This week:
Foreign Policy
- Militants Storm Turkish Consulate in Iraqi City, Taking 49 People as Hostages
- Erdoğan-Biden on call again, as Ankara sets up crisis desk on Iraq
- Insurgents’ Iraq advance poses security, economic risk for Turkey
- Turkey, EU to talk over judicial reforms
Domestic Politics
- Turkey’s main opposition parties to nominate ex-head of Islamic body İhsanoğlu for presidency
- CHP blows hot and cold on İhsanoğlu move as AKP heralds ‘end of opposition’
- Kurds key to current Turkish politics; domestic and foreign
Economy & Energy
- Turkey could cut rates this month if inflation falling – Basci
- Iraqi Kurds Keep Pumping Oil to Turkey Amid Hostage Standoff
FOREIGN POLICY
Militants Storm Turkish Consulate in Iraqi City, Taking 49 People as Hostages
The Turkish government reacted with alarm on Wednesday to the seizure of the country’s consul general and his staff by militants in Mosul, Iraq, vowing to retaliate if any of its citizens are wounded.
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New York Times, 11 June 2014, Militants Storm Turkish Consulate in Iraqi City, Taking 49 People as Hostages
Erdoğan-Biden on call again, as Ankara sets up crisis desk on Iraq
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has discussed the growing insurgency in Iraq with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the second time in three days, while Ankara established a crisis desk to inform the Turkish public daily about 80 Turks taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 13 June 2014, Erdoğan-Biden on call again, as Ankara sets up crisis desk on Iraq
Insurgents’ Iraq advance poses security, economic risk for Turkey
The advance of Sunni militants in Iraq leaves Turkey facing a widening Islamist insurgency in two of its southern neighbors, endangering domestic security, threatening important trade routes and forcing it again to rethink Middle Eastern policies.
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Reuters, 13 June 2014,
Turkey, EU to talk over judicial reforms
Ankara and Brussels will continue to work on Turkey’s efforts to harmonize its legislation on issues concerning judiciary and fundamental rights along with criteria set in Chapter 23 during EU Commissioner Stefan Füle’s two-day trip to Ankara.
Füle arrived in Ankara on June 16 afternoon. He will hold his first meeting with EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu before being hosted over dinner by President Abdullah Gül.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 16 June 2014, Turkey, EU to talk over judicial reforms
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Turkey’s main opposition parties to nominate ex-head of Islamic body İhsanoğlu for presidency
The two major opposition parties represented at the Turkish Parliament have finally announced their agreement for nominating the former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, as their joint presidential candidate.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 16 June 2014, Turkey’s main opposition parties to nominate ex-head of Islamic body İhsanoğlu for presidency
CHP blows hot and cold on İhsanoğlu move as AKP heralds ‘end of opposition’
The announcement of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as the joint opposition presidential candidate has drawn mixed reactions from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), while a senior Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker heralded “the end of the opposition.”
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Hurriyet Daily News, 16 June 2014, CHP blows hot and cold on İhsanoğlu move as AKP heralds ‘end of opposition’
Kurds key to current Turkish politics; domestic and foreign
Developments in Turkish foreign and domestic politics have entered a dangerous collision course, less than two months before the first round of presidential elections on Aug. 10.
The common denominator of developments in current Turkish foreign and domestic politics is the Kurdish issue. In domestic politics, the role of the Kurdish issue in the presidential elections is becoming more visible every day.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 16 June 2014, Kurds key to current Turkish politics; domestic and foreign
ECONOMY & ENERGY
Turkey could cut rates this month if inflation falling – Basci
Turkey’s central bank could cut interest rates as soon as next week if it is convinced that the outlook for inflation is improving significantly, Governor Erdem Basci said.
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Reuters, 16 June 2014, Turkey could cut rates this month if inflation falling – Basci
Iraqi Kurds Keep Pumping Oil to Turkey Amid Hostage Standoff
Crude oil is flowing to Turkey from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region at a pace of 100,000-120,000 barrels a day, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, according to state-run Anadola news agency, signaling shipments are unaffected by violence fracturing Iraq.
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Bloomberg, 16 June 2014, Iraqi Kurds Keep Pumping Oil to Turkey Amid Hostage Standoff
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