Massoud Barzani eats at the White House with Bush and with the representatives at the European Parliament. He tours Europe and makes friends with the leaders. What happens when returns to his country? Turkey has ‘demoted’ him to tribal chieftain. He’s denied admittance. He’s nobody. This is the attitude that disturbs Barzani most. It irritates him and goads him into protecting the PKK. Read the rest of this entry »
The more Turkey’s civil society is strengthened, the more this country can be a role model for its region and beyond in the Muslim world. Read the rest of this entry »
President Abdullah Gül hosts the presidents of Israel and Palestine in Ankara today. But this is not an ordinary meeting. Gül will bring the two leaders together at the Çankaya presidential palace for the first time in history, just weeks ahead of talks in the U.S. city of Annapolis to find common ground in the Middle East peace process. Read the rest of this entry »
The arrival of US State Secretary Rice today signals the start of very risky and difficult diplomatic negotiations for Turkey. The first item on the agenda will be to thank the Bush administration for blocking the Armenian project. The next issue however, will be much more difficult to handle: The PKK presence in northern Iraq. Negotiations start today and will last till Monday. Read the rest of this entry »
The Istanbul meeting of the neighbors of Iraq might have provided an opportunity for a Turkish-Iraqi summit on security cooperation. However, Talabani is not invited and is not coming. Read the rest of this entry »