COLUMNISTS
October 17, 2015, Saturday
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Censorship gone wild
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development (AKP) government are using the power of the state to try and silence opposition media in Turkey. Legal and illegal methods as well as tools are being pulled in to service this goal, which is ultimately to prevent the media directly relaying the truth to the citizens of the country. As this unfolds, Turkey is in the process of becoming a dark country filled with terror. Why is the hiding of the truth, of -
As abnormalities become normal in Turkey…
In a country which has a head-spinning agenda mostly filled with depressing news, we were somewhat revealed when the editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman, Bülent Keneş was released from prison, where he had been sent just because of his tweets, on Wednesday after five days. Since arbitrary detentions have become the rule rather than an exception, one cannot help but wonder what made the government release Keneş only five days later. It seems that it was an att -
Could Saudi Arabia push back against Russia in Syria?
On Oct. 1, Saudi Ambassador to the United Nations Abdallah Al-Mouallimi demanded that Russia end its raids on Syria. Clearly this is not going to happen as Russia, together with its key regional ally Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, continue to intensify their campaign to prop up their ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This leads to the question as to whether Saudi Arabia will try to push back against Moscow and if they do what this would mean for the region. Whil -
The Ankara carnage
On Oct. 10, two blasts ripped through a peace rally in central Ankara. Evidence so far hints at the work of two suicide bombers. Who the actual perpetrators are and who the masterminds are is unknown at the present moment. It is obvious that the assault targeted peace, the sides seeking reconciliation and their present and future roles in the volatile Middle East. Without naming or blaming anyone, allow me to make a few statements on the bloody event that killed 102 -
Chancellor Merkel is making a mistake
Today is Sunday and one of Europe's most successful politicians, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is paying a working visit to Ankara. She may even be considered the most successful politician ever in Europe. She holds the office of chancellor and leads a grand coalition of two top parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She is the head of Germany, a country untouched by the economic crises, unem -
Short-sighted foreign policy costing us lives
Last Saturday we saw the biggest terrorist attack in the history of the Turkish Republic. Several mass killings on the heels of one another point to an alarming situation even though Turkey already has a history full of violence. Those in power started to look for the perpetrator and the responsibility somewhere else from the very first minute. There wasn't a single soul they didn't accuse, including the very victims of the massacre. Let's loo -
Unity is the only way out for a troubled Turkey
“I am so jealous of people who have a strong sense of belonging to a country,” said Duaa, a 16-year-old high-school student. Then, she couldn't stop herself from bursting into tears and made most of us cry… This was a year ago when I was on a trip in the area known as the Triangle in Israel. I had an opportunity to visit al-Qasame College in the town of Kafr Qasim and met some Arab-Israeli students. In the school are more than 3,000 Arab stud -
EU migrant crisis summit: action plan and more
It is only a week ago since I wrote on this page about a certain distance -- taking the 650 kilometers between Berlin and Brussels as a figurative example for diverging viewpoints with regards to the desired speed of EU enlargement. Seven days thereafter, it appears that despite the fact that the geographical calculation is still correct, politically speaking, it seems to have been reduced to zero -- almost, that is. Brussels is known for late-night deals. Some argu -
A real pity for Turkey
Turkey is still reeling from the shock of the bomb attack in Ankara over the weekend. The bombs exploded in the middle of the city square where thousands had gathered for a peace rally. The outcome was nearly 100 people dead, with many more injured. Statements by the interior and justice ministers were met with surprise by the public; namely, the assertion that there had been no security lapse whatsoever. Mostly, it appeared that in the wake of this shock -
A puzzle: AKP, ISIL, MİT, PKK
In mid-August, there was a heated debate on terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) had prepared a report on the eastern city of Adıyaman which revealed Turkey had become a harbor for ISIL terrorists. The CHP delivered this report to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). It now appears the list of ISIL-affiliated people included the suicide bombers of the Ankara attack last -
A respite in unemployment
In my Sept. 15 article on the Turkish labor market I had underlined the upward trend observed in unemployment in May and June. Indeed, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate that had declined to 9.9 percent and the non-farming rate to 12 percent in April had made a jump to 10.4 and 12.6 percent, respectively, in June. However, unemployment took a break in July. The overall rate stood at 10.4 percent while the non-farming rate fell to 12.4 percent. It is also not
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