Changing Turkey

Turkey is a longstanding ally of the United States and Europe. After the demise of the Soviet empire, Turkey's strategic importance has changed but not diminished. Today Turkey is facing a completely different foreign and security policy environment. However, Turkey is also undergoing extraordinary internal change. Many established political truths of the Republic's seventy-five-year-long tradition are increasingly questioned by a growing part of its people. Above all, there is the rise of political Islam and the ensuing clash of ideologies between "e;"e;secularists"e;"e; and "e;"e;Islamists"e;"e; as well as the debate about Turkey's "e;"e;Kurdish reality."e;"e;Turkey's allies will have to respond to this development by adapting their policies. Nothing less than a re-evaluation and, eventually, a re-orientation in relations with both the United States and Europe is required if Turkey is to remain anchored in the West. This book undertakes a comprehensive overview and analysis of Turkey's internal and external changes and provides elements of a new European and American policy toward a key strategic partner.