By John Daly (vol. 6, no. 23 of the Turkey Analyst)

While the Islamist ideology of Turkey’s ruling party makes it unlikely that the relations between Turkey and Israel can be restored in a way that fulfills the expectations of the United States, there are also some signs that suggest that something of a working relation between Jerusalem and Ankara, based on mutual economic interests, can still be established. Trade can potentially serve as an ice-breaker between the two nations.

By Halil M. Karaveli (vol. 6, no. 23 of the Turkey Analyst)

The civil war in the Turkish state is unprecedented in the history of the republic. Prime Minister Erdoğan is preparing to deliver a final blow to the “cemaat” and may succeed in asserting his control over the state apparatus. But Erdoğan’s political fortunes depend on convincing the conservatives that his party is “clean”, and that Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet movement is a “gang” in collusion with hostile foreign powers against the “pious” government. While it was easy to mobilize the conservatives against the Gezi protesters, it may prove more challenging to discredit what used to be fellow Islamic conservative allies.

By Gareth Jenkins (vo. 6, no. 22 of the Turkey Analyst)

On December 1, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız met with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shristani in Baghdad in an attempt to assuage the central Iraqi government’s concerns about a string of energy cooperation agreements between Ankara and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). On November 16, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan had hosted KRG President Massoud Barzani in the city of Diyarbakır in an attempt to divide and weaken Turkey’s own Kurdish nationalist movement.