Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during 1-15 July 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Turkey’s Parliament recesses for the summer break, having pushed through several pieces of legislation at the last hour. The most divisive of these aimed at stripping the power of the influential architects’ union, which supported the Taksim Square protests.
• Progress is slow on the new constitution. The CHP accuses Prime Minister Erdogan of only wanting to blame the opposition on the glacial nature of the new document in order to make himself president.
• The PKK reshuffles its leadership, but the head of the group’s armed wing warns the Turkish government to take immediate steps to show it is committed to the peace agreement.
• Turkey’s backing of moderate rebel fighters in Syria has not turned the tide in the country as Salafist groups with Gulf backers gain influence in the opposition.
• The growing numbers of Syrian refugees pose a grave threat to Turkey’s own domestic tranquillity.
• Completion nears on a northern oil pipeline between Turkey and the Kurdish Regional Government that will connect with the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan line, all at the expense of Baghdad.

• July 19, 2013

President Vladimir Putin says Russian-American ties are more important than the issue of the fugitive former U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who is currently sheltering at a Moscow airport.

• July 18, 2013

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is beginning a three-day visit to China.

• July 18, 2013

Three prominent Iranian economists have called for the creation of a "civil movement" against U.S.-led sanctions that have been imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program.

• July 18, 2013

China needs another round of "decisive measures" to make sure it continues its successful economic growth as its margins of safety are falling amid growing domestic problems, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest report.

• July 17, 2013

In the years-long campaign to tie a web of sanctions around Iran and stall its nuclear program, the European Union may just have met its biggest obstacle: its own law courts.

• July 16, 2013

China said on Tuesday it had lodged a protest with the United States over President Barack Obama's signing of legislation expressing U.S. support for Taiwan's campaign to attend meetings of a U.N. civil aviation body.

• July 16, 2013

Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn expects Russia's car market to overcome recent weakness and is aiming, with the help of Lada-maker AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.MM), to capture 40 percent of the market, he said in a newspaper interview.

• July 16, 2013