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Where does Turkey geographically belong, the Middle East or Eastern Europe? This was a looming puzzle for the architects of the Cold War to solve in the early 1950s. This was so because Turkey's region would dramatically affect the composition of members in the UN Security Council. Although Turkey was elected to the Council from the Middle East region in 1950, it moved its region to Eastern Europe in 1953 to compete with Poland for the Council seat. However, the determination of where Turkey belonged was not an easy task and demanded very delicate calculations and political strategies. We argue that it was the Cold War strategies of the US that arbitrated where Turkey geographically belonged, exemplifying that regions are formed through discourse and are constantly mediated and renegotiated. This situation has created both opportunities and limitations for the Turkish policy-makers who joined the debate ex post-facto, spoke either to legitimise the US decision or to displace counter arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shattering Ottoman order in the early nineteenth century offers an intriguing puzzle about the behaviors of subordinates within declining hierarchical orders. While Greece, Egypt, and many other provinces challenged the Porte, Algiers preferred to remain within the Ottoman order. The puzzle turns into a riddle when considering that Algeria was bounded to the center in a loose way and uprising against the Porte was less risky and less costly. Why did a geographically remote and loosely integrated subordinate remain within the Ottoman hierarchical order at a time when well-integrated and geographically close subordinates, one after another, picked the challenge option? This paper proposes three factors, which may be more generally applicable to the clients of declining patrons: the inability of the Porte to force Algeria against its interests, which decreased the costs of continued allegiance; Algeria's need for a balancer against threats from European naval powers, which the Porte provided; and the domestic political legitimacy that allegiance to the Porte also provided to Algeria's rulers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey served for five years in the UN Security Council during the early Cold War period. Throughout its service, first in 1951–1952, then in 1954–1955, finally in 1961, Turkey joined 201 voting sessions, and gave many statements on matters before the Security Council. The three electoral campaigns of Turkey for the temporary seat in the Council, and its voting and statement performance during a 5-year service are very informative not only about Turkey's foreign policy but also about the behavior of small powers during the early Cold War period and the working of the Security Council, the most important international institution. Therefore, this article aims to provide a short story of Turkey's election to and performance in the Security Council, analyze its voting preferences during temporary membership, and debate Turkey's voting motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper primarily aims to illustrate the role of discourse on Turkey and its EU membership process in European far right's bid for power. By challenging core values of the EU through anti-Turkey discourse, the far right does not only shake the founding pillars of the EU such as pluralism and democracy, but it also stakes out a space for counter-hegemonic language. In order to test this argument, the paper looks at the discourse of three far right parties in France, the Netherlands and Austria. In these countries, the far right overused the issue of Turkey during political campaigns especially until the mid-2010s. Although mainstream parties showed ups and downs in their policies towards Turkey's EU membership, the European far right has always been very unwavering in its rejection of Turkey's membership. The paper explains the persistent position of the far right by looking at the political function of being against Turkey's membership. Accordingly, the paper finds that the far right has utilized the issue of Turkey to challenge against mainstream parties and remake the EU identity in the image of far right values such as protectionism in economy, ultra-nationalism, and exclusionary self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the inter-societal security trilemma among political Islamists, Kurdish actors, and the state in Turkey with a special reference to the failures in the Kurdish Opening that was initiated in 2009. While the Kurdish question is undoubtedly a long-standing multi-state and multi-causal ethno-political phenomenon, this study is primarily concerned with the identity–security-politics nexus. It addresses the question of how the politics of identity and dynamics of contra-identity claims produce a persistent security dilemma among different political blocs in contemporary Turkey. Addressing this question helps to explain why the Turkish state has consistently failed to successfully tackle the Kurdish question, as was the case of the Kurdish Opening in 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article looks into the influence of the Ergenekon group revelations on public awareness and understanding of the approach to the official republican narrative and the political system in Turkey. It examines the connection between the country's domestic dynamics of the Ergenekon case and the foreign policy objectives of the Turkish government and the Ergenekon in the military contexts. It explores the divisive effect of the Ergenekon investigation on the relationship between the civilian group and the military. It also explains the reason for the failure to secure support for the radical remediation and intervention with respect to the coup plot called Sarıkız.

An introduction is presented in which the guest editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the Ergenekon group rebellion investigation, the Kemalist ideology, and the liberal-democratic order and civil-military relations in Turkey.

Background/ObjectivesSubjects/MethodsResultsConclusionsTo investigate the long-term efficacy and safety of adalimumab(ADA) in the treatment of patients with serpiginous choroiditis (SC) refractory to conventional therapy through quantitative parameters.A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed with SC clinically and through fundus autofluorescence(FAF). Patients receiving ADA treatment were included. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, association with tuberculosis (TB) infection, number of immunosuppressive therapies, recurrences, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) change, and ADA-related side effects were recorded. The progression rate before and after ADA was calculated based on the area involved by FAF.Sixteen eyes of 8 patients (3 female/5 male) were enrolled to the study. The median (IQR) age was 53.5 (16.5) years. Diagnosis was SC in 4, ampiginous choroiditis in 3, and TB-related serpiginous-like choroiditis in 1 patient. Peripapillary involvement was present in 10 of 16 eyes. The area involved by FAF continued to progress under ADA treatment, however the progression rate was decreased (p = 0.143).The BCVA was preserved (p = 0.772). The number of systemic and local treatments decreased with ADA (p = 0.025 and 0.019, respectively). Additionally, the number of recurrences was reduced with ADA (p = 0.002). Median (IQR) follow-up was 45(28.75) months. Two patients experienced ADA-related side effects (pulmonary TBand rash).Our findings suggest a promising role for ADA in halting the progression of SC and have implications for improving outcomes. Despite the evidence in the literature at the level of case reports, ADA can be used effectively with close monitoring for potential risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]