All Policy Analysis by Soner Cagaptay

On March 28, Turks will go to the polls in nationwide local elections to vote for mayors and more than 90,000 council seats in 3,184 towns and cities. The outcome of these elections will not change the composition of Turkey's current Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which came to

American efforts towards a democratic Iraq seem to have created some strange bedfellows in the Middle East. The Sunnis of the region -- from Baathist loyalists in Iraq and hardcore Wahhabi zealots in Saudi Arabia to secular-minded elites in Amman, Cairo, and elsewhere -- are now united around a common

On February 9, 2004, Patrick Clawson, Soner Cagaptay, Jeffrey White, and Jonathan Schanzer addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. All four were part of the Institute fact-finding delegation tasked with conducting an independent survey of local security conditions and emerging political currents in Iraq. The delegation traveled throughout Iraq

Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul will make an official visit to Tehran on January 10. This visit comes on the heels of a January 68 trip to Turkey by Syrian president Bashar al-Asad -- the first ever by a Syrian head of state -- during which Asad was showered with

Last week's suicide bombings in Istanbul—the first pair on November 15 targeting two synagogues, and a second pair on November 20 targeting the city's British consulate and a high-rise building housing a British-owned bank—cost Turkey dearly, with 57 dead and more than 700 injured. Many of the victims were Turkish

While Turkey prepares for a make or break year with the European Union (EU), perhaps a not less important issue for Ankara is its relationship with Washington. Over the past year, the U.S.-Turkish relationship has undergone some serious challenges. Despite the positive developments of the past months, today Ankara and

Last week's suicide bombings in Istanbul -- the first pair on November 15 targeting two synagogues, and a second pair on November 20 targeting the city's British consulate and a high-rise building housing a British-owned bank -- cost Turkey dearly, with 57 dead and more than 700 injured. Many of

The following is a transcript of the CNN program Insight, from an episode dedicated to the terrorist attacks carried out in Istanbul on November 15 and 20, 2003. Soner Cagaptay's remarks appear in the last portion of the transcript. JONATHAN MANN, CNN HOST: Istanbul again. Turkey suffers another double bombing

Testimony before the House International Relations Committee Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the chance to come here today and speak about Turkey and the future of U.S.-Turkish relations. It's an honor to have been invited to testify before this prestigious body. We have a number of issues to

Soner Cagaptay,The Washington Institute: A year ago, it would have been difficult to question Turkey's status as a staunch U.S. ally. Much has changed. The Iraq war was the biggest test for the U.S.-Turkey relationship since the end of the Cold War. It followed the election of a new Turkish

As Washington gets ready to approach the United Nations for international support in Iraq, France is poised to ask for a significant role in running the country, including the stationing of peacekeepers there. Although U.N. assistance would be a valuable contribution to U.S. efforts to create a new Iraq, it

A U.S. government team is in Ankara today for talks with members of the Turkish military and intelligence services regarding the future of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization on the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. On September 2, 2003, the PKK, whose past attacks have cost

A surprising summit meeting yesterday in Ankara involving members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, the Turkish General Staff, the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and the Turkish National Intelligence Organization produced an agreement "in principle" to send Turkish "peacekeeping soldiers" to Iraq. From one perspective, if Turkish troops were

On August 8, 2003, the seventh European Union (EU) reform package went into effect in Turkey, significantly curbing the role of the military in politics. This legislation, passed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on August 4, follows six previous packages adopted since February 2002. Collectively, these reform

A surprising summit meeting yesterday in Ankara involving members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, the Turkish General Staff, the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and the Turkish National Intelligence Organization produced an agreement "in principle" to send Turkish "peacekeeping soldiers" to Iraq. From one perspective, if Turkish troops were

Recently, the bitterness between Ankara and Washington over Turkey's failure to extend full support to the Iraq campaign culminated in a much-feared quagmire. On July 4, U.S. Army forces detained eleven Turkish special operations troops in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, possibly based on Iraqi Kurdish intelligence that they were planning to

A high-level Turkish delegation has been in Washington for the past few days to discuss the future of Turkish-American relations. The collapse of bilateral ties in March over Turkey's confused support for America's Iraq campaign has, to say the least, left Washington bitter. Reports indicate that the disappointment with Ankara

The northern front was supposed to have been occupied by tens of thousands of U.S. troops who would make up the second front of a pincer movement against Baghdad. But Turkey's refusal to allow American forces and heavy armor to cross the Turkish-Iraqi frontier means that only a few thousand

With the northern front in Iraq being officially launched today, coalition forces may soon move toward the city of Kirkuk, which they began bombing on March 21. Kirkuk, claimed by Kurds as the prospective capital of a Kurdish region in postwar Iraq, is the bastion of the Turkmens, a Turkish-speaking

In a dramatic session yesterday, the Turkish parliament convened to consider a motion sent by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which had requested that a large U.S. force be permitted to use Turkish soil as a staging ground for a possible campaign in Iraq. The legislature refused to