All Policy Analysis by Soner Cagaptay

In the wake of a May 2007 presidential election crisis and subsequent political stalemate -- punctuated by massive public rallies and intervention by both the judiciary and the military -- Turkey called for early parliamentary elections to be held in July 2007. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which

On June 19, the Turkish Supreme Elections Board, an independent body that monitors the elections process, finalized the candidate lists for the July 22 early parliamentary polls. The outcome at the polls should be easier to estimate now that the electorate can judge the parties as well as their candidates

On June 8, a day after reports that Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to pursue members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Iranian aircraft bombed the camps of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), also in northern Iraq. PJAK, which operates in the mountains of northern

Yesterday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that thousands of Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to pursue members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Later, the AP corrected this, reporting that only a few hundred Turkish troops were

On May 20, thousands of secular Turks demonstrated in the Black Sea port city of Samsun against the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has an Islamist pedigree. It was the most recent display of protest in a power struggle between the AKP and its opponents over determining a

The political turmoil in Turkey prompted by the April 24 nomination by Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader and Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, as his candidate for presidency is far from over. The actions of the leadership of the AKP, a party

On April 16, 2007, Soner Cagaptay, Ian Lesser, and Zeyno Baran addressed a Washington Institute Special Policy Forum marking the release of Dr. Cagaptay's new Policy Focus, Secularism and Foreign Policy in Turkey: New Elections, Troubling Trends. Dr. Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program

Turkish translation also available. Download a PDF (1.1 MB) In 2007, two crucial political developments will unfold in Turkey: the AKP-controlled parliament will select a new president, and the public will vote in nationwide legislative elections. Both events come at a time when Turkish popular sentiment toward the West has

On January 21, 2007, Soner Cagaptay appeared on CNN-Turk's Burasi Washington program.

Soner Cagaptay appeared on CNN-Turk's Burasi Washington, ("This Is Washington") on January 21, 2007. In an extended interview with CNN-Turk correspondent Yasemin Congar, Mr. Cagaptay discussed issues of critical importance to U.S.-Turkish relations. Read a transcript in Turkish of the interview (PDF).

On January 14, in a rare show of unity, Sunni and Shiite Arab, Turkmen, and Christian Iraqis gathered at a conference in Ankara to denounce Kurdish plans to incorporate Kirkuk, the capital of Iraq’s at-Tamim province, into the Kurdish region. This comes after recent violence in Kirkuk, including a December