by Halil Gürhanlı

April 28,  2017

There was, arguably, hardly any point in Turkey’s April 16 referendum. Despite all the hype within the “yes” and “no” camps, both of which considered it as the most important vote ever to be cast in the country’s history, the referendum was never going to yield any major change in practical terms regardless of its result. However, the regime needed a seal of approval, without which it would have been impossible to keep acting as if it has even minimal democratic legitimacy. The referendum also served to further polarize and consolidate the bipolar hegemony in Turkish politics around the figure of President Erdoğan. 

by Natalia Konarzewska

April 19,  2017

On February 1, Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, ratified the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) on construction of Turkish Stream, a pipeline designed to carry Russian gas to Turkey and further to Europe. The bill was earlier approved by the Turkish parliament in December 2016 and by Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in late January. Russia is also investigating means for transporting gas to southern Europe. In January, the Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s Board Alexander Medvedev announced that Gazprom was interested in using the capacities of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) or ITGI-Poseidon to bring its gas to Europe.

By Svante E. Cornell

April 5,  2017

Scandals have emerged all over Europe over the alleged illicit intelligence activity of organizations loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But the issue is considerably larger. The Turkish government has engaged in a systematic effort to mobilize the Turkish diaspora in Europe for the purposes of Erdoğan’s regime – as voters in Turkish elections, as a pressure group in the politics of their countries of residence, and as informants and bullies against Erdoğan’s opponents.