Turkey has finally loosened its alliance with the West and ‘turned its focus toward its former Ottoman neighbors in Asia and the Middle East.’ Pursuing this trend, ‘it will be as strategically significant for the balance of power in the region as the emergence of Iran as a preeminent power thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the later destruction of Sunni dominance in Iraq by the US invasion.’

Over the past dew months, Turkey has been signing new agreements with such countries as Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Armenia. These new alliances unmistakably reflect a ‘commonality of political vision,’ as well as ‘joint economic interest.’

This ‘northern tier’ of Middle Eastern states now becomes ‘the principal supplier of natural gas to central Europe once the Nabucco pipeline is completed – thus not only displacing Russia in that role but gradually eclipsing the primacy of Saudi Arabia as a geostrategic kingpin due to its oil reserves.’

Therefore, the US and the West now ‘need to adjust accordingly.’ A different strategy should be crafted with this new Middle Eastern power shift in mind, especially when attempting ‘to mobilize the world for a new round of punitive sanctions against Iran.’

Besides the fact that Russia and China ‘won’t go along in any serious way’ with these sanctions, ‘the much touted “alliance of moderate pro-Western Arab states” is turning out to be a paper tiger.’

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Via The Christian Science Monitor

Thanksgiving is all about tradition; Seattle’s Jones Soda Company is all about innovation. What happens when the immovable object is struck by the unstoppable force? Something strange, to be sure, and this year, “strange” comes in a bottle labeled “Tofurky & Gravy Soda“.

One look at this product will have you wondering who in their right mind is going to drink it. The soda is a cloudy, murky, dirtwater brown… you’d at least assume Jones would tint the bottles but noooo. Get past the swampy visuals and – wait a minute, just what do we have here?

Tofurky & Gravy Soda seems to scream “wrong!!” on so many levels it’ll make your head spin. Granted, Jones had a surprising amount of success selling their original Turkey & Gravy Soda since 2003, and beginning the next year it was accompanied by a bevy of bizarre beverages concocted to evoke other holiday favorites like Green Bean Casserole, Cranberries, Mashed Potatoes with Butter, and Fruitcake. Successful? You betcha: even empty bottles were bringing up to $10 a pop (sorry) on eBay.

Turkey & Gravy soda was the hands-down, throw-up favorite though, and Jones knew enough not to mess with success. They did shuffle the side-dish sodas from year to year, however: 2005 brought us Wild Herb Stuffing, Pumpkin Pie, and Brussels Sprout sodas. 2006’s edition of the Holiday Pack included carbonated Sweet Potato, Dinner Roll, Pea, and Antacid sodas. Yes, Antacid… though it was only a flavor, not a nostrum.

Yep, the Jones boys were on a (dinner) roll with each Holiday Pack of their sodas more popular than the next… and then they stopped. Nothing for Thanksgiving in 2007 or 2008. Was Turkey & Gravy soda destined to become a legend in its own, very short time?

Yes… and no. Here we are, back in 2009 and Jones is back as well with Tofurky & Gravy soda. Smart moves, guys – one can’t capture past glory in a bottle (even a soda bottle) so Jones has moved beyond merely bizarre to absolutely wacko. There never was any meat in Jones’ original Turkey & Gravy soda, yet the company has tipped their hats to vegetarians and vegans by remodeling the holiday fave as a Tofurky drink.

Tofurky, for those who don’t know, is a turkey meat substitute made from organic tofu and wheat gluten, flavored to resemble turkey. This has lead to a situation where imitation turkey is being used to flavor a drink that contains neither turkey nor imitation turkey yet is being marketed as a holiday favorite on a holiday centered on eating turkey. It’s all starting to make sense now… or, I’m going completely insane. Thanks to Jones, those who disdain meat, solid food and tradition will finally be catered to. One can’t wait for the intravenous drip version.

We thank Steve Levenstein for this guest post and look forward to read more of thanksgiving from him-:)

The biggest name in the information and technology sector, Google Inc.,has been slapped with a whopping $47 million fine under the charges of tax evasion by Turkish government. The search industry behemoth has been found guilty of trying to cut corners in Turkey’s national tax system. As per the Turkish authorities, Google runs its advertising and search business in Turkey with its own offices and staff and that entitles the country collect extra tax money from Google, than the company has paid.

Google on the other hand stresses on the fact that, although its services and regional offices are in Turkey, yet its base head quarter located in Ireland, where all the decision making powers lie. Hence, it cannot be subjected to Turkish tax laws. However, according to some legal brains, Google owns a dedicated company in Turkey, that goes by the name of Google Reklamcılık ve Pazarlama and as this entity is an established firm on Turkish soil, hence Google is obligated to work according to Turkish laws an regulations.

