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The Syrian civil war exacerbated sectarian divisions between the Alawite-ruled Syrian government and Syria's Sunni population, straining also the relations between the Sunni majority and Alawite and Alevi minorities of the neighboring Turkey. The Alawites and Alevis of Turkey were predominantly supporting Syria's president Bashar al-Asad, while the Turkish government greatly supported the Sunni insurgents of Syria. The paper aims at examining how Alawites and Alevis have influenced the relations between Turkey and Syria in the light of the Syrian civil war, the reasons behind the sympathy of Alevis for the Syrian government and the implications that Turkey's Syria policy has had domestically. It finds that the Alevi / Alawite factor has had some restraining effects on Turkey's antagonistic policy towards Syria. In the introductory part, the article touches upon the differences and the similarities between Alevis and Alawites, then it analyzes the developments in regards Turkey's policy towards the Syrian crisis that were also reflected in Ankara's domestic policy vis-à-vis its Alevi and Alawite minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Georgia and Turkey has become important partners in the Caucasus region after independence of Georgia in 1991. Two countries preferred to follow pro-West policies in their foreign policy against Russian factor. They have geopolitical importance and geostrategic location for Russia throughout history. This article analyzes foreign policies of Georgia and Turkey and examines Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline as a common foreign policy between them. The paper found out that this kind of projects between Georgia and Turkey would make them important actors rising from regional level to global level in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main objectives of the Turkish foreign policy is to integrate Turkey in the European Union. Over the last decades Turkey has unsuccessfully tried to join European Union. For various reasons (economic, political and social), European leaders have blocked the attempts of Turkey to join European Union. There is a widespread belief in Europe that Turkish membership poses a threat to the stability and security of the European Union. This article explains why Europe needs Turkey and why Turkey's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures should not be seen as a danger but as an opportunity for economic progress and development of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]