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The article focuses on the nationalism, ethnicity, religion, language, and social class of Turkish or Turks. Topics discussed include the diversity among ethnicity and religion of the Ottoman empire, the speech of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the unity in Turkey, and the political parties such as the Nationalist Movement (MHP) and Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP).

This article discusses the recent upsurge of ultra-nationalism in Turkey. The Turkish Jurists' Union, led by Kemal Kerincsiz, has launched several cases against intellectuals, accusing them of "insulting Turkishness" which is a criminal offense. In January 2007, Hrant Dink, a Turkish newspaper editor, was killed by an ultra-nationalist. The upsurge threatens to undo four years of reform by the government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The article focuses on stalled negotiations for Turkey's membership in the European Union (EU). According to the article, relationships between Turkey and the EU have been harmed by the stalled negotiations and demands that Turkey allow open access to its ports for ships sailing from Cyprus, which is an island divided between Greece and Turkey. According to public opinion polls, interest in EU membership has dropped below 50% in Turkey; the implications of an isolated Turkey are discussed.

The article reports on political developments within Turkey. Some observers wonder if Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is so disgusted by the efforts of some European Union (EU) countries such as France and Austria to erect new hurdles to Turkey's membership that he is giving up on Europe. Disillusion with the EU may also explain his government's flirtation with Iran, Syria and Hamas. Turkey faces a threat to its tourism industry as separatist rebels have vowed to target tourist areas.

The article considers what the French and Dutch rejections of the European Union (EU) constitution may imply for Turkey's hopes of joining. The constitution makes no reference to Turkey's membership. In France, voters have been promised the chance to stop Turkey from joining in a separate referendum on further enlargement, when the time comes. Last December's decision by EU leaders to promise Turkey the start of membership talks on October 3rd was a political one that can be changed only by consensus of all 25 EU members. Some optimists even venture to suggest that the defeat of the constitution could pave the way for a looser EU, into which it would be easier for Turkey to fit. Yet the reality is more worrisome for Turkey. There are, indeed, disturbing signs that the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may be pandering to a recent upsurge in nationalism that is being fanned both by anti-Turkish sentiment in Europe and by the country's hawkish generals, whose power may be eroded by EU reforms.

The article looks at relations between Turkey and Cyprus as of April 23, 2005. After leading the Turkish Cypriots for over three decades, Rauf Denktash, the mulish president of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is at last stepping down in favour of his determinedly pro-European rival, Mehmet Ali Talat. Mr Talat easily won the presidential election on April 17th, on a platform of reuniting the divided island and joining the European Union. The departure of Mr Denktash is being hailed by pro-peace Turks and Greeks as a step towards ending Cyprus's 30-year-old division. But can Mr Talat, an engineer who once made a living from repairing fridges, make a difference? Despite welcoming noises from Ankara, Brussels and Nicosia, few observers think he will do so quickly. With a spasm of nationalist violence erupting across Anatolia (aimed in some cases against Kurds), and with polls showing falling support among Turks for EU membership, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words have raised new questions about his commitment to joining the EU. The government agreed last year to formalise relations with all ten of the EU's new members, including Cyprus, as a condition for its own entry talks to begin on October 3rd. An intra-EU legal wrangle has delayed implementation of the deal, preventing the long-promised easing of trade and air-travel restrictions on the Turkish Cypriots, and adding to frustration among Turkey's leaders.

The article discusses reactions of Iraq's Arab neighbours to its elections. In undemocratic Syria and Egypt, the dominant, government-owned press played down Iraq's poll. But some in the region have always seen things differently. Minority groups such as secular liberals, Kurds, Algeria's Berbers, and Shias, tend to sympathise with the historic victims of Arab nationalism, such as the non-Sunni Arab majority of Iraqis who turned out to vote. In recent months, the more thoughtful of Arab press commentators have increasingly embraced the idea of elections. One theme that has continued to resonate, in some quarters, is the supposed danger of empowering Iraq's Kurds and Shias. Turkey, Syria and Iran, worried about their own restive Kurds. Shia leaders in the Gulf are keenly aware of the suspicion with which many regard them, and argue that they do not want to see an Iranian-style Islamist state emerge in Iraq or elsewhere. Yet the rise of Shia power in Iraq may start to encourage demands for greater enfranchisement. This underlines a deeper fear in Arab ruling circles, which is that people power may prove infectious.

