All Policy Analysis by Soner Cagaptay

U.S. policymakers once lamented that Washington needed Turkey more than the other way around, but this is no longer true.

A closer look at Turkey's motivations for normalizing relations with Israel.

The government doesn't want to boost the stature of the military, it has a big Alawite community, and plenty of other reasons.

Pro-Assad sentiment and sectarian tensions in the south have made Ankara think twice about intervention and could bring the fighting over the border.

Washington should work with Ankara, the Syrian opposition, and Baghdad to ensure that new PKK peace talks alleviate their mutual concerns about Syria's future and the Kurdish question.

To get back on the road toward peace, democratization, and perhaps even EU membership, Turkey's leaders will need to forge ahead on language reforms aimed at recognizing the country's ethnic minorities.

The country must find a balance between its Muslim identity and its Western affiliations.

In the best scenario, Turkey will write a liberal constitution, end PKK violence by answering calls for enhanced Kurdish rights, and leverage its Western traits regionally.

If Turkey can avoid the authoritarianism of single-party dominance or the chaos of coalition governments, it will have a chance to rise as a regional or even global power.

Turkey has answered Iran's challenge by building influence in northern Iraq and Syria.

To win over the Syrian Kurds, Turkey will likely need to offer them even more commercial and political inducements that it did the Iraqi Kurds.

The fighting next door has potential economic, sectarian, political, and security repercussions that merit intense U.S. intelligence cooperation with Turkey.

As the Assad regime continues its bloody campaign to remain in power, Washington Institute scholars assess the impact of current and potential spillover on Syria's neighbors, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.