COLUMNISTS
August 23, 2015, Sunday
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CHP and HDP should join forces before elections (1)
Is there a political party that can do better than the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the next elections? The answer is "no" unless the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (HDP) decide to join their forces and form an electoral coalition. This CHP-HDP union could realistically receive more votes than the 41 percent victory of the AKP. Together, as a whole, this union can be far bigger than the sum of its parts. The t -
Greece: a country forced to sell
On Aug. 20, 2015, the headlines of mainstream Turkish media outlets cited Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, bidding farewell as he resigned from his post with a quote by Nâzım Hikmet: “The most beautiful days we haven't seen yet.” The complete verse reads: The most beautiful sea hasn't been crossed yet. The most beautiful child hasn't grown up yet. Our most beautiful days we haven't seen yet. And the mos -
New facts about Turkey’s politics
There are new facts regarding Turkey's politics in the aftermath of the general election held on June 7. The first of these, surely, is that according to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (“whether it is accepted or not”) Turkey has de facto adopted an executive presidency, no matter if the electorate has rejected it. The second of these is that Turkey now has, for the first time, a parliamentary majority that does not accept the “national will.& -
Turkey is hopeless in the short-term
Turkey is going to a snap election in November. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not find the result of the June 7 election satisfactory. The core reason for the snap election is Erdoğan. In the last two months, he has prevented the formation of any coalition government. In practice, Erdoğan is the de facto leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The official leader, acting Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, has failed to consolidate his power. Inst -
What should Gülen movement do for early election?
Turkey is going to a snap vote. Since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not get the result he desired in the June 7 general election, he is taking the country with a population of 80 million to the ballot box again. What makes the snap vote different from the June 7 election is that both the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition parties have used up their arguments. The opposition parties placed the lavishness and luxury of Erdoğan's -
Waking up through Islam
Those who argue that the Muslim world cannot recover after its defeat against the West are raising their discourse as liberals, conservatives, leftists, socialists or nationalists on the political stage. Islamists, on the other hand, argue that they will resurrect Islam by relying on its main messages. It is only natural to see that pro-Westerners stand against the attempts to use Islam as a reference in regional, social or political initiatives. But the p -
The unbearable lightness of raiding a school
There are three untouchables in any civil society. These three, in order of importance, are the freedom to pursue education, the freedom of the press and the freedom of the judiciary. The last civil institution intact has finally been affected. Recently, police raided branches of a reputable school, Yamanlar, making a big fuss out of an unjustified investigation. For international readers who are not familiar with the world of Turkish education, the Yamanl -
Kurdophobia
From time to time, I think about the social roots of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. It is obvious that there is ongoing discrimination against and “otherization” of Kurds in society. It is still very hard for Kurds to become top government officials if they reveal their identity. Although there has been an improvement in recent years, measures to prevent discrimination are still insufficient. Social inclusion is the key aspect for a possible solution to t -
Greece: a country forced to sell
On Aug. 20, 2015, the headlines of mainstream Turkish media outlets cited Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, bidding farewell as he resigned from his post with a quote by Nâzım Hikmet: “The most beautiful days we haven't seen yet.” The complete verse reads: The most beautiful sea hasn't been crossed yet. The most beautiful child hasn't grown up yet. Our most beautiful days we haven't seen yet. And the mos -
Generalizations are dangerous
I remember when I first came to Turkey everyone seemed to look alike -- the men appeared smooth talkers and flirty-like and had dark hair and deep brown eyes. It seemed like young women were small framed, thin and nicely tanned. We know this is not really the case. Generalization can be unfair in many ways in different areas: Just take the average opinion poll results concerning what people thought about Arkansans before Bill Clinton became US president -- an unedu -
Erdoğan’s expectations, and the coming elections
Quite naturally, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expects that, this time around, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will attain single-handed power in Parliament. But what is his game plan, and will it work? At this point, the problems in southeast Turkey are being mined to create election controversies. But it appears that, this time, the situation is so complicated that no one player is going to be able to take control. Erdoğan is looking for solutions himsel
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