Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during Aug. 16th - Sept. 15th 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• New Prime Minister Ahmet Davuglotu announces his cabinet with few surprises, save the re-appointment of economic policy heads Ali Babacan and Mehmet Simsek. The cabinet will continue to carry out its predecessor’s policies, though Turkey’s de facto leader remains President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Turkey declines to actively support American-led airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. Its reluctance, despite the continued imprisonment of 49 hostages by IS, has drawn the ire of critics in the West, who accuse it of failing to confront the jihadist fighters.
• Syria’s refugees in Turkey look to swell to 1.5 million by the end of 2014. Their presence outside of the few refugee camps is giving rise to resentment amongst Turkey’s citizens.
• The Babacan and Simsek appointments to the prime minister’s cabinet have soothed market concerns about the stewardship of the country’s economy, though slower growth in the coming years looks to be the next great challenge for the ruling AKP.
• Turkish national oil company TPAO secures a 19 percent stake in the Shah Deniz-2 gas field, while Kurdish oil continues to flow to the Turkish port of Ceyhan despite the protestations of the Iraqi central government in Baghdad.

• September 24, 2014

South Africa's nuclear cooperation deal signed this week with Russia is part of a tender process that will involve other competing countries and is not a contract to build power plants, government officials said on Tuesday.

• September 23, 2014

Russia criticized the U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State's positions in Syria on Tuesday, saying they should have been agreed with its ally Damascus and would fuel tension in the region.

• September 23, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with his Security Council on Monday potential cooperation with other countries on fighting against Islamic State, Russian news agencies cited the Kremlin's spokesman as saying.

• September 22, 2014

Russia is not working on a new package of measures in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich was quoted as saying on Saturday.

• September 20, 2014

Russia must think about protecting its Internet against threats from the West, a Kremlin spokesman said on Friday, in comments that one prominent critic said could herald moves to control all web-based data exchanges with the rest of the world

• September 19, 2014

Dozens of Russian energy ventures are in jeopardy due to Western sanctions on technology and funding. Looming over them all, a giant project the Kremlin is bent on saving no matter what.

• September 19, 2014

Russia will not curb gas exports to Europe this winter to prevent countries from re-exporting supplies to Ukraine, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told an Austrian newspaper.

• September 18, 2014