Eurotopics.net

The campaign for the referendum on April 16 is under way in Turkey. The parliament in Ankara gave the green light in mid-January for a constitutional amendment that could see the introduction of a presidential system in Turkey. With the help of votes from the far-right MHP, the ruling AKP achieved the majority it needed to hold a referendum on the reform. What would a presidential system mean for Turkey?

Three weeks after Trump's inauguration a look at the opinion pieces shows that many European journalists believe Europe's reaction has been too weak. The EU must not tremble in anticipation of Trump's next move but reorganise itself, they say, preferably with Macron and Schulz at the helm.

55 percent of Europeans want immigration from Muslim countries to come to a halt, according to a study by the British Think Tank Chatham House. The conclusions of the study seem consistent with the recent attempts to tighten asylum law in Germany, Britain and other European states. Is Europe's criticism of Trump hypocritical?

A Russian airstrike in northern Syria left three Turkish soldiers dead and eleven wounded on Thursday. Moscow confirmed the soldiers' deaths as an "accidental" consequence of operations against the IS. Commentators speculate about the reasons behind the incident.

Israel's parliament passed a law at the start of the week legalising settlements on Palestinian territory. Representatives of the conservative Likud party and the right-wing pro-settlement party The Jewish Home see the move as a first step towards establishing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. Commentators fear that the two-state solution will be abandoned altogether.