By creating restricted political openings, as was the case in the early 1990s, the king intended to coopt some opposition parties, which had been previously excluded from the political system.

Given the 2.6 percent growth rate in the first nine months of 2012, the Turkish economy must grow at more than 4 percent in the last quarter to achieve the expected 3.2 percent growth rate in 2012.

The following analysis summarizes recent developments on two items in TurkeyÂ’s political agenda: the anti-tutelage struggle; and the PKKÂ’s disarmament and the resolution of the Kurdish question.

The debt crisis in EU countries provoked pessimistic scenarios regarding economic growth, causing developed and developing countries to revise down their economic growth plans.

Turkey in 2013 will have the potential to stand out as an island of political stability and security both regionally and globally.

It would be accurate to interpret the United StatesÂ’ and the WestÂ’s increasing interest in Syria as a rush to secure a role in the scenario in which the Baath regime is nearing its end.

Turkey shouldnÂ’t abandon its goal of establishing an alternative rating agency due to FitchÂ’s upgrade.

Israel, with its attack on Gaza, has tried the United States. The results of this test show that America is still behind Israel.

We will continue to witness a U.S. policy striving to adjust to the process in Syria. Nevertheless, this policy is not one that is pregnant with revolutionary turning points!

If the Kurds want to realize their demand they must first become one of the main actors of the resistance movement to depose al-Assad in a way that does not leave room for doubt.

Another approach to the analysis of the Syrian crisis is to acknowledge the massacres committed by the Assad regime, but in the end, to own up the analyses mentioned above.

Had ErdoÄŸan supported the Baath regime or had he remained a spectator, as the opposition demanded, it would have taken him only months to do the political harm to himself that his adversaries could in decades.

Syria today is a place where cities are being annihilated, tens of thousands civilians are being massacred, and hundreds of thousands are forced to become refugees.

The PKK, which missed by a long shot the transformation both Turkey and the Middle East undertook as evidence by the more blood it continues to shed, will continue to be a burden to the Kurds.

Russia is now about to pay the cost for its decision to invest in al-Assad -- a decision Russia has difficulty justifying even to itself.

The Arab world is going through fundamental social and political transformation. By the end of 2010, Arab states were stagnant and paralyzed.