scarcity of security was exploited by the PKK, consolidating its presence in northern Iraqi territories. Divided Iraq has also transformed into a breeding ground for international terrorism which resulted in the rise of various extremist armed organizations, including ISIS. Thirdly, since the so-called Arab spring started in the early 2010s, the political and security landscape of the Middle East and North Africa has undergone significant changes. While the overthrow of dictators led to intra-state conflicts in several places, it was particularly the civil war in Syria that alarmed Turkish decision-makers due to its transformation into a safe haven for various terrorist groups operating at Turkey’s southern frontiers. Bereft of concrete ally support, Turkey unilaterally launched military operations into northern Syria in order to eliminate ISIS elements as well as curbing the long-term territorial ambitions of the PKK. The Arab spring has also aggravated previous tensions and engendered various factions that facilitated new alignments which is the case for today’s Eastern Mediterranean and Arab-Israeli relations. Against the backdrop of these considerations, Turkey’s contemporary defense and military strategy has been formed. In general, this strategy lays down the principles of using military force to support the political aims of the country. It operates as a “bridge” between policy and operation, in a classical sense. And that strategy is now not just informed by protecting the territorial integrity of the nation but has wider objectives, including enhancing the country’s international standing as well as achieving strategic autonomy. This in turn has necessitated new tools that extend beyond a sole deterrent force, namely military activism, and defense industry investments, along with the contribution to international security and commitments to the NATO alliance. The summer issue of Insight Turkey aims to explain the changing dynamics of Turkey’s military and defense strategy by taking into consideration current foreign and security policy practices of Turkey in the Middle East and North Africa region. More specifically, this issue is an attempt to develop a new framework to understand Turkey’s revolution in its military and defense strategies. Hulusi Akar, the Minister of National Defense of Turkey, in his commentary sheds light on the global and regional developments that threaten Turkey’s peace and stability and which contributed to shaping its defense strategy. A strategy that targets finding common solutions to international problems in a collaborative way. Akar gives special attention to the contribution of the distinguished, deterrent, efficient, motivated, well-trained, and disciplined Armed Forces that are equipped with high-level weaponry produced domestically using national resources. Within the context of the Turkish Defense Industry’s strong historical background, İsmail Demir highlights the transformation and rationality of the Turkish Defense Industry. He emphasizes the necessity of addressing the recent rise of the Turkish Defense Industry in two different but interrelated periods. The first provided the defense industry with strong support with an extremely decisive and long-term projection. The second represents the transformation of the expectations from the defense industry, in coordination with the changing position and function of the defense industry in bureaucratic mechanisms. Michaël Tanchum’s commentary is a coherent and rigorous analysis of the logical result of Turkey’s post-Cold War strategic reorientation, presented in its new expeditionary capability of enhanced naval capacity and new forward bases. Michaël examines Ankara’s challenge of calibrating the use of its hard power instruments to serve its post-Lausanne strategic orientation toward establishing Turkey-centered, inter-regional connectivity. In the middle of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Minister of Health of the Republic of Turkey, Fahrettin Koca, underscores the role of Turkey in the management of COVID-19. His commentary asserts that Turkey has successfully contained the COVID-19 pandemic and prevented devastating consequences due to its idiosyncratic approach to the crisis and the robustness of its healthcare system. After 85 years as a museum, Hagia Sophia welcomes Muslim worshippers’, a decision that has drawn intense criticism in Turkey and worldwide. However, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Yavuz Selim Kıran, argues that the functional change of Hagia Sophia will not affect Turkey’s centuries-old tradition of promoting tolerance, harmony, and diversity. The final off-topic commentary of this issue underlines the challenges to Pakistan’s nuclear threshold. Muhammad Haris Bilal Malik and Muhammad Abbas Hassan explain why Pakistan has been further threatened by India’s aggressive policies and provocative military modernization. The commentary concludes that Pakistan may be compelled to further revisit its nuclear threshold level to overcome India’s aggression. Besides the commentaries, this issue comprises five articles that focus on the Turkish Defense Industry past, present, and future and underline the factors that led to its remarkable evolution. The first article by Murat Yeşiltaş presents a general framework of Turkey’s Military and Defense Strategy. By taking into account the main drivers, primary objectives, and essential pillars, as well as its tangible repercussions on the military mindset, the author explains how the change in Turkey’s defense and military strategy stems both from Turkey’s changing security landscape and its quest to be an assertive regional player. Can Kasapoğlu’s research article covers two interrelated strategic topics regarding Turkey’s national military capacity in the 21st century: its defense technological and industrial base and its military policy, both currently characterized by a burgeoning assertiveness. In light of the rapid advances in technology that are continually shaping developments in the aerospace and defense sector, notably the evolution of airpower, Arda Mevlütoğlu, provides us with an understanding of the features of the next generation of air warfare, while presenting the status of the Turkish Air Force and offering suggestions on several challenges and opportunities. As a reply to the critics that Turkey is caught between a rock and a hard place due to the adamant opposition of its NATO allies, Mustafa Kibaroğlu tries to make sense of Turkey’s S-400 choice by assessing the impact of the S-400 deal on Turkey’s defense industries. On one hand, he presents his conception of the current “international political non-order” as an underlying factor behind the deal. On the other, he suggests that the deal must be approached from a wider perspective to grasp the extent of the service it has done in bolstering Turkey’s military-industrial complex. The last article related to the main theme of this issue focuses on Turkey’s defense spending. Merve Seren attempts to show that prioritization of defense spending during the AK Party era is specifically the outcome of a political preference. In other words, the shift in the political landscape from idealism to realism, associated with pragmatism. Our initial off-topic article highlights how Trump’s peace plan optimistically called the “Deal of the Century” adopts the Zionist discourse regarding al-Aqsa and its effects on undermining the Muslim sovereignty over the mosque, which will be a clear violation of the International law and status quo. Khalid el-Awaisi and Cuma Yavuz investigate the results of the implementation of Trump’s plan which they assert will lead to three main changes that would undo the centuries-old status quo of Masjid al-Aqsa completely and give Israel full control over this important historic and religious site. Ahmad AlShwawra and Ahmad Almuhtady’s off-topic article completes the dossier of this issue. The authors examine the potential implications of Jordan’s decision to import Mediterranean gas through Israel on Jordanian energy security, with special attention to how this decision will impact Jordanian foreign policy regarding the Palestinian cause. Through a wide range of articles and commentaries, this issue aims to bring to its readers a comprehensive framework on the transformation of Turkey’s Defense Industry and changing patterns of its military strategy.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2019 04 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on 2019-12-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the dismemberment of the Ottoman State, even though it lost a huge territory, Turkey chose not to pursue an irredentist foreign policy, and although it was a continuation of the Ottoman State, it did not want to maintain the Ottoman heritage. Instead the Republic of Turkey preferred to follow a pro status quo and a comprehensive Westernist foreign policy orientation. When the Soviet Union threatened Turkey in the wake of the Second World War, Turkey needed to officially be part of the Western world. Therefore, it had to accept the subordination to the liberal Western world and a dependent relationship with the United States due to the requirements of the bipolar world system. In spite of the vertical nature of this relationship, both sides benefitted from this strong and sustainable alliance relationship. On the one hand, the Western alliance provided security against the Soviet threat, military and economic support, and political advantages to Turkey. On the other hand, the Western countries gained a great deal from Turkey, who served as the most important NATO ally in the southeastern European front and hosted military air bases against threats coming from the east. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Turkey continued to be a strategic ally of the West. However, after the changes in the global balance of power, the weakening of the American leadership, and the more assertive and competitive foreign policies of other global powers such as Russia and China, Turkey has decided to search for greater autonomy in its region. Furthermore, the Western states’ policies, especially those of the U.S., have forced Turkey to follow a more independent foreign policy in order to be able to counter the increasing political instability in its regions. More specifically, the Western countries have preferred to collaborate with some anti-Turkish regional actors that threaten Turkey’s national security. Especially after the Western support for the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and the Syrian branch of PKK (YPG/PYD), both of which are considered as terrorist organizations by Turkey, the credibility of the Western countries has decreased dramatically in Turkey, leaving no other possible choice than questing for a more autonomous foreign policy. Thus, Turkey has begun to take necessary measures to search for a new and high-level status in the international system. Among others, Turkey has diversified its foreign economic relations and increased its material capacity. To this end, Turkey has begun to develop an Ankara-centered foreign policy and to oppose any developments that are detrimental to its national security. Turkey is still determined to maintain its alliance with the Western countries, but demands to revise the relationship, which became anachronic in the light of developments at a regional and global level. In its search for alternative