تركيا

For the moment, at least, the notion that Turkey will become a full EU member state is no longer true.

Netanyahu's trip to Cyprus, the first by an Israeli prime minister, reflects increasing cooperation between the two countries over natural gas resources but will likely heighten tensions with Turkey.

Washington needs to devise a well-planned, delicate intervention in Syria: one supported by Russia, executed by Turks and Arabs, and remotely backed by the United States and its European allies.

The question now in Syria is not if al-Assad will fall, but how.

Turkey, which has experienced phenomenal economic growth over the past decade, no longer feels content to subsume itself under Europe.

Turkey will rise as a regional power only if it sets a genuine example as a liberal democracy and builds strong ties with all its neighbors.

The presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Europe is fast becoming a prism through which the Turks view their ties with Europe, especially in Germany.

While the world around it goes through economic and political convulsions, Turkey continues to expand its economic reach well beyond Europe and the Middle East.

The "Carnation Revolution" suggests democracy can take root in the most unexpected places if the necessary outside support is provided.