Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has ruled the country since 2002, and there has been widespread controversy over press freedom in the country, with many doubting that such a freedom even exists. As a matter of fact, the US-based watchdog Freedom House's “Freedom of the Press 2014” report has downgraded Turkey from the category of “partly free” to “not free” because of what the institution called “the worsening media freedom situation.”

Armenians are feeling concerned over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential candidacy and believe that placing centralized power in his hands is a potential threat to the safety and security of Armenians, given his divisive manner of ruling.

The consequences of the political warfare between the AKP government and the Gulen movement have been thus far discussed widely across the academic and media circles. However, its possible impact on Turkey’s humanitarian diplomacy, which has recently been one of the most highlighted tenets of its foreign policy, is a question yet to be discussed.

A Turkish election campaign on German soil - once again. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is once again set to visit Germany to inspire loyalty in his Turkish-nationalist followers. And never before has there been so much bewilderment and resentment surrounding the controversial prime minister's campaign as now, a few days before his appearance in Cologne, planned for Saturday (24.05.2014). But what if the appearance is damaging to the efforts to integrate Turkey into Europe? Germany still cannot stop it from happening.

Turks have hit back at a new law tightening control of the internet with more than half a million tweets on the hashtag "Internet Censorship in Turkey".

As a vital ally and key power in a region filled with turmoil, this should be of concern to all Americans. It is in America's best interest for President Obama to utilize the immense soft power of the executive branch and privately counsel his friend on how best to respond to community engagement.

At the end of this century’s first decade, we can observe how the locus of power has shifted in world politics. The G20 is replacing the G7 as the overseer of the global economy. The need to restructure the U.N. Security Council to be more representative of the international order is profoundly pressing. And emerging powers such as Brazil, India, Turkey, and others are playing very assertive roles in global economic affairs.

This is an undeniable fact that, today; there is a very different Turkey in the world political scene in terms of its foreign policy rationale. Ankara’s attitude toward Iran and the crisis with Israel following the Mavi Marmara incident have especially pulled Turkey into the center of the Middle East.