The ruling AK Party has chosen Binali Yıldırım to be its new chairman and prime minister. Coupled with the immunity debate in Parliament and the convulsions within the MHP, this week will long be remembered by those closely following Turkish politics

Expected debates concerning the modalities of presidentialism seen as appropriate for Turkey's conditions must be advanced with always one careful eye on the health of economic parameters

To be clear, it is true that the president and Davutoğlu disagreed on a number of issues. The important point is that the ongoing process will put the AK Party's unity and commitment to group values to the test.

The AK Party has a unique position in Turkey's politics. The fact that leadership change, which had devastating effects on many political movements before, went smoothly here supports this view. Needless to say, Erdoğan deserves some credit for the smooth transition.

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.

The PKK is an ultra-pragmatist terror organization that can use even the peace rhetoric to fool communities.

The West has a new approach toward Turkey. On issues like terrorism and the refugee crisis, in which Western nations have a vested interest, they engage in constructive dialogue with the government. Just in case negotiations don't go as planned, they threaten to complain about Turkey's purported slide into authoritarianism and the decline in press freedom.

The deepening crisis in the Middle East increases the value of Turkey's friendship, which the United States and others are trying to win back. In turn, Turkey cares very little about being liked. The country's leaders are completely focused on national interests.

As the counterterror fight is the first priority for Turkey, the U.S. authorities' tangible solution offered to Erdoğan can mark a good start in putting bilateral relations back on track.

Turkey's ascendancy as a middle power and regional play-maker in the Middle East went pretty well up until 2011 but has faced multifaceted difficulties and challenges afterward, especially in the wake of the escalation of the Syrian civil war.

In recent months, it has been interesting to see opposition pundits who were initially critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's assessment that the two groups were one and the same slowly reach the same conclusion.

By killing civilians en masse, the PKK created a new distinction between Turkish citizens: A large number of people openly condemning the attacks and a small minority who would rather point their fingers at the government.

In an op-ed piece published by The Washington Post last week, Mort Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to "reform or resign." What a joke!

Turkey has to solve the administrative system crisis facing it in order to be able to surmount its domestic problems and be effective in its region by forming socio-economic and socio-cultural integration belts

The reason behind the Feb. 28 post-modern coup, which was an outcome of the past military tutelage of politics, was economic

The open support the U.S. is giving to a terrorist organization in Syria that has been active in Turkey for the last 30 years is creating serious questions in the minds of Turkey's political elite

The strong criticism of Ankara's Syria policy is unfair when Turkey is the only country using military power in northern Syria solely to secure its national rights and borders.