partners and an independent foreign policy, Turkey has improved its relations with Russia, the main alternative challenger and balancer against the Western/American hegemony. For instance, when the Turkish offer to buy Patriots was rejected by the U.S government, Ankara reached a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defense systems. For many years now, Turkey has been asking for a comprehensive reformation in the international system and for a more inclusive approach in which multilateral international platforms such as the United Nations play a bigger role. Furthermore, since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, the power of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was consolidated. Three successful operations (Operation Euphrates Shield, Operation Olive Branch, and Operation Peace Spring) were undertaken in northern and northeastern Syria and as a result Turkey has strengthened its position in the Syrian conflict and prevented the projections of other actors involved in the crisis, thus indicating that it is a game changer in the region. Moreover, Turkey has recently initiated the Operation Claw in Northern Iraq against the PKK and has sent two drilling ships (Fatih and Yavuz) and one seismic ship (Barbaros) to the Eastern Mediterranean. In short, when forced, Turkey will be able to take unilateral measures to find solutions for the crises it may face in the future. Notwithstanding these developments, in principle, Turkey never questioned its longtime relations with the West. However, despite its membership of Western regional organizations like NATO, relationship with the Council of Europe and its EU membership process, the Western perception of Turkey has been extremely negative, and Western countries continue to take measures against Ankara. Fearing a loss control over Turkey, the Western powers have been trying to prevent Turkey’s quest for autonomy and punish any step taken in this regard. Furthermore, they have attempted to create an anti-Turkish regional bloc to contain Turkey’s regional effectiveness, i.e. the most recent rapprochement between Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. Lastly, Western countries consistently support anti-Turkish forces in the region, including terrorist groups. It should also be noted that, at a time of multi-dimensional and multi-layered global threats and challenges, there is a high level of interdependency between Turkey and its NATO allies. European defense still starts from Turkey, especially when it comes to international terrorism and international migration. Therefore, it is very difficult to initiate a paradigm shift in Turkish-West relations. The only way for both sides to overcome the conflictual issues is to accept the new realities and to redefine the alliance relations. On the one hand, the Western countries should accept the new role that Turkey is determined to play in its regions and take the Turkish security concerns into attention. On the other hand, Turkey needs to continue its contributions to the NATO operations and to challenge the threats emanating from the Middle East, since Ankara cannot confront the regional threats by itself. This new issue of Insight Turkey showcases the emergence of Turkey as a regional power in the changing international system and aims to guide readers through the assortment of obstacles within Turkey’s foreign policy and how Turkey’s new diplomacy has navigated the nation to a whole new international arena. Turkey, in a volatile region, has plumbed the depths of autonomy in its foreign policy for the last decade and this has resulted in trouble with Turkey’s strategic and NATO ally, the United States. Ali Balcı’s commentary elucidates the quest of Turkey’s autonomy in the Middle East, where the collaboration with Russia and Iran consolidates its quest. Considering Turkey’s partnership with different actors for more autonomy, Balcı elaborates that the interests of Turkey and the U.S. are clashing in a region, where Turkey is a subordinate actor. The Syrian civil war has been a cardinal phenomenon having defined Turkey’s relationships with its NATO ally, the U.S., and its neighbor and successor of the Soviet Union, Russia. William Hale canonically expounds how the U.S. has condoned Turkey’s security concerns, thereby allowing Turkey to work with Russia in order to ward off the eminent threats emerging from Syria such as ISIS and YPG/PKK. Furthermore, this commentary suggests the tense relationship between Turkey and the U.S. not be taken at face value. As mentioned early, Turkey has been asking for a comprehensive reformation in the international system. The famous motto: “The world is bigger than five,” made famous by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlights the increasing need to reform the international system in favor of justice and fair representation for all members of the UN. The lack of social, economic, or humanitarian elements practiced within global governance continues to divide nations between the ‘center’ and ‘periphery.’ Berdal Aral delves deeper into the meaning of this motto and how domestically this idea emerged with the AK Party’s use of morality in governance and connecting more international ties to poorer countries in Asia and Africa. President Erdoğan envisages a more just multipolar world against the damage being done from the privileged few on the Security Council, by reintroducing necessary reforms advocating for peace over power. The relationship between Russia and Turkey has been steadily improving since the fall of the Soviet Union. As cooperation continues to increase, a few hard internal and external challenges have tested whether the relationship between these two great powers can persevere over differing interests. The military-strategic threats these countries face is the main driving force maneuvering these two nations’ relationships. The greatest of these came in 2015 with the downing of the Russian SU-24 bomber aircraft over its violations of Turkish airspace, this example alone caused geopolitical escalations that were crucial to resolve diplomatically. Resolution has been found with partnership in Syria and over arms trade as Turkey sees Russia as a path of diversification away from the West. In this regard, Şener Aktürk explores the various challenges endured and the reaction Russia had to the various threats Turkey has faced in recent years. The Eastern Mediterranean has remained one of the main focus areas of international attention due to the abundant amount of gas reserves around the Levant and island of Cyprus. Lately, Turkey has made sure to show its presence in the region at a time when energy security here has been an increasing issue as global actors compete over resources in the area. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu discusses Turkey’s position in the contested energy-rich region as it continues to secure its interests in North Cyprus and diversify its own energy. As Turkey maximizes its energy potential, the reactions from surrounding states and the EU has hindered any sense of fair resolution to all regional parties. The unresolved dispute over Cyprus and respect for territorial sovereignty continues to be an ongoing dilemma that can see constructive progress made if Turkey is seen as a strategic partner, and not a part of the problem. The Turkish Lira suffered one of its most severe economic shocks in 2018, sending waves of uncertainty of Turkey’s economic potential worldwide. Among speculation as to what factors inhibit economic shocks on the Turkish market, Nurullah Gür, Mevlüt Tatlıyer, and Şerif Dilek address the view that geopolitical issues and slowed down reform measures are the main culprits to the depreciation. With the decline of the currency against the dollar, the Turkish government swiftly set to decrease the inflation rate and instill real sector reforms with a developmentalist approach to remedy the situation. Turkey continues to develop financial alternatives with reducing reliance on imports and growing in the export market, learning to safeguard against economic shocks has been a testing ground for the Turkish economy in recent years. Murat Ülgül introduces the importance of personal diplomacy, and how it is an effective tool in the modern world, thus making it no surprise that it has increased in practice within Turkey. Ülgül contends that personal diplomacy explains Turkey’s foreign policy better as it is most effective in crisis periods, when there is dominant leadership, and when the political leader is confident about his/her ability to shape policies, all of which are applicable in Turkey. Turkish judiciary faced its biggest crisis on the night of July 15, 2016 during the coup attempt organized by FETÖ members who wanted to bring down the democratically elected government. They, however, did not succeed owing to the sturdy resistance of prosecutors and judges who were determined to uphold the rule of law against the coup-plotters. A prominent lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, clarifies how the Turkish judiciary has even-handedly conducted the prosecution process since the night of July 15. Convulsed by unrest, Iran has returned to the center of the world’s attention. Farhad Rezaei explores Iran’s aim towards increasing their militarization, as a means of survival even at the cost of destabilizing its regional neighbors, and international discomfort. Dividing Iran’s military doctrine between ideological-political and military-technological, Iran propagates its own notion as an Islamic protectorate and compensates for its military shortcomings, like its relatively weak air force, by bolstering its ballistic sector. To measure Iran’s military-technology by taking inventory of Iran’s military weaponry shows that they are at a disadvantage in the international realm. Therefore, they frequently resort to asymmetrical warfare with the use of proxy groups and cyberwarfare, where they have found limited success. While Iran is likely to continue to develop its weaponry, it is disadvantaged by richer neighbors partnered with America, economic sanctions, and the fact that its intentions on growth are seen more as a threat than domestic development. The last piece of this issue brings attention to the Kashmir Crisis –a simmering conflict– which has long been glossed over by many countries and international organizations yet, it has to be addressed due to the human rights violations in the region. The Public Safety Act, which is a preventive detention law and required to comply with the international law, is used as a political tool to realize the objectives of authorities rather than its advocated primary aim of detaining people. Mohmad Aabit Bhat sheds a light on the covert intentions of the law, which has been “enforced” in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with a discursive approach. These past years have been a challenging test for Turkish diplomacy, as fluctuating relationships and conflicting interests have been at the foreground, whether it’s in the warzone of Syria or on the international stage at the UN. Insight Turkey’s last issue for 2019 “Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: A Quest for Autonomy” analyses how Turkey with great stamina has proven that it is a strong cooperative player and balancer between the polarities of the world, as a voice for the oppressed and a pillar of strength among the dominant forces in the world.

