Expert of Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan is convinced that Russia-Turkey relations are of economic nature mainly. "...Turks themselves accept these relations not as strategic, political, but as economic ones,” Shakaryan told reporters today.

The Fifth International Asian Congress organized by the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) was held in Istanbul on 3-5 June 2010... As part of Congress, representatives of think tanks, experts from Turkey and other CICA member countries, diplomats, academics and media members had an opportunity to exchange the ideas.

Israel's 2009 war on Gaza has been exhaustively documented: some 1,400 Palestinian deaths (compared to 13 for Israel), a vast, rubble-strewn landscape, international condemnation culminating in the hard-hitting and controversial "Goldstone Report" from the UN, and a blockade, tacitly approved by the U.S. and EU, that led to a humanitarian crisis, and ultimately to the high-seas catastrophe this week on the Free Gaza flotilla.

A warming of once-chilly Turkish-Syrian ties has unleashed a one-way trade boom...Turkey's popularity in Syria soared after an Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships in which nine Turks were killed on May 31."Turkey now has a stake in the Palestinian cause, and Syria stands to gain," a diplomat said. "It will be more difficult for Israel to launch any military action against Syria."

The Obama administration resisted its allies' calls to condemn Israel's raid on an aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip, with senior officials saying they were awaiting an investigation to determine who was responsible for the violence that killed nine civilians aboard one of the ships.

...the AK Party has injected new vibrancy into its relations with the Middle East and Turkey is emerging as an increasingly powerful and influential player, with Turkish diplomacy scoring numerous success stories there.

A raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid convoy has plunged already crumbling ties between Israel and its long-time Muslim ally Turkey to a new low. The killing of more than 10 activists, reportedly including several Turks, on a Turkish vessel stirred protests in Istanbul.

Angered by official plans to nominate Matthew Bryza as the new ambassador to Azerbaijan, the largest U.S. Armenian group has called on U.S. senators to "scrutinize Bryza's diplomatic record" before voting on his nomination.