As long as Gülen finds shelter in the U.S., the FETÖ will continue to motivate its base to organize new assaults

Turkish citizens who live in the bordering cities feel anxious. These fears trigger skepticism and may lead to polarization among different identity groups in Turkey.

Turkish citizens who live in the bordering cities feel anxious. These fears trigger skepticism and may lead to polarization among different identity groups in Turkey.

The German resolution does not help in the improvement of the relations between Turkey and Germany; it only encourages Armenia to deny any possible discussion with Turkey.

Germany recognizing the 1915 Armenian incidents as genocide is another strategic move to push Turkey in a corner for the sake of the EU, with no regard for the chaos in the Middle East - proof that the EU is ideologically blind

The main problem with the Sykes-Picot debate is that commentators tend to exaggerate the influence of great powers over the Middle East – which borders on conspiracy theory.

Criticizing Turkey has been a popular sport in Western capitals. It would appear that they will continue talking for some time. In April, their main focus will be charges of Armenian genocide, to which Turkey must respond with rational policies able to cut through the noise.

Since Erdoğan ended the old habit of the pro-West intelligentsia in Turkey, he has been portrayed as a sultan, and Turkey as an authoritarian state

Conventional European pragmatism to conceptualize Turkey as a buffer zone to keep the troubles of the Middle East away from civilized Europe are bound to fail, as shown by the dramatic unveiling of the Paris attacks.

Reaching an agreement with Moscow and Washington on the Syrian civil war and fighting ISIS, the PKK and PKK-affiliated PYD in the region is the main topic on Ankara's agenda.

Prof. Efraim Inbar - whose works on Turkish-Israeli relations deserve much credit - recently wrote an op-ed piece "An open letter to my Turkish friends" in The Jerusalem Post in which he paints a grotesque picture of Turkey's new foreign policy vision and domestic political developments. It misleadingly confines the multi-dimensional Turkish foreign policy vision to politics of ideology that is reminiscent of the Cold War years.

During a visit to the United States that preceded President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, chief advisor to Turkey's prime minister, stated that "Our approach and principles are almost the same, very similar to the US on issues such as the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans and energy security.

After back-to-back visits to Turkey by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Ahmet Davutoglu, a top adviser to Turkey's prime minister, predicted that Turkish-American relations were about to enter a golden era

There is a new environment that Washington and Ankara may base their relations on dynamic, common interests rather than reified common values and norms.

The Georgian-Russian crisis, the political and economic alienation of Armenia in the Caucasus, Turkey’s new project to establish the Caucasus Stability Platform, and the Turkish and Armenian administrations’ willingness to normalize relations have created a suitable atmosphere in which to put an end to the problems between Turkey and Armenia

Turkey has been involved, historically and demographically, with many of the regions of “frozen conflict” in post-Soviet space. At this point, one might consider the position of Turkey as being at the epicenter of Euro-Atlantic and Russian extremes concerning the frozen conflicts. Georgia, since 1991, has been considered a valuable “strategic partner” by Turkey for several reasons. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s Caucasus Pact idea is a good opportunity to create an inclusive (Russia+Turkey+Georgia+Armenia+Azerbaijan) new foreign policy approach at this stage. This approach should be merged with the representation of all the frozen or unfrozen conflict areas, peoples, ethnic groups and regions included under the roof of such an alliance.