Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during April 2012

Key Points:

• Turkey continues to work with Arab and Western allies to intensify pressure on Syria. After hosting the 1 April 2012, Friends of Syria group meeting, Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan responds to Syrian forces firing on a Turkish refugee camp by openly considering invoking NATO’s Article 5 on mutual defence.
• The Fethullah Gulen Movement’s influence on Turkey is re-examined following a somewhat controversial expose in the 24 April edition of The New York Times.
• A pricing dispute between the Kurdish Autonomous Government in Northern Iraq and the national government threatens Turkish crude supplies, while the TANAP pipeline agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey should be signed by the end of the month.
• NABUCCO loses a Hungarian stakeholder while Turkish gas pipelines operator, BOTAS, cuts down its own stake in Brussels’ pipeline project. However, all is not lost in breaking Gazprom’s dominant grip on European gas supplies, as TANAP will likely connect to the revamped NABUCCO West project.
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• May 12, 2012

Kyrgyzstan and China discussed the implementation of joint projects at the meeting of Kyrgyz Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov and Chinese ambassador to the country Wang Kaiwen, KyrTAG reported.

• May 11, 2012

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received the interior minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, national TV channel Miras said on Friday.

• May 11, 2012

Kazakhstan will provide all needed support to the economical reforms in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakh Prime-Minister Karim Masimov said at a meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atmbayev on Friday, Kyrgyz President's press-service reported.

• May 11, 2012

Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov and Turkmen President Gyrbanguly Berdymukhamedov have discussed bilateral relations during Kazykhanov's visit to Ashgabat.

• May 10, 2012

The process of joining customs union may take an accelerated pace, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev in Astana, Novosti-Kazakhstan agency says.

• May 10, 2012

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will skip a planned visit to the United States this month for a key global summit and a much-anticipated meeting with President Barack Obama, the Kremlin confirmed Thursday, as he faced pressure from protests and opposition criticism at home.

• May 10, 2012

A small Chinese company has struck oil in Kyrgyzstan, and leaders of the impoverished former Soviet republic said they hoped the first find by a foreign oil firm would encourage investors to explore its undeveloped energy and metals resources

• May 9, 2012