Qadri Jamil

I have no idea how many justice ministers in the democratically civilized world have to make speeches arguing that their country is not a dictatorship. But Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozda? has recently felt compelled to remind the world of just that. Bozda?

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group has begun a three-day meeting in Istanbul to discuss a range of issues, including a Russian initiative to hold peace talks in Moscow to broker a resolution to Syria's civil war.

The Syrian National Coalition is also expected to elect a new president during the closed-door proceedings that opened on Jan. 2 in Istanbul.