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

Key Points:

• Turkey agrees to a Chinese manufactured missile defense system, worrying its NATO allies.
• The European Commission says Turkey’s bid remains open to joining the EU while criticizing the government’s handling of the Gezi Park protests.
• Turkey’s EU negotiator expresses his doubts towards his Sisyphean task, saying that full membership is not likely.
• Abdullah Ocalan calls on the government to act on its promise to negotiate. The PKK’s military leader in the field has halted the organization’s withdrawal from Turkey, meaning that should talks fail, a resumption of violence would likely soon follow.
• TANAP and TAP pipeline projects move forward, while the KRG has made more than $1 billion in profits shipping oil overland to Turkish ports. The situation continues to draw the ire of Baghdad.

• October 28, 2013

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive towards China as Beijing threatened to strike back if provoked.

• October 26, 2013

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the European Union's 28 member states to reach a "no spy deal" similar to an agreement France and Germany seek with the United State following allegations Washington tapped her mobile phone.

• October 26, 2013

European Union leaders rebuffed calls from southern European states on Friday for emergency action to tackle a wave of illegal migration from Africa despite the deaths of hundreds of people in Mediterranean boat disasters.

• October 26, 2013

North Korea repatriated six South Korean citizens and a corpse at a heavily defended border crossing on Friday, South Korea's Ministry of Unification said, in a rare humanitarian gesture amid persistent tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul.

• October 25, 2013

Turkey and Iraq, both concerned by the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, said on Friday their strained relations were improving and they would cooperate more closely to limit the spillover from Syria's civil war.

• October 25, 2013

Russia angrily denied U.S. media reports that the Russian director of a cultural exchange program may be recruiting Americans as spies, saying such allegations risked damaging ties between the two countries.

• October 25, 2013

NATO and Russia could play a role in eliminating Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles if they were asked to do so by the United Nations, said U.S., NATO and Russian officials on Wednesday.

• October 24, 2013