Dragon and crescent in the Asian century

The Foreign Relations Committee (DEİK) issued a comprehensive report on Turkey-China relations with an interesting title which goes, "The Dragon and the Crescent in the Asian Century."

This report is one of the latest links in the interest in China that has distinctly increased with the mention of Turkey's possible membership to the Shanghai Five.

I have witnessed that the interest in China is not only limited to political and economic circles. In a bookstore I frequently visit, I saw the book "Herkes İçin Çin Tarihi" (Chinese History for Everybody) in quite a few people's hands. I joined them. 

Author Can Yolaç has lived in China for many years, he can speak Chinese and knows the history and culture of this country well. 

To be able to convey this deep culture and civilization to readers, Can Yolaç was granted a year-long scholarship by the Chinese government and has completed a master's program in Chinese history at Fuldan University in Shanghai. 

Founding president of the China Institute Turkey (ÇİTAM), Rıza Kadılar, wrote in the foreword of his book "China" that the country "has become such a significant player in the world economy that it has become unavoidable now to understand China and have an opinion about it." If you add to these words, the debate over joining the Shanghai Five, it is apparent that the DEİK report was issued just in time. 

The report has been penned by Altay Atlı, an expert in Sabancı University's Istanbul Policy Center. It contains a nine-step road map for the sustainability and balance of Turkey-China economic relations. 

The balanced state is important because according to a 2015 data released by the Economy Ministry, the total foreign trade volume between the two countries...