In light of the recent developments in Syria and the apparently imminent US military intervention, the blog will take a short break from its relatively academic style and its thematic focus in order to brainstorm and share some thoughts on the broader picture of what is happening in the geopolitical arena of the region. Dangerous Double Standards Bashar al-Assad has reportedly used chemical weapons to attack, essentially, his own people. The first, logically obvious question is why would Assad essentially...
On August 28, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov held consultations with Guven Sak, Managing Director of Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), on the information and analytical support of Russian-Turkish cooperation in economy, science, technology and education.
The parties agreed on expanding the RIAC-TEPAV interaction in the above areas including economic development of the ...
Interview with Dr. Mustafa Acar, Rector and professor of Aksaray University
Interview
Since Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) party took office in late 2002 Turkey became more prosperous and politically mobilized. Turkey is not a full-fledged democracy yet but its government does change through the ballot box and it is definitely more democratic than it was a decade ago. Moreover, the country has come to ...
Interview with Ambassador Pyotr Stegny
Interview
Well-known Russian scholar and diplomat
Pyotr Stegny
, a RIAC member, speaks on current events in Turkey. He regards the confrontation between the government and protesters as the conflict between Erdogan's ruling style and the pluralistic and democratic Turkish political culture. "The situation is rather similar to the recent marches in New ...
... President Igor Ivanov, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Vitaly Naumkin and GRF President Memduh Karakullukçu.
Addressing the participants of the meeting, the heads of the three organizations emphasized the key role played by Russia and Turkey in the processes currently taking place in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
During the meeting the experts discussed a wide range of issues of the Russian-Turkish cooperation. The following issues were on the agenda during the debates:
...
Army of the new Middle East "owner"
Over the entire history of the Republic of Turkey, the country’s military has enjoyed significant privileges and been an integral part of the national political system. Most Russian and foreign analysts agree that the army has always been the guarantor of the Kemalist course and protector ...
... Contemporary Dynamics and Prospects” held by
International Strategic Research Organization
.
Workshop Questions
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RIAC delegation included Director General Andrey Kortunov, RIAC members Pyotr Stegny and Fyodor Lukyanov, as well as RIAC experts on Turkey, Middle East and Islamic world.
The Turkish side included government officials, leading university scholars, NGO representatives and independent experts. Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru addressed the forum.
The conference came to a decision ...
... ruling circles and in collective consciousness, which is inconsistent with the basic concept of Islam, according to which the “national” factor does not play a defining role. However, throughout the period of the existence of the Republic of Turkey, nationalism was the foundation of the ideology of the Turkish Republic. This duality of political consciousness generated, on the one hand, periodic returns to the Pan-Turkism ideology (the idea of unification of all Turkic peoples in a great ...
... instance a massacre in a village or a heavy attack) may be a legitimate reason for a deterioration of the situation with uncontrollable consequences.
Take one recent example - a Turkish spy plane shot down on June 22, 2012 by Syrian air defense forces. Turkey announced that the pilots did not violate the airspace of Syria. It is possible that Syrian missile operators overreacted, since the day before they received a scolding for having missed a defector. Syrian colonel Hassan Merhi al-Hamade in an old ...
... the EU stability.
The problems exposed over the last five years should have encouraged Brussels to review the whole EU further enlargement strategy. However, nothing of the sort happened. Today, five countries are officially cueing up for membership: Turkey, Montenegro, Macedonia, Iceland and Serbia. At present Croatia is actually completing the process of accession to the EU. Certain pledges were made to Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Theoretically, what is the borderline where the European ...
