Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during 1-16 August 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• The Ergenekon case reaches its expected finish, with 19 defendants facing decades in prison. Former Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Ilker Basbug, faces life for his role in the conspiracy.
• The timing of the case’s conclusion with the recent military overthrow of Egypt’s democratically elected government appears to be a message to Turkey’s generals.
• Outside of the AKP camp, critics rounded on the lack of plausibility regarding the evidence and cast of players.
• Parliament’s Constitutional Commission speeds up its work, adding protections for women, children, and homosexuals to the draft document.
• Turkey’s economy slows as foreign investment pulls back from emerging markets.
• Yet the long term investment possibilities, specifically in the energy infrastructure sector, appear to be a solid bet.

• September 2, 2013

Global investors lifted their holdings of euro zone assets to the highest in more than a year this month while trimming exposure to Asian equities during a rout of emerging market assets, Reuters polls showed.

• August 30, 2013

China said there should be no rush to force U.N. Security Council action against Syria until a probe by U.N. experts into suspected chemical weapons use is complete.

• August 30, 2013

Russia banned pork imports from Belarus on Friday, stepping up a diplomatic and trade war over the arrest of a Russian businessman and threatening to deepen the isolation of its former Soviet ally.

• August 30, 2013

Major central banks' reassurances that interest rates will stay low for some time are giving markets "a certain security", a European Central Bank policymaker said on Thursday.

• August 29, 2013

Greece's international lenders will press Athens next month to transfer state-owned real estate to a holding company managed by the euro zone to spur flagging privatization efforts, officials said on Thursday.

• August 29, 2013

More than two years into Syria's civil war, President Bashar al-Assad is settling his bills for Russian arms orders through the Russian banking system to try to shore up ties with his most powerful ally, according to a Russian arms industry source.

• August 29, 2013

The U.N. Security Council should wait for inspectors to present their report on an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria before considering a response, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.

• August 28, 2013