Reports on the social, political and economic conditions in Turkey as of mid-2000, and the influence of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the country. Ataturk's actions after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire; Constitutional dedication to the nationalism of Ataturk; Need for change in Turkey.

The article discusses politics and government in Turkey. The suggestion by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that two statues in the city of Kars created as a monument to reconciliation between Turks and Armenians be destroyed is examined. Although Erdogan said he objected to the statues on aesthetic grounds, the possibility that he was appealing to nationalist sentiments prior to elections to be held in June, 2011 is considered.

The article reports on the activities of the an underground nationalist terror organization in Turkey dedicated to overthrowing the government of the Islamist Justice and Development Party. In July 2008 a significant number of members of the group were charged with crimes including murder and other acts of political violence.

This article discusses religious relations in Turkey, where Christians are beginning to be singled out for persecution. Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian newspaper editor, was shot dead in Istanbul by a teenager. In April 2007, two Turks and a German, all evangelists, were murdered in Malatya. Many blame the attacks on a new ultra-nationalism, tinged with Islamic militancy, that has swept across Turkey.

The article focuses on Turkey and the European Union (EU). When EU leaders agreed in December 2004 to open membership talks with Turkey, the country's future looked better than it had for decades. Three months on, the reformist zeal of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the mildly Islamist prime minister, seems to have diminished--and there are troubling signs of anti-westernism in some Turkish quarters. EU diplomats are now saying that Turkey must get moving if entry talks are to start, as promised, in October. Before the talks can begin, Turkey must formalise relations with all ten countries that joined the EU last May--including the Greek-Cypriot government, which is not recognised in Ankara. A sense of drift in Ankara has deepened with the defection of eight government deputies, including the liberal culture minister, Erkan Mumcu. The prime minister may be trying to assuage hardliners who resent his failure to make the changes they seek most. Or, more worryingly, Erdogan may be influenced by a resurgence of Turkish nationalism, which has surfaced in various ways. In the past few days, however, there have been some signs of the government shaking off its inertia.

The author analyses the outcome of the Turkish Cypriot parliamentary elections. On December some 120,000 Turkish Cypriots voted in parliamentary elections which, it had been hoped, would push forward plans to unite the divided Mediterranean island and allow the Turkish and Greek parts to join the European Union together next May.The vote was also expected to affect Turkey's own chances of one day joining the EU. In the event, a block of opposition parties favouring the UN plan for a loose federation of largely autonomous Greek and Turkish states tied with the two ruling nationalist groups that oppose it. The result: a hung parliament, with both sides getting an equal number of seats in the 50-strong chamber. They must agree to form some kind of coalition within the next two months, or face fresh elections. A firm opposition victory would have strengthened the hand of Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's reformist prime minister, who, at least tacitly, backs the UN plan. But he still faces fierce resistance from hardline generals, for whom the Turkish north of Cyprus (where they station some 35,000 troops) remains a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean. Time is running short. EU leaders have made clear that the Greek Cypriots will be admitted, together with nine other new members, next May even without a peace deal, leaving both the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey out in the cold. Turkey would then become, in effect, an occupation force in part of a member state.

Comments on results of June 9, 1999 elections in Turkey. Coalition government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit; Outlook for an end to political instability caused by governmental weakness; Questions about the political pasts of Ecevit associates; Concern of Turkish secularists about Action Party (MHP) nationalism and Islamic bent; Outlook for democratic reforms and social change.

Reports on the rise in Kurdish nationalism in Turkey. Cases of civil rights violations in the country; Allegations of brutality against the nation's police; Steps being taken by the government to control civil violence in the country.