By Firdevs Robinson.

FPC Senior Research Associate gives her analysis of Turkey's role on the international stage and as a leading player in the evolving map of the Middle East. She notes Turkey's enhanced prestige but assesses the on going problems with Syria, France, Cyprus and the challenges it faces at home.

Download FPC Briefing: Turkey – Role Model or Regional Bully? (420 kilobyte PDF)

By Ziya Meral.

A remarkable series of public declarations by Turkish officials last weeks are causing increasing concern over the future of Turkish-EU relations and possible solutions to the Cyprus problem.

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By Prof Baskin Oran.

For the third paper in our Exploring Turkishness: Rights, Identity and the EU essay series, the Foreign Policy Centre is delighted to publish a new paper by leading Turkish academic and human rights campaigner, Professor Baskin Oran of Ankara University. In his new paper The Issue of "Turkish" and "Türkiyeli" he sets out his clear arguments for the creation of a new and inclusive identity that could cover all citizens of Turkey. (Translation provided by Deniz Ugur)

Download Exploring Turkishness: The Issue of Turkish and Türkiyeli (410 kilobyte PDF)

By Ziya Meral.

In the second paper as part of our Exploring Turkishness: Rights, Identity and the EU Essay Series Ziya Miral examines the state's approach to regulating religion and its role in defining Turkish identity. He draws attention to the problems this causes for Turkey's minority communities, with a particular focus on its non-Muslim minorities, and argues for an equal conception of citizenship that respects ethnic and religious diversity.

Download Exploring Turkishness: Laicite, Religion & SPDPD in Turkey (200 kilobyte PDF)

By Zeynep Dereli.

The Foreign Policy Centre is delighted to publish the first in a new series of short papers as part of a new project, Exploring Turkishness: Rights, Identity and the EU. In this first paper Senior Research Associate Zeynep Dereli makes the case for a broader, more inclusive approach to the idea of citizenship of Turkey, addressing some of the challenges facing Turkish women and minority groups.

Download Exploring Turkishness: Women and Minorities (510 kilobyte PDF)

By Marc Herzog.

Marc Herzog's new briefing gives a fascinating insight into the statistics behind Turkey's recent constitutional referendum and examines what the result means for Turkey's future.

Download FPC Briefing:Turkey's 2010 constitutional referendum (410 kilobyte PDF)

The full text of a speech by Mustafa Sarigül, leader of Turkey's Change Movement, to the Foreign Policy Centre's A new politics for Turkey? Sarýgül's challenge to the Turkish political establishment event held at the UK Houses of Parliament on March 22nd 2010.

Download FPC Speech by Mustafa Sarýgül (350 kilobyte PDF)

By Adam Hug. Source: BN (Business Network) Magazine

(First published in BN Magazine http://www.bnmagazine.co.uk )

Joining the EU can be a tricky business, even if you are not a large and Islamic country straddling the continent's old geographic divide. Brussels is at serious risk of getting mud on the red carpet it rolled out to welcome Iceland, the once fiercely independent banking black hole, into the club, as President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson jeopardized the country's repayment deal with the UK and Netherlands over the collapse of the Icesave bank by putting it to a public vote in February. With the public less fearful of total economic collapse, the need to appease European member states seems less pressing, with polls showing that voters are likely to reject the deal and are not currently sold on joining the EU, if even if they are happy for negotiations to proceed.

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By Marc Herzog.

New FPC Associate Mark Herzog gives an FPC briefing on the influence of Turkey's new Foreign Minister, Professor Ahmet Davutoðlu. The briefing looks at his influence behind the scenes in developing a new perspective for Turkish foreign policy based on his idea of Strategic Depth. Herzog examines Turkey's increasingly active role in the Middle East in addition to the development of long standing ties to Central Asia that he believes will help rather than hinder Turkey's long-term relationship with the EU.

Download Turkey's new Foreign Minister (160 kilobyte PDF)

By Adam Hug. Source: The Guardian Comment is Free

To comment on this article, please visit the FPC Blog: http://foreignpolicycentre.blogspot.com

Turkey's bid to join the EU offers Europe the choice of embracing its internal diversity or resorting to an insular idea of itself.

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By Dick Leonard. Source: European Voice

Anyone visiting Turkey after an interval of several years, as I did last week, cannot fail to be impressed by the visible evidence of the transformation of the Turkish economy. With its high annual growth rate (8 per cent in the past year), and its energetic, enterprising, and, above all, youthful workforce, it is catching up fast with the EU, and there can be little doubt that it will have overtaken the GDP per capita of several existing member states over the next decade.

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