According to Google spokesperson,

“Google complies with tax law in every country in which it operates. We are currently in discussion with the Turkish authorities about this, and are confident we comply with Turkish law.”

It seems that, with its flourishing economy and the rapid infrastructural development, Turkey isn’t ready to give any company any benefit of the doubt and is more than willing to take the matters into the legal arena to ensure that, it does receive what it deserves. Google Inc. has been an integral and an invaluable asset to Turkey, as the search giant’s advertising campaign bring in more revenues, that bolster’s the country’s economy.

Via Computer World.

Euphrates is drying. Strangled by the politics of the neighbors’ from Iraq water, Turkey and Syria; two years of drought and years of inadequate use for Iraq and their farmers, the river is significantly smaller of the than there are just few years. Some authorities fear that soon can be the half than it was.

The shrink of Euphrates, such a crucial river for the birth of the civilization that the Book of the Apocalypse prophesied its drought as a sign of the end of the times, it has been decimating the farms along their margins it has been leaving impoverished fishermen and emptied the cities to the edge of the river, as the farmers flee for larger cities in search of work.

The poor suffer more acutely, but all of the social strata are feeling the effects: checks, diplomats and even members of the Parliament that leave for their farms after weeks in Baghdad.

Along the river, the fields of rice and wheat they became arid earth. The channels shrank for shallow streams and the fishing boats are stagnated in the earth dries. Bombs that sought to feed the plants of treatment of water balance uselessly on brown puddles.

The more frequently accused mentioned are the Turkish and Syrian governments. Iraq has a lot of water, but it is a country that is “below” them. There is at least seven dams in Euphrates in Turkey and in Syria, according to the Iraquian authorities of water, and without any treaty or agreement, the Iraquian government is reduced to implore for water close to their neighbors.

Via: NYT.

This new pipeline, known as the Nabucco pipeline is expected to begin from Turkey’s eastern border, through Bulgaria Romania and Hungary, to its last destination being a gas terminal in Baumgarten, Austria. As of now, the Russian Federation is known to be the sole owner of all oil and gas pipelines currently providing these valuable resources across Europe. With a recent stoppage in gas supply from Russia, the all new Nabucco pipeline project has started getting the support it needs to turn into a reality.

However, Russia hasn’t been quite since the announcement of the Nabucco pipeline. In a latest statement, the Russian Federation has been quick to propose a new pipeline that it hopes, would rival the U.S backed initiative. Also known as the South Stream Pipeline, this new project is expected to be established in the Southeastern Europe and would be constructed under the Black Sea and will end in Bulgaria. Russia and Italy would share the responsibilities and profits from the pipeline.

According to energy security specialist, John Roberts,

“It’s one of those steps that moves Nabucco out of the possible column and into the probable column. My own guess is roughly by the end of the year, it will be pretty clear that Nabucco will be built.”

Via CNN.

In 2008, the dissemination of harmful software such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and the like grew by 265% on a global scale. More than 60% of currently known threats were detected during the past year.

Much more today than in the past, cyber criminals are in the Web business with the intent to make money. Illegally, of course. The practice of phishing has been experiencing a further boom. According to Symantec’s ‘Internet Security Threat Report’ for 2008, there have been more than 55,000 phishing hosts discovered, i.e. computers that host fraudulent sites, an increase of 66% compared to 2007. There is even greater increase of activity related to spam, with an increase from 119.6 billion messages in 2007 to 349.6 billion in 2008.

Cyber crime is very profitable. The area worst hit is the financial services, at 76% of detected attacks. There is a thriving black market in the Internet where one can find, at bargain prices, thousands of sensitive data, the most popular of which is information related to credit cards (a rise from 11% in 2007 to 32% in 2008).

The United States is the leading origin of cyber crime, with 25% of cyber attacks that occurred in 2008 coming from the US. 43% of all computers that host phishing sites discovered in 2008 are located in the United States. Brazil increased in cyber crime incidence from eighth to fifth place, Turkey from fifteenth to ninth place, and Poland from twelfth to tenth place.

The underground economy of the Web also does not seem to have suffered because of the global economic crisis. In spite of the financial meltdown, black market prices remained constant over the Net in 2008.

