By Micha’el Tanchum (vol. 7, no. 2 of the Turkey Analyst) 

In late December 2013, Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship that can function as an aircraft carrier, potentially providing Turkey an unprecedented measure of sea control in the region. The heightened threat perception for Israel, Cyprus, and Greece will impact the imminent decision whether Israel will export its natural gas to a planned Cypriot LNG terminal with a European export route through Greece or build a subsea pipeline to Turkey. Turkey’s next diplomatic moves could make the difference between a comprehensive regional agreement for a Turkish export route for eastern Mediterranean off-shore energy or a naval arms race which Turkey economically cannot win.

By Burak Bilgehan Özpek (vol. 7, no. 2 of the Turkey Analyst)

The pro-Western discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has vanished as domestic opposition has mounted. The AKP has in a sense turned the clock back to the 1990s when the Turkish Islamists depicted the West as the enemy of Turkey. But the Turkish Islamists’ discourse toward the West is dictated by the policies and rhetoric of their opponents more than by any principled enmity or for that matter amicability. What the West is for the AKP – an enemy or a friend – is ultimately determined by what the West is for the opponents of the Islamists.

By Gareth H. Jenkins (vol. 07,  no. 01 of the Turkey Analyst)

The escalating power struggle between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the followers of the exiled Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, collectively known as the Gülen Movement, has stripped away the last traces of the facades that each had spent years trying to construct.