The new Cabinet will be announced today, and whether Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan will continue to be part of the top brass team steering the Turkish economy is one of the questions most worried about. Market players are particularly interested in the answer since Babacan is among the acknowledged architects of the country's past economic success -- which in my opinion needs a thorough demythification -- as well as of the current economic situation, which has been tarnished b
On Wednesday, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was giving a “farewell” speech to his followers in his party's extraordinary congress. Everyone knows, though, he is not going anywhere; he will continue to rule everything in this country -- only now, as president. In his long speech, Erdoğan said so many things. But a few of them deserve scrutiny to understand what kind of trends are waiting for this country in the coming days. His wo
Some US media outlets have been reporting that the US has been seeking Turkish cooperation in its possible air strikes against militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which renamed itself the Islamic State (IS), in Syria. In fact, my reliable sources told me last week that Ankara and Washington have already gotten closer to reaching a consensus on cooperation during the US's possible air strikes in Syria against ISIS targets. The details of this possible cooperati
Most people agree that the presidential elections marks the beginning of a new era for Turkey. In fact, this new era began a while ago. But now it is time to establish new regulations for this new era. During the electoral campaign, right after the proclamation of the official results, during the ceremonies organized within the governing party and the government, everybody emphasized the same thing in their speeches: a new Turkey has emerged. One can only
A critical era for the political future of Turkey has started since the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president. Even though Erdoğan argues that Turkey will become more powerful under his presidency, the concrete data invalidate this argument. It is already obvious that Erdoğan will not be an impartial president. He will not disconnect from his party. He will make sure that he focuses on manipulating the government. Thus, political tensions will be
One remarkable man was responsible for creating modern Turkey. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal (known as Atatürk, “the Father of the Turks”) took control and transformed the country from an absolute monarchy to a secular, democratic Muslim state. Tales of this one-man revolution abound, and he is genuinely universally revered, while at home this is particularly the case with those who are more pro-Western in lifestyle and philosophy. His image is still everywhere, although it
After being elected in the Aug. 10 presidential election, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the presidential oath on Thursday. However, on Aug. 27, a day before his inauguration, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held an extraordinary congress that was led by President-elect Erdoğan. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu became the new party leader following an announcement from Erdoğan at the congress. Consequently, Davutoğlu will soon be tasked
Who will fill the political vacuum in his party after the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president? On what types of policies will Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu rely when holding the positions of prime minister and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) chairman? These questions will be answered pretty soon. Davutoğlu has a huge problem, which now seems a big advantage. Erdoğan has over the past years ruled his party by a reliance on the status
With carrot-and-stick tactics, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan currently controls most of the media outlets and brainwashes people with false information. His chief advisor Yiğit Bulut has been claiming that there are only two-and-a-half leaders in the world: Erdoğan, Putin and Obama (the half). Many people in his party and some pro-Erdoğan journalists accept that Erdoğan has billions of US dollars, but they say that this is for future projects related to Ummah, or the Muslim
Everybody is discussing the premiership of Ahmet Davutoğlu, but I believe that what really needs to be discussed is whether Hakan Fidan will become prime minister. If the settlement process had progressed as planned by Fidan and he had not been considered one of those who were responsible for the policy failures in Syria and Iraq, we would have discussed his premiership instead of Davutoğlu. Where did this come from? Let me review the proces
Pressure is mounting on Turkey because of the latest developments regarding the Islamic State (IS). The IS has now turned its attention towards strategic targets in Syria. One of these targets is the Syrian border region with Turkey. This will increase the security risk on the Turkish side of the border with Syria. This coincides with heavy criticism directed by the American and British press at Turkey's way of handling the IS issue. It started with an