Via symantec

It is indeed welcome to see US President Barack Obama reaching out to the so called adversaries’ nations with his impressive speeches stressing on peace and meaningful dialogue. First he sent out a tape to people of Iran on the eve of Nawroz extending conditional US cooperation and attempted to open new dialogue. Next he talked about nuke free world on the day North Korea test fired missiles and now in Turkey he has spoken about need of partnership with Muslim world to fight terrorism and also declared that ‘US is not at war with Islam’. Barack Obama also spoke about Israel-Palestine issue.

Is Barack Obama really here with the solutions to the worst problems of the world? His speeches must translate in to real policy level changes or else it’ll all go down the pages of history as mere rhetoric. When Israel attacked and bombed Gaza recently, the West was a mere witness to the violence. Resolving Middle East’s age old Israel-Palestine issue is not going to be easy. US is still at war in Afghanistan and years of war in Iraq has left deep scars.

After 9/11 terrorists attack Bush had named some nations ‘axis of evil’ and thus created adversaries in the Muslim world. US has always turned blind eye towards Middle East conflicts and is perceived as ally of Israel. The world today stands divided like never before. Will it be really possible to build bridges between West and the Muslim world?

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The process of enlargement of the European Union (EU) is in crisis because of the seriousness of the economic recession and the deep differences on the European integration process. Germany’s Angela Merkel was the first to call a pause in consolidation following the rapid addition of 12 countries.

This policy shift has jolted the expectations of the Balkan countries and Turkey, and may jeopardize the political, economic, and social development of these states. European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso tried to reassure Ankara’s concerns and assured Turkish president Abdullah Gul that the EU door remains open to Turkey but the country must accelerate its reforms.

The foreign ministers also reaffirmed their counterparts in Croatia, Turkey, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro on the promise of their integrating into the EU when they are ready.

Amidst all these promises, the reality is different.

Accession negotiations with Croatia are blocked by Slovenia because of a dispute on sea and land border. Merkel is willing to accept the accession of Croatia, German and Austrian historical ally in the Balkans, but the lack of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty threatens the aspirations of Zagreb. The accession negotiations of Turkey barely moved due to obstructive maneuvers of Cyprus and the slow pace of Turkish reforms. Macedonia, official candidate for membership since 2005, has blocked the start of the negotiating process on the part of Greece which requires the former Yugoslav republic to changes its name. Last year, Athens vetoed the admission of Macedonia in NATO for that reason. Netherlands vetoed the implementation of the Association Agreement with Serbia (step prior to the accession process) to demand the arrest of Bosnian Serb Ratko Mladic.

France has warned that there will be no new membership until institutional reform that incorporates the new treaty has entered into force. This is essential for the enlarged EU to function with speed, efficiency, and democracy.

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Via Schuman Square

While still president-elect, Obama promised to visit the capital of a Muslim country within his first 100 days in office. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed that Obama will visit Turkey within one month.

Turkey is, of course, the safest Muslim country right now that is conducive for Obama’s ceremonious initial effort to directly connect to the Muslim world. Turkey is a democracy and not an authoritarian regime such as Saudi Arabia. It has its fair share of good governance. Turkey is also the most qualified country to bridge the gap between the Islam world and secular democracy, as the two are characteristics of the country. In other words, Turkey is a clear example and showcase that Islam and democracy are not opponents of each other. Clearly in this country, the former is religion while the latter is political institution.

On her recent diplomatic missions to the Middle East, head of US diplomacy Clinton stressed the role of Turkey in the region. She and Turkish authorities discussed a wide range of regional issues. The Turkish foreign minister likewise noted that the United States and Turkey share the same values and vision.

The new flavor of US foreign policy is, indeed, taking a new shape and new tactic. The objectives have not changed, though.

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Via ABC News

Turkey is certainly on everybody’s travel list if they are planning to travel abroad. Turkey receives most of its visitors from Britain where the country is almost the most preferred destination for travel. Turkey is a nation full of history, ruins, beautiful landscapes, throbbing nightlife, nightclubs, beautiful mosques and Byzantine churches, and great outdoors.

Traveling in Turkey wouldn’t be complete without visiting the various resorts and cities in Marmara, the Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Anatolia, Istanbul and the mountains. You would definitely want to watch the famous wrestling of Turkey which is many a times marred by controversies. Istanbul is a pulsating city and half of it lies in Europe and half of it lies in Asia. You would certainly see the sights and colours of both the ancient continents.

The country has a continental climate and hence temperatures can be extreme. Spring is the best time to visit Turkey and their official tourism website has all the information for you to get started. Go ahead and have fun in Turkey! Don’t forget to buy some carpets and stuff yourself with Turkish delights!