EGF Turkey File, December 2012

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics

December 2012

By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Turkey receives permission to post NATO's Patriot missile batteries in the country's south to combat potential attacks from Syrian Scuds
• The potential of Kurdish-Arab splits in the Syrian civil war continue to drag Ankara further into the deteriorating situation in the country.
• The Central Bank begins implementing a plan to protect the country's banks from risky investment, while the government's monetary policy seeks to ease inflation caused by expanding domestic credit availability.
• Prime Minister Erdogan's presence sparks protests at an Istanbul university, with the ensuing violence
• employed as a "stick" with which to beat the ruling AKP by opposition parties.
• Erdogan's office reportedly tapped; prime minister claims by the Deep State. However a lack of definitive perpetrators leaves many questions as to the validity to the claims.
• KRG Prime Minister Barzani assures U.S. on proposed Turk-Kurd pipeline, claims disputes with Baghdad should remain in the economic, not political realm.
• Shah Deniz II considers buying into Nabucco West, while Ukraine responds to South Stream by exploring a potential membership in TANAP.