Some analysts interpreted the decision of the Constitutional Court as heralding a long dull moment for Turkey. A closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had the potential to create the biggest political crisis in domestic Turkish politics in recent years.

The "A Common Word Between Us and You" initiative was the subject of a major conference at the Yale Divinity School last week.

The decision by the Turkish Constitutional Court to reject the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) opens a new chapter in the history of Turkish democracy.

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.

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.

Turkish politics is stuck on the question of who should become the next president of Turkey. The more Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan avoids talking about it, the more aggressive the opposition becomes. It is not only the opposition parties that are stuck on the question. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) cadres are in no better a position. No one dares speak about the new president. From the heavyweights to the ordinary supporters of the AK Party, they all say the same thing: if Erdoğan wants it, he should get it because he deserves it. No other presidential election in recent memory, with the exception of that of Turgut Özal, has been as hotly debated as this one.

We’re only five weeks away from April 16, when the candidates for the new president of Turkey will be announced. According to the rules, the new president has to be elected within 10 days of April 16. While the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) continues to keep silent on its name(s), the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is moving ahead under the assumption that Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have himself elected president.

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.

The debate over Islam and democracy continues to gain momentum. As the state of democracy in Muslim countries has become a global debate, scores of people from academics, journalists and TV commentators to policy makers and NGOs are discussing the relationship between Islam and democratic values. Numerous meetings, panels, conferences, workshops are held to assess the state of democracy, civil society and human rights in the Muslim world

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.

Russia and the Islamic World explore various fields of co-operation in the context of a changing international environment wherein a search for new allies and strategic partners are an ongoing reality. In order to facilitate discussions on possible avenues of partnership, Group of Strategic Vision “Russia-Islamic World” consisting high level members from Russia and some OIV countries was formed few years ago. The Third Meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia-Islamic World” was convened on February 2-3, 2007 in Istanbul,

“Russia is the most reliable partner of the Islamic world and the most faithful defender of its interests,” Russian President Viladimir Putin said in 2005 in Chechnya’s capital of Grozny. Putin made this statement in the first session of the local parliament in Grozny. Given the place and its brutal history, what the Russian president has said is seriously ironic. But the story does not stop here.Russia’s desire to straighten its record with the Muslim world has gained visible momentum in the last few years. In 2005, Russia was granted observer status at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the largest international organization in the Islamic world, representing 57 Muslim countries.

The details of Hrant Dink’s assassination are frightening. Not because they reveal an underground gang or a secret terrorist organization but because they are so ordinary. Ogun Samast, the assassin, is a 17-year-old youth from Trabzon.  He is described by his family and friends as somewhat angry and temperamental. He played soccer in an amateur club. His school record is not bright. He smokes. He socializes with his friends. He has a family. And he is 17 years old.All of these details lead us not to a monstrous killer but to an average person. And this is what is scary about the whole crime.

The carnage in Iraq is continuing without lessening. The slaughter has neither direction nor meaning. No one can even name what is happening: is it a civil war? Resistance? Sectarian violence? Insurgency? A proxy war? Now both Americans and Iraqi leaders admit they cannot control the situation. The new Bush plan to send 21,500 new American troops to Baghdad is unlikely to stop the bloodshed. It will only increase the suspicion that Americans have no intentions of leaving Iraq or giving a timetable for withdrawal. In turn, this will only further weaken the already weak Maliki government, which is in the process of forming a new cabinet.