December 16th, 2009 by Zack

AFP reports that two people were shot dead during a Kurdish demonstration in Southeast Turkey on the fifth day of protests since the the largest Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), was banned by the constitutional court.  The protesters were shot by a shopkeeper who fired into the crowd after his shop windows were broken and his vehicle torched.  The article notes, “Closing shops is a traditional Kurdish protest method against the state and shopkeepers who resist are said to come under pressure from militant Kurds.”  DTP has said its lawmakers will resign in protest, but it is unlikely that the ruling AKP will support such a design, thereby blocking the absolute majority needed for parliament to approve a resignation.

At the same time, the NY Times reports on warming ties between Syria and Turkey that extends beyond an economic relationship into cultural and political dimensions.  The new ties have emboldened Syria to “hedge its bets” by spurning previous commitments to the West as the country’s regional stature grows.  Joshua Landis comments that many of Turkey’s neighbors are taking a page from the country’s  “Zero Crescents, Zero Axises, and Zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy handbook, which Landis describes as the “perfect anti-Bush foreign policy.”

Foreign Policy notes that Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy was fired after Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s U.S. visit because the ambassador refused to ask that the Turkish foreign minister be included in Erdogan’s meeting with President Obama on account that the minister’s counterpart Secretary Clinton would not be in attendance.

Posted in Diplomacy, Kurds, Political Parties, Protests, Turkey |