SETA Washington D.C. hosted FM of the Republic of Turkey His Excellency Ahmet Davutoglu. Davutoglu delivered a keynote speech entitled " Principles of Turkish Foreign Policy" followed by a panel discussion on "Changing Direction? Discussing Turkish Foreign Policy" featuring Taha Ozhan, Director General of SETA Foundation, Cengiz Candar, Senior Columnist for Radikal Newspaper, Prof. Bulent Aras of SETA Foundation, and Prof. Fuat Keyman of Koc University. December 8, 2009 Grand Ballroom, Mayflower Hotel, Washington D.C. 12.15pm EST

SETA D.C., Başbakanımız Sayın Recep Tayyip Erdoğan onuruna Washington D.C.'de Reneissance Mayflower Hotel'de 7 Aralık 2009 Pazartesi günü "Dünya Siyasetinde Türkiye" başlıklı bir toplantı düzenledi. Adres: Washington Mayflower Hotel, Grand Ballroom 1127 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20036 USA Saat: 18.30

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE  By Joshua W. Walker Transatlantic Academy / Princeton University Date: October 22, 2009 Thursday Time: 17.00 – 18.30 Venue: SETA, Ankara  RSVP: Umare Yazar, Tel: 405 61 51 * 207 P.S.: The language of the lecture will be English.  No translation services will be provided.

President Obama's trip to Turkey April 6-7 is undoubtedly significant. The visit follows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip abroad last month, which included two separate bilateral stops, Israel and Turkey.

Last week Turkey witnessed a first. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan broke his fast with 1,000 Alevis in Ankara. The fast was in observance of the beginning of the month of Muharram.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s visit to the White House, his first such visit to the US as president and the first visit by a Turkish president in 11 years, comes at a time when US-Turkish relations have taken a new turn.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s visit to Ankara last Tuesday is important for the current state of Turkish-Iraqi relations. The visit focused on trade and security, and these are two crucial areas for both countries

The short-term winner of the July 22 elections is the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) but the big winner is the traditional periphery of Turkish society. The AK Party’s challenge now is to turn this victory into an asset for those who voted for the party. And this means electing a president who will not be a disappointment for the vast majority of the public.

The Turkish general elections are set to take place this Sunday. If there is no major disruption at the last moment, we should expect a “normal” election. But can Turkish politics normalize after the stakes have been raised to almost irrational levels?

The expectation from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) when it came to power in 2002 was that political discussions would be shaped by internal agenda issues.

The deadlock created by the discussions on judicial independence and impartiality during the presidential election process and the extension of the discussions to the realm of fundamental rights and freedoms with a particular reference to the headscarf issue drew attention to what policy the AK Party would pursue to address these issues in the new term.  

Opposition is one of the major elements in a democracy’s becoming institutionalized, putting down roots and developing in a healthy manner. 

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.