Nigar Göksel
ESI Analyst

From the desk of the editor

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Ross Wilson
Ross Wilson is the Ambassador of the U.S. to Turkey

"The United States is not a littoral state, and that affects what it can do and how it might do it. From the U.S. point of view, NATO is and will remain the premier provider of security for the Euro-Atlantic region, which includes the Black Sea."

TPQ-article: "U.S. Policy in the Black Sea Region"

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Peter Semneby
Ambassador Semneby is the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus

"The European Neighborhood Policy is a framework that provides for broad and intensive interaction on large parts of the EU acquis. Clearly, it does not contain a membership perspective."

TPQ-article: "The Role of the E.U. in the Resolution of the Conflicts in the South Caucasus"

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Tedo Japaridze
Ambassador Japaridze was Secretary General of the International Secretariat of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation from November 2004 until April 2005. He is former Foreign Minister of Georgia. Currently he is the President of the U.S.-Caucasus Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia

"The EU expansion towards the Black Sea is irreversible and BSEC needs to find the most appropriate ways to benefit from it and help the European Union "understand" the efficiency of BSEC for long-term European security perspectives."

TPQ-article: "BSEC: A Road Map to Relevance"

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Suat Kiniklioglu
Suat Kiniklioglu is the director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States Ankara Office and editor of Insight Turkey

"Moscow is quite wary of Turkey's EU drive. Russian diplomats have been courting Turkey's Euro-skeptics for years ... A common Turkish sentiment about Russian overtures is that "the Russians treat the Turks with respect" – a clear reference to frustration with perennial European criticism."

TPQ-article: "Turkey and Russia: Partnership by Exclusion?"

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Gareth Winrow
Gareth Winrow is a Professor in the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University

"It will not be easy for hydrocarbons from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to be transported to Europe via Turkey as at present almost all westward pipeline connections from these states run through Russia."

TPQ-article: "Possible Consequences of a New Geopolitical Game in Eurasia on Turkey as an Emerging Energy Transport Hub"

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Andreas Marchetti
Andreas Marchetti is Research Fellow at the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) in Bonn, Germany

"One of the obstacles to Turkey's aspirations is that its membership would thwart the concept of a continuous semi-periphery, designed to "protect" the EU from "problematic countries" (like Iran and Iraq)."

TPQ-article: "Widening Without Enlarging: The European Neighborhood and the South Caucasus"

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Verena Knaus
Verena Knaus is a Senior Analyst at the European Stability Initiative

"The merit based approach to the accession process had won the EU considerable credit in the past. But, the Damocles Sword of rejection by public referendum now hangs over governments, steering their countries through the arduous process of trying to meet all necessary criteria, from Copenhagen to Rome, Maastricht, and Schengen."

TPQ-article: "Turkey and Its Balkan Neighbors: Partners or Competitors?"

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Borut Grgic
Borut Grgic is the Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies Ljubljana

"Europe needs a new concept to de-link enlargement from the reforms process. An enlargement perspective can no doubt serve as a catalyst for reforms; however it is problematic that in many countries this perspective has become the principle driver behind reforms."

TPQ-article: "A New Strategic Outlook for Turkey"

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