The New York Times:

The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

Europe and the U.S. decided to change tactics because of the results of a hardline approach in the past:

“We have all agreed that is simply not going to work — experience tells us the Iranians are not going to buy it,” said a senior European official involved in the strategy sessions with the Obama administration.| MORE ›

The following article by John C.K. Daly in United Press International offers readers a nice overview of Turkey’s latest string of energy dealings with Iran. Daly’s article also considers the American view of these growing energy ties.| MORE ›

The following article from Business Week offers a good review of most of the main themes of the Turkish economy and its prospects in the event of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq.

The article finishes on a positive note with a comment by the AKP appointed treasury minister and former Merrill Lynch economist, Mehmet Simsek.| MORE ›