Insight Turkey
Insight Turkey
Challenging ideas
On Turkish politics and International affairs

Islam Conservatism and Democracy in Turkey Comparing Turgut Özal and

Islam, Conservatism, and Democracy in Turkey: Comparing Turgut Özal and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

In the absence of a politically influential aristocracy and the entrepreneurial middle class, the political and economic transformations in...

Egypt s Democratic Experiment Challenges to a Positive Trajectory

Egypt’s Democratic Experiment: Challenges to a Positive Trajectory

As Egypt charts a path to democracy, it confronts the legacy of 60 years of dictatorship. President Morsi faces an ongoing power struggle with...

The Limits of Norm Promotion The EU in Egypt and

The Limits of Norm Promotion: The EU in Egypt and Israel/Palestine

Policy implications aside, assessing the EU’s involvement in the Mediterranean region necessitates a reconsideration of the impact and limits of...

The Arab Uprisings Two Years On Ideology Sectarianism and the

The Arab Uprisings Two Years On: Ideology, Sectarianism and the Changing Balance of Power in the Middle East

This paper traces the changes to the domestic politics of Arab states following the 2011 uprisings and places them in a continuum depending on the...

Understanding the AK Party s Identity Politics A Civilizational Discourse

Understanding the AK Party’s Identity Politics: A Civilizational Discourse and its Limitations

The AK Party seeks to respond to four challenges stemming from three confrontations (Islamism, Kemalism, and regional balance of power) that are...

The Ends of Islamism Rethinking the Meaning of Islam and

The “Ends” of Islamism: Rethinking the Meaning of Islam and the Political

There have been almost regular attempts to declare the “end of Islamism” or “the end of political Islam.” Since the late 1980s, many observers have...

European Views of Turkish Foreign Policy

European Views of Turkish Foreign Policy

This article examines how the European elite views new parameters of Turkey’s increasing activism in the Middle East with special emphasis on...

The Southern Gas Corridor and Turkey s Role as an

The Southern Gas Corridor and Turkey’s Role as an Energy Transit State and Energy Hub

With decisions about to be made on major pipeline projects, Turkey could become a vital component of the so-called southern gas corridor. Turkey is...

Fishing for Gas and More in Cypriot Waters

Fishing for Gas and More in Cypriot Waters

Cyprus has been hit hard by economic misfortunes recently, but now has a big opportunity to develop significant offshore gas resources. However,...

The EU s Security Policy Towards Africa Causes Rationales and

The EU’s Security Policy Towards Africa: Causes, Rationales and Dynamics

This article explores the causes and dynamics impacting the development of the EU`s security policy on Africa. The changing global structure in...

Turkey s Kurdish Conflict Pathways to Progress

Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict: Pathways to Progress

This paper discusses the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, within the context of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. What progress has been made since...

Turkish-Iranian Relations From Friends with Benefits to It s Complicated

Turkish-Iranian Relations: From “Friends with Benefits” to “It’s Complicated”

A few years after Turkey and Iran appeared to be growing closer, the pendulum has swung back and the two sides are increasingly at odds. The...

Turkish-Saudi Arabian Relations During the Arab Uprisings Towards a Strategic

Turkish-Saudi Arabian Relations During the Arab Uprisings: Towards a Strategic Partnership?

This article analyzes the development of Turkish-Saudi Arabian relations from the beginning of the struggle of the al-Saud family to gain power in...

Imperial Legacies and Neo-Ottomanism

Imperial Legacies and Neo-Ottomanism

This article examines whether the presence of imperial legacies in Central and South-eastern Europe affects their foreign policy stances and public...

The Birth and Death of Islamism

The Birth and Death of Islamism

What happens when an ideological movement whose raison d’être is to challenge the existing political system and government structure, and one that...

On Islamism Its Roots Development and Future

On Islamism: Its Roots, Development and Future

This article examines Islamism in its historical trajectory as well as its current standing and likely evolution. After pointing out to the...

An Alternative to the Turkish Model for the Emerging Arab

An Alternative to the “Turkish Model” for the Emerging Arab Democracies

The political and economic success of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has generated extensive discussion about the extent to which...

The Geopolitics of Support for Turkey s EU Accession A

The Geopolitics of Support for Turkey’s EU Accession: A View from Lithuania

Why does Lithuania support Turkey’s accession to the European Union? The article analyzes some of the key domestic factors and the strategic...

The EU s Rhetorical Entrapment in Enlargement Reconsidered Why Hasn

The EU’s “Rhetorical Entrapment” in Enlargement Reconsidered: Why Hasn’t It Worked for Turkey?

This article analyzes the EU’s December 2004 Brussels decision regarding membership talks with Turkey. While the Brussels Council launched...

Survival Strategies and Diplomatic Tools The Kurdistan Region s Foreign

Survival Strategies and Diplomatic Tools: The Kurdistan Region’s Foreign Policy Outlook

The Kurds were late to the idea of nationalism in the 20th century, and when the borders were drawn in the region they became the largest stateless...

Democracy or Partition Future Scenarios for the Kurds of Iraq

Democracy or Partition: Future Scenarios for the Kurds of Iraq

Following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kurdish politicians were involved in Baghdad governments, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)...

Turkey the US and the KRG Moving Parts and the

Turkey, the US and the KRG: Moving Parts and the Geopolitical Realities

In a remarkable turnaround, Turkey and the Kurdish Regional Government have recently emerged as close partners in a region increasingly...

The Applicability of the Turkish Model to Morocco The Case

The Applicability of the “Turkish Model” to Morocco: The Case of the Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD)

The “Turkish model,” in the form of a marriage between moderate Islam and democracy, the AKP’s electoral success and the economic growth witnessed...

The AKP Model and Tunisia s al-Nahda From Convergence to

The “AKP Model” and Tunisia’s al-Nahda: From Convergence to Competition?

More than a year after the start of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolts, the question of how political Islam will return to regional politics is...

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