The excitement Turkey generates in the Arab world and beyond (the Balkans, Europe and parts of Africa can easily be added to the list) seems to be sustained by the confluence of substantial changes in three areas: Turkey, the region and the world.

All attention in the region is on Iran again. The new incentive package proposed by the European Union does not seem to have persuaded Tehran.

To continue our discussion from last week, Turkey's smart power is a strategic combination of soft and hard power, but the result is more than a plate of carrots and sticks.

Turkey's increasing engagement within its region from the Balkans to the Middle East is indicative of a new perspective on the new regional and international dynamics.

According to a Herald Tribune report ("Young Iraqis are Losing their Faith in Religion," March 3, 2008), Iraqi youth are losing their religious faith.

İsrail’in dış politika stratejisine baktığımız da “tehdit” algısının çok büyük olduğunu görürüz. Kuruluşundan bu yana varlığını tehdit altında hissettiği bu coğrafyada İsrail Devleti, etrafındaki Arap çemberini çeşitli stratejilerle kırma çabasındadır.

This is the question everybody is seeking an answer for. The Bush administration thinks it knows what the power is for and Mr. Bush believes he is putting it to good use in Iraq, Afghanistan, potentially in Iran and elsewhere. But the hard realities of war and what is happening in the real world belie this false sense of confidence.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, many thought the date would mark a turning point in modern history. The common belief was that nothing would be the same again. We had entered a new era of global terror when humanity would unite against this universal evil. Sept. 11 turned out to be a major turning point, but not in the way the secular ideologues and the religious zealots of America had imagined.  

With July 22nd set for national elections, Turkish politics has entered a new phase. While AK Party is faced with the most important challenge of its political life to date, Turkish democracy is also put to the test. Over the next ten weeks, we will see a deep identity politics playing out in the Turkish political space.

The transition from Cho Seung-Hui, the South Korean student responsible for the Virgina Tech massacre, to the graphic killings in Malatya was fast and furious. No matter how hard we try to disconnect the two, there is a disturbing link. While we think how such a massacre could take place at an American university, those in the West speculate about the Malatya killings.

In one of his farewell speeches the outgoing Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer reiterated his belief that the regime in Turkey is in danger. He thinks that if Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan becomes president the secular principles of the republic will be jeopardized. President Sezer is not alone in this.

Masud Barzani’s recent statements about Kirkuk are nothing new. We have heard other passionate statements from him before. What is new is the comparison between Kirkuk and Diyarbakir. This is something that will be talked about for years to come.Apparently, Mr. Barzani made this statement during an interview with al-Arabiyyah TV back in January 26, 2007. The Turkish government is in shock, and for a good reason.

The picture was clear and symbolic: on the EU’s 50th birthday German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented as a gift to French President Jacques Chirac a cup with a depiction of Napoleon’s invasion of Alexandria in 1798. Never mind that Turkey, as a candidate country, has not been invited to the party. Never mind either the fact that the current EU president, Merkel, has nothing to hide in her opposition to EU’s membership.

We see shocking pictures from Iraq every day. Hundreds of people, old and young, men and women, lose their lives while those who are lucky to survive are destined to live with physical injuries and psychological trauma.Iraq is going through turbulent times despite high expectations from the other side. The removal of Saddam, who was a brutal dictator, was a welcome development for the people of Iraq but unfolding events after the American military invasion brought chaos and carnage. The future of Iraq doesn’t look promising as far as the nature of current events and their costs are concerned. Iraq is located in a volatile region and has strategic significance with enormous oil reserves.

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.

The Bush administration’s troubles in the Middle East and at home show no sign of diminishing. More and more Americans are coming forward to call the US policy in Iraq a total disaster. Their remedy is immediate withdrawal from Iraq. But there is more to US troubles than the mismanagement of an unjustified war. After much fanfare, the Bush administration’s “new  strategy on Iraq” turned out to be similar to shooting in the dark hoping that some shots will hit their target. Sending more troops to Iraq without pressuring the Maliki government to stop sectarian violence was received with more suspicion than ever.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül’s visit to the US is taking place at a crucial time. The items on the minister’s agenda are well known: Northern Iraq, PKK, the Kirkuk referendum and the Armenian genocide claims. Both sides have certain positions on the issues. Regardless of the outcomes of the minister’s visit, Washington will have to pay more attention to Turkey in 2007.