By Richard Weitz (vol. 3, no. 18 of the Turkey Analyst)

The recent, unprecedented joint exercise between the Turkish and Chinese air forces is a signal event. Turkey and China are rapidly developing not only their economic relations, but the two countries have also been drawn closer by a shared ambition to question the Western-dominated world order. Although it is probable that U.S. pressure will ultimately work to constrain Turkey’s potential interest in developing close defense ties with China, the evolution of the Turkish-Chinese relationship may nonetheless have important geopolitical and strategic repercussions.

By Halil M. Karaveli (vol. 3, no. 18 of the Turkey Analyst)

Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is seeking to promote a secularist-conservative reconciliation. However, instead of seizing on the opportunity to advance the cause of mutual understanding and societal cohesion, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has chosen to uphold the battle line against the secularists. The maximalist response of the AKP to the CHP’s headscarf overture does not inspire any confidence that the victorious Sunni conservatives are ever going to bother to try to accommodate the losing side in the battle over Turkey’s identity.

By Halil M. Karaveli (vol. 3, no. 17 of the Turkey Analyst)

At this stage, the Turkish government remains unprepared to commit itself to the kind of constitutional changes that the Kurdish movement requests. Yet a dialogue has presently gotten under way between the Turkish state and the Kurdish movement. If that dialogue can be sustained over a longer period of time, the prospects for a resolution of Turkey’s intractable conflict would look brighter than ever.