The future seems almost dark for Western values which are under attack by the revival of racism, populism, Islamphobia and xenephobia in societies

A potential disengagement over the fate of the refugee deal could create additional problems for Ankara and Brussels alike. Moving forward, European leaders have to stop bashing Turkey and cease their support for terrorist groups targeting Turkish citizens

A quick look at the West's treatment of Turkey over the past decade reveals that Mr. Erdoğan's disappointment isn't some emotional reaction but a structural transformation already underway

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

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.

As the rotating president and host of the summit, Turkey has made giving a voice to developing countries and emerging markets its main priority on the agenda of its presidency and is looking to reform global governance to provide more inclusiveness in the market.

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.

A few months before his death in October 2004, the famous French philosopher Jacques Derrida called for "deconstructing the European intellectual construction of Islam."

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

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's walkout in the midst of a discussion on Gaza in Davos won him millions of supporters not only in Turkey, but around the world. With his bold position on the Middle East peace process, Erdoğan has the Arab and Muslim streets behind him. 

The birth pangs of a new human geography and geographic imagination are being felt across the Middle East. As the ethnic and sectarian models of cultural and political identities are being questioned, new patterns of cultural affinity and association are emerging with a new sense of shared history and common geography.         

There is a discrepancy and even contradiction between Turkey's foreign policy activism and the polarization of its domestic politics. While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) keeps surprising everyone with its bold and decisive foreign policy moves, it is losing its grip on the domestic pulse.   

In the parliamentary elections of July 22, 2007, AKP (Justice and Development Party) won 47% of the votes, obtaining a very strong mandate to take issue with Turkey’s outstanding problems. In the predominantly Kurdish east and southeast region, the AKP doubled its vote from 26% to 53%. The AKP seemed to have persuaded the Kurds thanks to the party’s earlier moves to solve the Kurdish problem by granting more rights and freedoms as well as jobs and economic prosperity. Having started the negotiation process with the EU and obtaining such a strong mandate from the Kurdish voters, why did the AKP turn its back to the Kurdish issue?  This can be explained with reference to three groups of factors working at the domestic, the EU and international levels.

The closure case against AK Party heralds a new era in Turkish politics marked by the increased intervention of the judiciary in politics. Inasmuch as the governing party enjoys support of half of the Turkish electorate, the case has harmed the image of Turkish democracy and consequently risks jeopardizing Turkey's quest for full membership in the EU

<p>The EU progress reports on candidate countries are important indicators of how EU institutions manage and monitor the accession process.</p>