Download or read book Insight Turkey Fall 2018 The Struggle Over Central Asia written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on 2018-12-01 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This issue of Insight Turkey comes with a different format and brings to its readers two different topics that require special attention when we consider the latest regional and global affairs. The planned topic was Central Asia; however, the early presidential and parliamentarian elections in Turkey led us to cover a second topic in the issue. First, the current issue focuses on a forgotten but very important region of Central Asia. The second section of the journal comprises commentaries and articles on the latest elections in Turkey, how to understand them and what could be the future of the presidential system. Central Asia is one of the most geostrategic and penetrated regions in the world. The founding father of geopolitics, the British geographer Sir Halford John Mackinder, considers Central Asia as a part of the “heartland.” The control of Central Asia, a region stretching from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east, is a precondition of the world hegemony. Throughout the 20th century, the Central Asian countries were under the rule of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the republics of Central Asia re-emerged as independent actors of international politics. Later, they were declared as “near abroad” by Russia; that is, they were kept close to Russia through several multilateral platforms. Nowadays, Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, face many challenges such as underdevelopment, poor governance and corruption, mutual mistrust between neighbors, fear of radicalism, and threats from neighboring global powers. The governments of the regional countries must work together in order to be able to overcome these challenges. They need to increase intra-regional trade and to de-securitize their relations with other countries. Central Asian countries are squeezed between two heavyweight powers, Russia and China. With the revitalization of the historical Silk Road by China, many observers began to discuss the increasing importance and role of the Central Asian countries. Central Asia will be the main ground for intra-East regional and global competition. The mostly Turkic and Muslim countries can play the role of game changers at least, between the two global actors. Turkey, a country which shares the same language, history and culture with the Central Asian countries, is also one of the effective actors in the region. After an unprepared and unsuccessful attempt to forge links, in the wake of their independence in the 1990s, Turkey has improved its relations with the Turkic states and now has multi-dimensional relations (economic, cultural, political, and security) with these countries. The transformation of the Turkish political system into a presidential one, after the April 16, 2017 referendum, was finalized with the June 24, 2018 elections, when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected as the first Turkish president in the context of the new presidential system. Naturally, many questions have risen in terms of the transformation of the new system and its impact on Turkey’s foreign policy. This issue of Insight Turkey aims to discuss this political transformation. Turkey has been governed by a multi-party parliamentarian system for decades. The country has experienced several chaotic periods due to political instabilities, mainly as a result of coalition or weak governments. Since Turkey could not end the bureaucratic (especially military and judiciary) tutelage, it could not consolidate its democracy under the parliamentarian system. Therefore, many politicians such as Necmettin Erbakan and Süleyman Demirel asked for the transformation of the system into a presidential one. At a time when the whole world has been experiencing a transformation, Turkey has also decided to consolidate its political authority; and therefore, it has decided to transform its political system into a unified and strong executive power in order to be able to struggle against emerging threats. Ultimately, as a regional power and global actor, Turkey now has a strong political leadership, who plays an effective role in international politics. In this issue, we bring four manuscripts which analyze in detail the June 2018 elections and the new presidential system in Turkey. On the verge of the reorganization process in Turkey, Zahid Sobacı, Özer Köseoğlu, and Nebi Miş in their article provide a legal and institutional analysis of how the public policy process and the roles and responsibilities of policy actors have changed with the new system. Understanding the actual elections of June 24 is also very important. In the light of this, the detailed election analyses of Ali Çarkoğlu and Kerem Yıldırım provide an exemplary source. Furthermore, Hüseyin Alptekin’s article deals specifically with the patterns of Kurdish votes in 24 eastern Turkish cities and contends that intra-Kurdish and intra-regional differences have prevailed in the June 24 elections. The last piece on the elections is the commentary written by Ali Yaşar Sarıbay which addresses the factors that led to the new system in Turkey through historical and sociological processes. Six other manuscripts bring a general perspective on the regional and global affairs in