When EU Values Get in the Way of Progress

The overdue EU attempt to find a solution to the Syrian civil war and its resulting crises, aided by Ankara, is an opportunity for European values to end the ambiguity of its stance

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When EU Values Get in the Way of Progress

There is an urgent need to systematically advance the integration of the refugee community into formal employment as well as national education system so that the accumulation of potential social tensions might be prevented from the start

At the regional level, Iran will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to increase its influence, at least until Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are distressed by U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy, are no longer troubled U.S. allies.

Bullying Turkey through the proxy of regime forces and PYD militants won't make Ankara adopt an isolationist stance either. Integrating 3 million Sunni Arabs, after all, will only strengthen Turkey's ties with the Middle East.

Western actors especially should consider revising their positions on Syria and the refugee crisis before exerting pressure on Ankara, which has already taken in 2.7 million refugees and spent $9 billion for their care.

As the ruling AK Party accelerates its efforts to draft a new constitution with the consent of opposition parties, constitutional law expert Uzun says without the mention of a new political system, a new constitution cannot be considered new.

The policymakers in Ankara are required to accomplish a structural transformation program for socio-economic development, while fighting a low-intensity war in the southeast and overcoming the international repercussions of the crisis with Russia. Not an easy job for sure. But then, who said that politics was an easy job?

Although abounding in energy sources compared to other regions, the Middle East suffers from the increasing significance of the energy market in shaping the nations' foreign policy in the 21st century.

Turkey has a government that could realize political stability and economic reforms, which will make the following four years predictable.

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.

The most important issue facing the AK Party, and of course the Parliament that has been shaped by the Nov. 1 elections, is the writing up of a new, civilian constitution.

The ups and downs in relations between the U.S. and Russia has resulted in the countries finding themselves on different sides of the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, and in each of these crises Russia has continued to test the U.S.'s commitments.

American administration does not want a serious role in Iraq anymore, at least not under Obama's leadership. The next president should volunteer to make serious political investments and be a sponsor for the political rapprochement in Iraq. Without a rapprochement in Iraq and Syria, the chaos will continue and ISIS will make use of it to last longer.

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.

The Russian actions in Syria took place in a period of the transformation of the international system. It is a period of post-unipolarism in which the U.S. no longer sufficient power to shape the politics and economy of the entire world.