This Week:
Foreign Policy
- EU, Turkey take step towards visa-free travel
- Cyprus talk dominates heated EU-Turkey meeting
- Turkey says it has received no new bids to rival China missile offer
Domestic Politics
- Erdogan getting hit in AKP-‘Cemaat’ war
- Mustafa Balbay Freed
- Turkey submits Kurdish reforms to parliament
Energy/Economy
- Kurds’ oil deals with Turkey raise fears of fissures in Iraq
Foreign Policy
EU, Turkey take step towards visa-free travel
The European Union took steps on 4 December towards lifting visa requirements for Turkish citizens, in a move underscoring a new thaw in relations between Ankara and the 28-member bloc.
The two sides agreed to sign an agreement allowing EU governments to send back illegal immigrants crossing into Europe from Turkey.
In return, the EU agreed to enter into official discussions on how the current requirement for a visa when travelling to Europe could be dropped.
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Reuters, 4 December 2013, EU, Turkey take step towards visa-free travel
Cyprus talk dominates heated EU-Turkey meeting
The decades-long Cyprus dispute dominated yet another meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee yesterday, which turned into an ugly mudslinging match between committee members.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 6 December 2013, Cyprus talk dominates heated EU-Turkey meeting
Turkey says it has received no new bids to rival China missile offer
Turkey has yet to receive any new bids to supply a new missile system to rival a controversial multi-billion dollar offer by a US-blacklisted Chinese company, a government official said Dec. 6.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 6 December 2013, Turkey says it has received no new bids to rival China missile offer
Domestic Politics
Erdogan getting hit in AKP-‘Cemaat’ war
The almost two-year-long strife that has been raging between the Justice and Development (AKP) government and the Gulen Movement — a faith community identified as Cemaat in Turkey — which before had been a de facto partner of the political power, has dramatically escalated lately. It is on the verge of becoming a media war with an unpredictable outcome, with secret intelligence documents being made public one after another.
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Al-Monitor, 8 December 2013, Erdogan getting hit in AKP-‘Cemaat’ war
Turkey submits Kurdish reforms to parliament
The Turkish government has formally submitted to parliament a package of reforms aimed at boosting the rights of the country’s Kurdish community, a parliamentary source said.
But Kurdish politicians say the so-called “democratisation” proposals — which also cover issues such as punishments for hate crimes — are still far from adequate.
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Agence France-Presse, 6 December 2013, Turkey submits Kurdish reforms to parliament
Mustafa Balbay Freed
An Istanbul court ruled today for the release of jailed deputy and journalist Mustafa Balbay following a Constitutional Court’s landmark ruling stating that the lengthy imprisonment of Balbay amounted to a “violation of the law” and “violation of his right to be elected.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 9 December 2013, Court rules for release of jailed deputy and journalist Balbay
Energy/Economy
Kurds’ oil deals with Turkey raise fears of fissures in Iraq
Iraqi Kurds are selling oil and natural gas directly to Turkey, infuriating Washington and the central government in Baghdad, which fear that oil independence could lead Kurds to declare a broad independence and the fracturing of the nation.
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New York Times, 2 December 2013, Kurds’ oil deals with Turkey raise fears of fissures in Iraq
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