TURKEY BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST by Halil Inalcik

Within the Islamic community of peoples, Turks have had a special state tradition from the time they entered and controlled the Islamic world in the eleventh century. Originating in the steppe empires, this tradition can be defined as the recognition of the state's absolute independence of action and the upholding of the state's absolute right to legislate on public matters....

THE FENER GREEK PATRIARCHATE by Suat Bilge

A controversy concerning the Fener Greek Patriarchate started in Turkey in 1997. It was stated that the Patriarchate could be used both for and against the interests of Turkey. On the one hand, it was claimed that the Patriarchate had intentions to establish itself as an ecumenical church and become a state like the Vatican; that the Orthodox world was trying to gain power in Turkey....

DISINFORMATION-THE NEGATIVE FACTOR IN TURCO-GREEK RELATIONS
by Selahi R.Sonyel

The current disputes between Turkey and Greece have deep roots in history, and probably go as far back as the conquest of Constantinople (istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire, by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Two American researchers, Vamik Volkan (of Turkish Cypriot origin) and Norman Itzkowitz, believe that the conquest has caused a deep trauma among the Greeks and other Christians, and plunged them into mourning, which is still continuing...

CASPIAN UNCERTAINTIES REGIONAL RIVALRIES AND PIPELINES  
by Bülent Gökay

In the next century, the Caspian Sea and the regions adjoining it could become the largest supplier of oil and gas to Asia and Europe. The oil potential of this colossal territorial region is so significant that the analytical centres of a series of the world's large oil refining companies consider it to be a more long-term than the unstable Persian Gulf. According to different evaluations, oil reserves under the depths of the Caspian amount to more than 13 billion tonnes....

THE RUSSIAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS PRESENT STATUS AND PROSPECT FOR FUTURE by Vitaly Naumkin

Russia regards maintenance of friendly relations with the countries bordering on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as one of the important trends in its foreign policy. Among these countries, Iran, as a major regional power, having a substantial influence on the situation on Central Asia and Transcaucasia, occupies one of the first places....

CYPRUS-BRIDGE OR BUNKER ? by Fatma Güven-Lisaniler-Jonathan Warner

The Cyprus Problem is one of the few disputes world-wide to have remained unaffected by the end of the Cold War. The island is the site of the longest-lasting United Nations peacekeeping operation. UN troops were first sent to the island in March 1964, on a six-monthly mandate, which has been renewed on the same basis ever since. Writing in 1994,:..

IS NUCLEAR DETERRENCE MORALLY ACCEPTABLE ?   by Turan Çetiner

Addressing the problems of inter-state relations, interpretations and precepts around morality embodied different patterns of analysis throughout history. With this in mind, ethical doctrines have their roots in different structures of thought as regards the intricate intersection of security concerns and morality...

ALBANIA'S COLLAPSE AND RECONSTRUCTION by Paul Kubicek

In the first months of 1997, just as the world celebrated one year of peace in Bosnia, another Balkan state, Albania, plunged into crisis. The mayhem in Albania was triggered by a collapse in shady pyramid investment schemes, but its root causes were decades of economic mismanagement and political corruption. These continued to plague the country even after the collapse of communism in 1991-1992....

AFGHANISTAN AND TADJIKISTAN: DESTABILISING FACTORS FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN REGION by Mutahir Ahmed

The struggle for power in Tadjikistan and Afghanistan poses a threat to regional stability. Moreover, foreign interference in both states leads towards the destabilisation of the region. Though Tadjikistan has been stabilised due to foreign mediation, the ethnic minorities in Afghanistan want to get rid of Pashtoon domination (the largest ‘ethnic group', comprising 45 per cent of the Afghan population) which gets support from external powers....

BOOK REVIEW

"THE TURKISH REVOLUTION: A PERSPECTIVE ON IDEOLOGICAL CHANGE IN TURKEY" by MOHAMMED SADIQ, New Delhi, Macmillan, 1997

Türkkaya Ataöv
Mohammed Sadiq, profes-sor of Turkish studies at Jawa-harlal Nehru University (JNU), is one of the leading scholars of Turkish history and currents of thought. His proficiency in Urdu, Hindi, English and Turkish, his working knowledge of Arabic and Persian, and his formal education, which includes gradu-ate studies in Turkey, have contri-buted to his present standing as an ...  

INFORMATION NOTE CONCERNING THE PROPOSALS MADE BY TURKEY TO GREECE ON 12 FEBRUARY 1998 ABOUT A PROCESS OF PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF PROBLEMS OVER THE AEGEAN BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

Turkey believes that the two neighbourly and allied countries should enjoy friendly and better relations in an environment of understanding which will be to the benefit of not only Turkey and Greece but also of the region as a whole. Today, there are several interrelated problems between Turkey and Greece. Because of the existence of these unresolved questions over the Aegean, the two countries are facing tension in their relations which is liable to give rise to...

PROTOCOL ON FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS AND THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

The Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Government of the Republic of Turkey, Recalling the permanent political consultation mechanism established between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries in the context of the Joint Declaration of 28 December l995; Reaffirming their desire and determination to preserve and maintain peace and stability in Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean....