COLUMNISTS
October 11, 2015, Sunday
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Winning election by putting pressure upon media
Subsequent to violence and pressure being put on the Doğan Media Group, seven dissident TV channels and stations were removed from the Digitürk portal with a simple memo from the office of the prosecutor; this shows that the election wars are being fought in the media market. Winning an election through media refers to a state of despair; but it also refers to a realistic assessment of the political administration. The state of despair is because of the realiz -
Why did Turkey quickly slide into authoritarianism?
I am writing this column only hours after witnessing Bülent Keneş, the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman, arrested in the newspaper building over his allegedly insulting tweets about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Unfortunately, Keneş was arrested just because he had expressed his ideas. In this country, which I call hell for journalists, prosecutions against members of the media are the rule rather than the exception. The apathy and indifference among the general public ar -
Polarization until when?
Just a little time remains before Turkey's Nov.1 election. The inevitable campaign rallies have started already, with parties sharing their visions and promises with the people. In the meantime, Ankara is hard at work, trying to maintain the level of societal polarization that has already been in place. Some in the Justice and Development Party (AKP) try to portray the coming vote as a war of independence, while others make it out as a battle between east and w -
Votes from abroad akin to stray bullets
We're used to it by now. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has become a political party that might have had good ideas at the start but is terrible at implementing them. Like the idea of the new civilian constitution; the rhetoric about how important and helpful this would be got everyone enthusiastic and then all of a sudden it turned into a project aimed at bringing about an authoritarian, single-man, “new presidential” situation. I could go -
Turkey and Russia -- frenemies at loggerheads
Just a couple of weeks ago, a photo was taken of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, laughing and smiling together at the opening of a new mosque in Moscow. A couple of days later, the smile was whipped off Erdoğan's face when Russia kicked off its military operation in Syria and then violated Turkey's airspace. These developments have not only undermined Turkey's main goals in Syria, they have also reveale -
Turkey and Russia on the Syrian theater
Following the violation of Turkish airspace by Russian aircraft stationed in Syria, the friendly rhetoric of Turkish leaders concerning Russia has somewhat soured. They wanted to condemn the act but refrained from using strong language. After all, the current Turkish political leadership believed they had found a comrade in Moscow as they drifted away from the EU. However, despite their pride in “strategic thinking,” their vision of the world was id -
EU -- Turkey: 650 kilometers can make a huge difference
Is it not sad that just as a wave of positive news emanates from EU headquarters regarding Turkey's EU vocation -- not as big a wave as hoped for but nevertheless -- a key political player 650 kilometers away reiterates a point on live television and is widely quoted thereafter in Germany and abroad? German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she has always been and continues to be against Turkey gaining full EU membership. Which brings me to a point I wrote -
Overcoming bigotry with grace
“Love is a bridge with you and everything.” Rumi I attended a gathering at Duke University last Wednesday to listen to Cemalnur Sargut's lecture about the Sufi understanding of Islam through the teachings of it's great master Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. It was a mesmerizing two-hour session of listening to the Sufi perspective of Islam on divine love with her embracing attitude and heartwarming soft voice. She explained an alternative way -
Will VW scandal force ethics on companies?
The eruption of the Volkswagen emissions scandal has made a significant point about how easy it is for a company to ignore its responsibilities to the environment, to society and particularly to consumers and employees, responsibilities which were once based on corporate values, and the vision and principles of its mission, when profit and market shares are at stake. Regardless of whether their production and service is local or international, many corporations have -
Why did Turkey quickly slide into authoritarianism?
I am writing this column only hours after witnessing Bülent Keneş, the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman, arrested in the newspaper building over his allegedly insulting tweets about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Unfortunately, Keneş was arrested just because he had expressed his ideas. In this country, which I call hell for journalists, prosecutions against members of the media are the rule rather than the exception. The apathy and indifference among the general public ar -
Polarization until when?
Just a little time remains before Turkey's Nov.1 election. The inevitable campaign rallies have started already, with parties sharing their visions and promises with the people. In the meantime, Ankara is hard at work, trying to maintain the level of societal polarization that has already been in place. Some in the Justice and Development Party (AKP) try to portray the coming vote as a war of independence, while others make it out as a battle between east and w
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