Below, please find the latest articles to have appeared in print and electronic media about CSIS and its experts. For your reference, there is also a link to archived media coverage of CSIS.
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by the Washington Times, "Georgia Clash Imperils Europe's Fuel Flow."
Russia's military incursion into Georgia, a former Soviet republic, signals that it intends to play a much bigger role in the distribution of Central Asia's huge oil and gas reserves to European markets, analysts said Monday. By increasing instability in the area, Russia has significantly raised the cost of oil and gas pipelines that are on the drawing board. Investors now will be less likely to spend the billions of dollars needed to complete the projects, the analysts said. [...] "The BTC pipeline rested on the twin goals of not relying upon Russian pipelines and avoiding Iran," said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.Read the article
July 31
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by Bloomberg, "Erdogan May Curb Islamist Ways After Court Victory."
After beating his army-backed secular opponents in court yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan now may have to learn to live with them. Erdogan's party escaped a ban when the country's high court rejected charges that he sought to introduce Islamic law in violation of a constitutional mandate for a secular government. The win gives Erdogan a chance to pursue democratic reforms and European Union membership. [...] "Now Erdogan has to decide if he's going to behave," said Bulent Aliriza, head of the Turkey program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "There will be pressure from hardliners in his party to be firmer on the Islamist agenda."Read the article
July 31
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Turkey's Rulers Survive Secularist Challenge."
Turkey's highest court decided Wednesday not to outlaw the nation's Islamic-rooted ruling party, handing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogana narrow victory and frustrating Turks intent on protecting the secular character of the government. [. . .] "There is no consensus as to what secularism is and how it should be maintained," said Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "What you have is leaders who are not secular who are trying to change the rigorous aspects of secularism. The ruling party has accepted the continuation of secularism. What it is trying to do is adjust it to take it to the wishes of the electorate." Read More
July 28
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, "In Turkey, Ruling AKP Party on Trial in High Court, Media."
If the media is supposed to serve as a mirror for the society it covers, then the Turkish press may actually be doing too good a job. [. . .] "The media has become a battleground," says Bulent Aliriza, director or the Turkey project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. "Every newspaper is taking sides, through its columnists and now, increasingly, through its news stories. It's becoming harder to say that there is an independent media with an objective view." Read More
July 3
Bulent Aliriza, a senior fellow with the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by Bloomberg, "Erdogan's Party Will Ask Turkish Court to Dismiss Allegations."
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party will tell the nation's highest court today that an indictment charging it with illegally mixing religion and politics is "fictional'' and should be thrown out."The Justice party's defense sets the stage for a continuation of the political battle,'' Bulent Aliriza, head of the Turkey program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said in a telephone interview. "The danger is that the polarization will get worse and the confrontation that is clearly taking place right now will get worse, with unforeseen circumstances.'' Read more
March 31
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Program, was quoted by Bloomberg, “Erdogan Faces Ouster Threat from Lawyers, Not Army."
Every Turkish leader who won an election victory as big as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 2007 triumph was forced from office by the military. Erdogan may be different: He's facing a threat from lawyers. [...] "This is a dangerous situation, and it's not going to get better," said Bulent Aliriza, head of the Turkey program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Turkey is set for a long conflict between these world views, with no resolution in sight." Read the article
February 28
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, “Will an Extended Turkish Offensive Further Destabilize Iraq?"
Rebuffing American calls for a swift withdrawal of its forces from northern Iraq, the one part of the country at relative peace, Turkey is refusing to place a timetable on its campaign aimed at Kurdish militants. Defense Secretary Robert Gates left Ankara Thursday with few public promises that Turkey would limit its offensive, now entering its second week, which is using intelligence from the United States to target the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Turkish air and artillery strikes continued Thursday as ground forces sought to destroy bases in the remote, mountainous region of Iraq. [...] "We're entering a tense phase in the US-Turkey relationship," says Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The word has come back to Washington that this has really strained the US-Iraqi Kurdish relationship to its limits [and] has to end, or we're in trouble." Read the article
January 19
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, "Rice Aide, Architect of U.S. Diplomacy, Resigns."
A top architect of the Bush administration's policy of greater diplomatic engagement announced his resignation Friday amid signs that U.S. efforts on key issues have been losing momentum. . . "Nick loves the limelight; Bill hates it," said Bulent Aliriza, a foreign policy specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Because of Nicholas Burns' skill at explaining U.S. goals, Aliriza said, "I'm sure Rice is going to feel his loss big time." Read the Article
January 14
Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, was quoted by Defense News, "U.S. Fine-tunes Ties With Sparring Allies Turkey, Iraqi Kurds."
WASHINGTON and ANKARA — The United States’ troubled relationship with Turkey is on the mend, thanks to the U.S. decision to provide intelligence that helps Ankara attack Turkish Kurdish separatists inside northern Iraq."The Bush administration is trying to find a delicate balance to keep both the Turks and the Kurds satisfied," said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. "Turkey is a major ally in the chaotic Middle East, but the Kurds also are Washington’s closest allies in Iraq, so the United States is squeezed between the two. But even if the PKK issue diminishes, there are other outstanding problems."Read the article
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