Barçin Yinanç

Articles de cet auteur (8)

• 

  Turks, Serbs and Arabs…..

  29 June 2010

  While chatting with a Serbian colleague before attending a press conference by the Gazprom CEO, I told her that I found many similarities between Serbs and Turks. We tend to avoid seeing the mistakes we commit and instead put the blame on the outside world. I was surprised when she told me that a Turkish TV series broadcasted by Fox TV in Serbia, which is owned by a Greek company, has become a big success in the country. “Serbs watch it and say ‘look how Turks are like us,” she said. At one (...)

• 

  Turkey prepares for a new era with Armenia

  4 September 2008

  Turkish President Abdullah Gül is preparing to go to Yerevan with hopes of a breakthrough in frozen relations with Armenia. The two countries have no official diplomatic ties, and whether the visit will open the way to a normalization of relations, depends on how the Turkish President is received in Yerevan. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian’s invitation to watch the football game next Saturday was a gesture of good-will, rather than part of a careful strategy, in the eyes of Turkish (...)

• 

  Decoupling Turkey from Islam

  19 August 2008

  Various stories narrating the “Islamization” of society have been circulating among the conservative urban bourgeoisie in Europe, according to an observer living in Austria. One of them narrates the story of Muslim migrant boys playing football in the vicinity of a church. When the ball hits against the door of the church, the priest suddenly comes out of the church and asks the boys to be more cautious and respectful, whereupon one of the boys says, “Calm down. In a couple of years this (...)

• 

  Secret understanding between the AKP and EU

  8 April 2008

  The statement by Ollie Rehn, implying that the closure case filed against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) might lead to the suspension of entry talks has no doubt made the officials of the party quite happy.
  It seems however that it sent shockwaves through not only those in Turkey who believe that injustice is being done to the AKP, but also to some in Europe.
  “The correlation between the case and the entry talks was first invoked by Foreign Minister [Ali] Babacan,” said (...)

• 

  Slovenia under France’s shadow?

  25 January 2008

  ’France will not take decisions on Slovenia’s behalf,’ says Borut Grgic, director for the Institute For Strategic Studies in Slovenia. Slovenia is the new term president of the European Union. It is only natural that Slovenia and France cooperate closely, since the French will take on the presidency after Slovenia,’ he argues
  Turkish officials are less concerned about France’s pending assumption of the European Union presidency than Slovenia’s current term, which began Jan. 1.
  France, noted (...)

• 

  Hands tied up with the next Greek government

  3 October 2007

  As it became evident that Greece will be unable to cope with the fires ravaging the country last week, some well-off Western countries precipitated to offer assistance. Few among them were considering asking for money for the assistance, as one of them contacted other countries offering assistances on whether they were asking for money or not.
  “The idea would not even cross our minds,” told me an official from Turkey, which sent a firefighting plane to Greece. “The same for the Greeks. They (...)

• 

  Will AKP change Iraq policy ?

  12 September 2007

  Retired Ambassador Yalım Eralp is said to have a collection of interesting examples of crypto documents from the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s internal correspondence. Had he worked under the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), he would have added some precious items to his collection.
  One of the most valuable would have been the crypto documents detailing the conversation between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, during the Israeli (...)

• 

  France to lock horns with Turkey

  10 July 2007

  France has indicated it will block preliminary talks with Ankara on an economic and monetary union. The German EU presidency plans to open three chapters of EU legislation for discussion with Turkey before the end of its presidency this month. This was to be a sign of the EU’s continued willingness to engage with Ankara despite the decision last year to freeze talks in eight areas due to Ankara’s refusal to open its ports to traffic from member state Cyprus.
  France’s newly elected President (...)