In particular, the successive U.S. administrations made it clear that their quest to promote "moderate Islam" was ingenuine at four points:

Even if the ongoing row around Al-Aqsa Mosque ends peacefully, new tensions fueled by Israel for its interests will continue appearing

The EU countries failed to deal with domestic challenges, and the rise of cultural and moral crises

Turkey was to fall into the hands of the military junta and become one of the unstable countries in the region.

Turkey's current central banking framework was structured in the aftermath of the twin crises in 2000-2001 and reflects the exclusive priority to maintain price stability and control inflation.

Turkey is entering a critical turning point in international finance on the eve of major structural reforms in macroeconomic governance, social policy and investment climate.

EU countries have now realized the threat of the Syrian refugee crisis reaching their borders, which Turkey has been warning them about since the beginning, and thus have come to solve the problem through working with Ankara.

It is in the hands of U.S. officials to avoid attacks targeting U.S. missions and citizens. The U.S. should be aware that the support being given to the PYD is also given to the DHKP-C.

On July 13, 2009, an intergovernmental accord on the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline was signed. The 3.300 kilometer long pipeline will transport Caspian, Iraqi and likely Iranian gas in the future depending on the changing situation and its relationship with the USA, and to a lesser extent Egyptian natural gas resources, via Turkey to Austria. The Turkish leg of the pipeline will be 2000 kilometers long.Given that the pipeline is designed to export non-Russian Caspian resources – Azeri, Kazakh, and Turkmeni - to European markets, thereby, diversifying energy supplies for western energy markets, several European states and the US have supported this project. The project is planned to become operational in 2014 with an estimated cost of 7.9 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars). In addition to enhancing its energy corridor role, the pipeline will provide significant benefits to Turkey in terms of revenues, employment, etc.

On Oct. 11, a historic letter was sent out to the world’s Christian community. The letter was signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars and academics across the world. Titled “A Common Word Between Us and You,” it was addressed to Christian leaders of various denominations including Pope Benedict XVI, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation Mark S. Hanson, World Methodist Council General Secretary Rev. George H. Freeman, Baptist World Alliance President Rev. David Coffey, World Alliance of Reformed Churches General Secretary Rev. Setri Nyomi and other Christian figures in leadership positions. The letter was also addressed to all Christians of the world. The full text of the letter, the list of signatories, recipients, responses and media reports can be found on the official Web site www.acommonword.com  

There is no doubt that the presence of Muslims in many European countries has changed the demographic and religious landscape of the West.

A historic step was taken in Rome last week. The first seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum was held on Nov. 4-6 at the Vatican with the participation of about 60 Muslim and Catholic religious leaders and scholars from around the world.

“Russia is the most reliable partner of the Islamic world and the most faithful defender of its interests,” Russian President Viladimir Putin said in 2005 in Chechnya’s capital of Grozny. Putin made this statement in the first session of the local parliament in Grozny. Given the place and its brutal history, what the Russian president has said is seriously ironic. But the story does not stop here.Russia’s desire to straighten its record with the Muslim world has gained visible momentum in the last few years. In 2005, Russia was granted observer status at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the largest international organization in the Islamic world, representing 57 Muslim countries.

A recent poll has once more proven Samuel Huntington wrong. A growing number of people across the globe don’t believe that a clash between Islam and the West is inevitable.

This is a question you get all the time when the conversation turns to Islam and the Muslim world. And it is usually followed by another set of questions: What do Muslims think about terrorist attacks? Do they really believe in democracy and human rights? Are women treated equally in Muslim societies? Can Muslims live in peace with other religions and cultures?

The debate over the headscarf issue is increasingly becoming a debate about who defines modernity in Turkey. The traditional vanguards of modernity are claiming to own modernity in a way that leaves practically no space for those they define as the "other," which in the language of militant Turkish secularism turns into "enemies of the republic," "backward-looking dogma obsessed people," "religious fanatics," "ethnic nationalists," etc.