Central Asia. Experts in this area analyze the Russian-Chinese competition in the region, the responses of the Central Asian states and Turkey’s comeback in Central Asia. Morena Skalamera, focusing on the rivalry between global and regional powers in Central Asia, i.e. Russia, China, the U.S., Turkey, etc., intends to explain the Central Asian governments’ failure to capitalize on these developments. Mariya Omelicheva and Ruoxi Du, on the other hand, shed light on why Russia has abstained from a possible conflict with China when it comes to the Central Asian energy and transportation networks by arguing that Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy has played a crucial role in this regard. This issue places a special emphasis on Kazakhstan, considering that it is one of the most important regional states. In the light of this, the articles of Azhar Serikkaliyeva et al. and Aidar Kurmashev et al. focus on the China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership and Kazakhstan’s example of fighting terrorism respectively. Lastly, as the title of this issue suggests, Turkey is redirecting its attention to Central Asia as a part of its recent foreign policy strategies. In this regards, Bayram Balcı and Thomas Liles provide a brief analysis of Turkey’s relations with Central Asian states in the political, economic, and cultural areas. Furthermore, Eşref Yalınkılıçlı focuses especially on Turkey’s relationship and cooperation with Uzbekistan, which in the new era seems indispensable for the sake of the former’s interests and influences in the region. Three off-topic manuscripts conclude this issue of Insight Turkey. As Trump directs the U.S. towards isolation and continues Obama’s policy of retrenchment in the Middle East, other actors such as the UK will attempt to fill the void. Within this context, Gareth Stansfield, Doug Stokes, and Saul Kelly in their article analyze the UK’s return to the region and its implication for the balance of power in the region. Vladimir Bobrovnikov brings attention to the making of the intolerant discourse on Islam in Soviet and Imperial Russia and the attempts to integrate applied Oriental studies into the general debates on Orientalism. Written by Emrah Kekilli, the last commentary focuses on the ongoing Libya crisis and its forthcoming elections. Placing the main fault upon UAE’s intervention, Kekilli contends that the crisis in Libya reflects the regional interests. With one more year coming to an end, we are pleased to present to our readers another insightful issue which aims to bring attention to the largely ignored region of Central Asia. Furthermore, the latest transformations in Turkey deserve to be analyzed thoroughly and presented to those readers interested in Turkey’s politics. With the trust that you will find this issue illuminating and interesting, we look forward to meeting you in the next year’s issues.

Download or read book Insight Turkey 2016 Spring 2016 Vol 18 No 2 written by and published by SET Vakfı İktisadi İşletmesi. This book was released on with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Syrian Crisis, the bloodiest front of the Arab uprisings and one of the main determinants of policies of regional and global powers, has been dominating international politics for the last five years. Having caused the death of more than 300 thousand civilians and forced relocation of more than 7 million Syrians, it is one of the direst international problems that the global powers must deal with. It began as a local issue, but after a very short period of time it morphed into a proxy war between regional and global powers. “Redlines” drawn by regional and global actors were crossed, yet there has been no tangible reaction to these violations. Among others, chemical weapons were used, crimes against humanity were committed, fundamental human rights were repeatedly violated. Over time, the crisis has revealed limitations and maladies of the actors involved.

Download or read book The Great Game in West Asia written by Mehran Kamrava and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-01 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Game in West Asia examines the strategic competition between Iran and Turkey for power and influence in the South Caucasus. As much of the world's attention has been diverted to conflicts and flashpoints near and far, a new great game has been unravelling between Iran and Turkey in the South Caucasus.

Download or read book Inside the Islamic Republic written by Mahmood Monshipouri and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The post-Khomenei era has profoundly changed the socio-political landscape of Iran. Since 1989, the internal dynamics of change in Iran, rooted in a panoply of socioeconomic, cultural, institutional, demographic, and behavioral factors, have led to a noticeable transition in both societal and governmental structures of power, as well as the way in which many Iranians have come to deal with the changing conditions of their society. This is all exacerbated by the global trend of communication and information expansion, as Iran has increasingly become the site of the burgeoning demands for women's rights, individual freedoms, and festering tensions and conflicts over cultural politics. These realities, among other things, have rendered Iran a country of unprecedented-and at time paradoxical-changes. This book explains how and why.