COLUMNISTS
October 03, 2015, Saturday
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Erdoğan targets European Court of Human Rights
Domestic remedies for rights violations have practically been exhausted, with the top criminal and administrative courts in Turkey as well as the Constitutional Court in shackles as hostages to the whims and emotions of the country's ruling Islamist elites. Therefore, the importance of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as the last beacon of hope for the complaints of frustrated Turkish citizens to be heard, has become paramount for the prospect of res -
The bullet from the ’deep’ fired at fake peace
Society has lent great support to the settlement process, hoping it would bring peace. According to a survey conducted by pollster company Konda in May 2013, 81.3 percent of those interviewed agreed "The settlement process is necessary for the happiness of everyone, not only of Kurds." One year later, a study by Hakan Yılmaz of Boğaziçi University came up with similar findings. A full 57 percent of society lent support to the process. The level -
Russia crushes Turkey’s plans in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not lose much time over implementing his new Syria policy. After the military buildup in recent weeks and the diplomatic offensive at the UN, Russian airplanes started bombing targets in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday. Although Russian officials are claiming the focus of the strikes was on ISIL forces, most independent observers agree Russian targets so far include rebels who in the past got backing from the United States, the Gulf States and Turk -
AKP’s abuse of Islam and Muslims
I travel a lot because of conferences and seminars that I get invited to. Wherever I meet non-Turkish Muslim intellectuals, academics, journalists, students and so on, they find it confusing how an Islamically inspired civil movement, i.e., the Hizmet movement, could be labeled as traitors, terrorists and even non-Muslim by Justice and Development Party (AKP) leading figures. For them, these two entities are both Islamic and they must cooperate rather than clash. They raise the headsc -
Voter confidence is falling
IPSOS published this week the results of its three surveys on the political approval of electors. These surveys done in May, August and September are not intended to reveal voting intentions but aim to determine the multi-dimensional political views of electors. The changes in these views from May to September give useful insights to better understand our political cul-de-sac. Let's start with the question on the general state of the country. When aske -
Erdoğan notably silent after attacks on media
As you may recall, not long ago there was a gun attack on Murat Sancak, the head of the Star Media Group. Now, Star, as you may or may not know, is one of the many groups that comprise the pro-government media in Turkey. There was a video recording showing those who carried out this attack. Sancak, who escaped the attack without injury, went live immediately on his own channel to calmly describe the incident. Afterwards, however, various security experts e -
Expat or local: Which camp?
Curiosity is your best ally when living in another culture. Just be ready for what you discover and learn. I say this because from a cultural perspective on nearly every topic under the sun, opinions can vary. In my previous piece, “Culture from many angles,” I shared about how culture influences the way we think and our behavior. Let me give a few more examples. Recently, I was talking with an expat who now lives in the US and she told me abo -
Social democrats get closer to ‘bread and butter’ issues
Unlike its European counterparts, Turkey's main social democratic party has long-neglected real issues of “bread and butter,” instead opting to act as the voice of the status quo whilst standing fiercely secular in this predominantly Muslim nation. Yet since the June 7 national election, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has become more citizen-sensitive, focusing on the economic and political grievances of the people. < -
Kyrgyzstan heads into Oct. 4 parliamentary election
There will be many parties vying for votes in the Oct. 4 parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan. The parties, in order of how much of their budget they are allocating for the election, are: the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), the Önügü Party, the Respublika and Ata Jurt Party (sometimes seen as Atayurt), Unity Kyrgyzstan and Emgek, Ar-Namys, Ata Meken (Ata Vatan), Bir-Bol, Zamandaş, Azattık, Alaam Dünya, Ulu-Kırgızistan, Meken İntimagı, and the People&# -
Trade: off
Our import expenditures are decreasing faster than the decline in export revenues, bringing down the trade deficit. This is apparently good tidings for the economy. But is it really? And what does this situation tell us about the possible course of the central bank on monetary policy? I am unavoidably considering the likelihood of the bank hiking the benchmark interest rates quite often because it is now attached to almost every single facet of the econom -
Playmaker
“Now, Turkey is not only an actor in the region, but it is also a playmaker and we [Justice and Development Party (AKP)] did this.” That was what then-Foreign Minister and current interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was saying at the end of 2011. At the time, Davutoğlu was boasting that his policies had brought Turkey to a “playmaker” position. After the Russian air strike in Homs yesterday, Turkish foreign policy declared its bankruptcy.
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