COLUMNISTS
September 14, 2015, Monday
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One man’s man
Frankly, there is no new story I can tell you in this article. Indeed, it was already written on Aug. 27 of last year. That familiar story was just repeated on Saturday. Through repetition, the main theme of the story is naturally reinforced. Some insignificant details that were problematic were pruned away. Thus, our familiar story has been perfected. As you may recall, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had been elected as president on Aug. 10, 2014, but he failed to step down -
You cannot get away by playing dead!
Everybody now realizes the sad fact that Turkey is moving toward the edge of a collapse. Those who drafted this horrible scenario want everybody to be fearful of it. They believe that out of fear, the public will consent to despotic rule. And they are using provocations to make examples. They simply seek to make sure that every person in this society will be fearful of the repercussions of this turmoil and think that they might be next. They want to make sure that p -
Turkey and Israel: Does ‘bribing’ help?
Bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel have not been good for years. In the beginning, it was certain events -- such as the Davos case or the Mavi Marmara flotilla -- that provoked the deterioration. However, there are simple symptoms of deep change both in Turkey and in Israel. It is not true that those events caused the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations. There are, of course, many events on Israel's side that are blameworthy for the -
Cizre and Manavgat
“Can Turkey become another Syria?” a friend asked yesterday in a matter-of-fact voice. I said, “Have you seen the pictures of Cizre?” There was a curfew in place for more than a week in Cizre, a district of Şırnak province in southeastern Turkey, and we've seen pictures from there after the lifting of the curfew. Demolished houses, bullet holes in the walls, broken showcase windows, collapsed roofs because of mortar shells and the punctur -
Who can we coexist with?
By nature, people have to live in a community; and by the very same nature, they also tend to develop disputes. What matters is that in case of a dispute, the relevant social framework and existing rules are observed to address the matter rather than causing further turmoil and committing religious or ethnic cleansing because of potential disputes and hostilities. This is one of the reasons for the assignment of prophets by God (Quran, 2:213). Of course, this does n -
What is the purpose of Ottoman Hearths?
The state never views the youth as something that should be left alone in Turkey. Instead, it sees the manipulation of young people by groups that it does not control as a threat to national security. For this reason, it does not want to leave young people alone. In particular, the control of nationalist young people by the state is of critical importance because they can be easily manipulated to comply with the state's priorities. In addition, because nationali -
The Iran deal shows limits of the ’Jewish Lobby’ argument
The majority of Arab and Muslim critics of American foreign policy have long believed that one of the most important problems in Washington's approach to the Middle East has been the overwhelming influence of the pro-Israel lobby. In its vulgar and anti-Semitic versions, this familiar line of thinking sometimes gains a nasty conspiratorial tilt with the accusation that a Jewish "cabal" is behind all critical decisions. Turkey, despite being a NATO all -
Adultery in divorce cases
There has been an interesting divorce case in Turkey. A woman who was “happily” married for 25 years filed a divorce case against her husband on the grounds of adultery, and she won. The court ruled in favor of the wife and granted a divorce with a compensation sum for the husband. The husband later married the woman with whom he was accused of cheating on his wife. The new couple had a baby and started a new life. However, winning a divorce case and be -
Dogs and direction
We are faced daily with poverty, inequality and other human crises. Rightly so, these should be high priority, but the needs of animals as well should not be neglected. For nearly a decade I have been a dog owner and always had a cat around. You could say I am a big animal lover. I have three dogs at present so can't have any more at home. There is no room in the inn! But there are things that we can do to help those stray furry friends, even if you do not want -
Government-backed terror targets the media
The fact that the Hürriyet newspaper building was attacked by crowds of pro-President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Justice and Development Party (AKP) supporters should be seen as a sign of just how hopeless and out of control the ruling party ranks are. It's being alleged now that the orders to attack came down from Erdoğan's main press adviser. The fact that a young MP who also heads up the AKP's youth branch was present and leading the crowds at the firs -
Turkey’s growing liability
If an outsider analyzed the content of news stories and op-eds in the Turkish media, an abnormal intensity of coverage of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would be detected. Erdoğan loyalists tend to explain it by hatred toward him, but they miss a huge point: Erdoğan has been dominating Turkish politics so much that it is impossible to make an accurate analysis without taking him into account. I wish I could write something apart from Erdoğan and politics a
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