Worldcrunch
-Analysis- Even as the European Union has wavered on whether to let Turkey into its exclusive grouping, Ankara has flexed its muscles within the bloc. It has done so by using a shared tool and resource to fight crime: Interpol. Last Saturday, Spanish authorities arrested author Dogan Akhanli after Turkey issued an Interpol arrest warrant […]
What kind of a world do we live in, when Turkey can’t even give us a proper coup anymore? Unable to sleep for the summer heat in Valencia, I remember that twisted thought coming to me as the July 15 coup — or at least its broadcast version — was unfolding on the radio. Typically […]
Kurdish-led forces advance with hopes to recapture the ISIS capital. Together with Arab and foreign fighters, they share a common enemy. But what happens when ISIS is gone?
Libération, July 24, 2017 Leading French daily Libération showed its support for embattled Turkish opposition daily Cumhuriyet, as a trial gets underway for 17 journalists and staff members on charges of aiding a terrorist organization. The front page for this special Libération with Cumhuriyet edition features a cartoon — a meaningful choice of expression in […]
The new season of Game of Thrones, which premiered Sunday, will surely be filled with all manner of sabotage, conspiracy, and politicking. The fictional world of author George R. R. Martin is essentially a timeless story of the pursuit of power as an end in itself. But that same show, it appears, is not only […]
-Analysis- On Sunday, the G20 summit concluded in Hamburg with a lot of hoopla but scant results. Seen by many as an opportunity for Donald Trump to advance his international agenda, the gathering of world leaders petered out when it became clear that few, if any, were willing to follow the American President’s lead on […]
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel came back Monday from Ankara empty-handed. German military personnel currently stationed at NATO air bases in Turkey will likely soon follow. Amid a growing rift between Berlin and Ankara, Gabriel had failed to convince his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to lift Turkey’s ban on German lawmakers visiting the approximately 250 […]
-Analysis- For the past 36 hours, Washington has been consumed by a pair of scandals that even eternally moderate commentators now say has spread the whiff of possible doom around the Trump presidency. On Monday it was the Washington Post that revealed that Donald Trump had divulged classified counter-terrorism information last week to Russia, potentially […]
STUTTGART — Such are the consequences of a long-distance relationship. Two-thirds of Germans of Turkish descent voted in favor of a reform of the Turkish constitution to give more powers to the presidency. That support helped lead to victory President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a man who does not shy away from drawing Nazi comparisons. What […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — The April 16 referendum result that gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers can be summed up in a single sentence: he won on paper but lost the political battle. The followers of the “chief” — a term used by Erdogan’s loyalists to describe the Turkish president — would consider this […]
Democracy has never been an easy thing. That most British of statesmen Winston Churchill famously called it “the worst form of government, except for all the others.” In its ideal form — with regularly scheduled elections, peaceful transfers of powers, constitutions that are upheld, checks and balances respected — democracy can work quite well. Certainly there are examples still in today’s world. But as shown by events taking place right now in Venezuela, Turkey and even on Churchill’s turf, it can also be a deeply messy affair. In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro is clinging to power against a groundswell […]
ISTANBUL — The narrow win of the “yes’ camp in Sunday’s crucial constitutional amendment to change Turkey to a presidential system is a major victory for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP). Though final results are not yet certified, 51.3% of the more than 58 million Turkish voters (turnout […]
The Turkish president is using Europe to stoke nationalist sentiment back at home before a referendum to expand his own powers. Enough is enough.
Ceding to Russia’s influence in Syria is a “rare public humiliation,’ for Erdogan and his ambitions to make Turkey a world diplomatic power.
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — Over the years, as Turkey’s European Union membership process stalled, I have seen plenty of blame on both sides. Ultimately, I never believed Turkey would become a full EU member, as the process was full of insincerity from both Ankara and Brussels. Now, it is over. In all these years, I never criticized the EU membership process out of some nationalistic impulse. But I do believe that the goals of democracy, rights and freedom cannot be achieved by way of foreign pressure. I also believe that the EU is not merely a union of political principles, and […]
Looking eastward from Western Europe, Turkey used to be seen as both a model of secular democracy in the Muslim world and a huge business opportunity. But longstanding hopes for Turkish entry into the European Union appear grimmer every day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, apparently seeking to revive a form of “Ottoman glory,” has led […]
When I told the guy at my neighborhood grocery store in the Turkish city of Istanbul that I was traveling abroad, he said, “Don’t come back. Not if you can.” I told him I have a life here. “They will arrest us all, one day,” he responded. I’d never previously discussed politics with my grocer. […]
As Turkish President Erdogan pushes his country towards despotism, European Union leaders — especially in Germany — must take a harder line.
Turkey has grown silent. Since the failed military coup in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown across Turkish society has featured a particular focus on journalists working for opposition newspapers. According to Reporters Without Borders’ Julie Majerczak: “Turkey has become the world’s biggest prison for journalists.” But the crackdown goes well beyond press freedom. Two […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — The 2010 referendum to change Turkey’s constitution to give more power to the presidency prevailed in part because of the “It Is Not Enough, But Yes” call for support. I voted “No” then. And now, as it appears that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to hold another referendum that will give even […]
ISTANBUL — There is an Italian saying: “Una faccia, una razza.” It means “One face, one race,” and is used by Italians and Greeks to note the characteristics the two peoples share. When it comes to Turkish and Greeks, I use this phrase as “One face, one mentality.” I don’t know how similar Greeks and […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — After a woman was kicked in the face on a public bus for wearing shorts, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the event as an “individual” act of discrimination. His ruling party, the AKP, expressed a similar opinion, calling it an “isolated incident.” What they failed to acknowledge is the role their cultural […]
Who knew what and when? Questions linger two months after the coup attempt was quickly stamped out.
The past few months have left a feeling of an ever less stable future. But a clean defeat of the Republican in November is the quickest way to bring back some order to the world.
Aleksei Arbatov, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, analyzes Kremlin’s foreign policy and offers an inside look at where international relations are headed.
The Olympic ideal is free of political conflict. But from Jesse Owens in Berlin to this year’s refugee team, some of the Games’ most striking images have sprung when sports and world affairs collide. So much so that the temptation is always great to think of the Olympics as a jersey-wearing reflection of current events. […]
Can Dündar, a recipient of the *Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2016 International Press Freedom Awards who served jail time this past year and was facing another prosecution, announced in his column that he was resigning as editor of the opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. He is believed to be in Germany, and wrote Monday that he […]
Both President Erdogan and top opposition parties are focused on national reconciliation. But Erdogan’s plans will ultimately exclude democracy.
After Friday’s smoothly executed opening ceremony and the first batch of inspiring gold medals, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are once again mired in controversy. But rather than Brazil’s own local battles with corruption and Zika, it’s the athletes themselves undermining the Games. Sparks flew poolside as Rio’s Olympic swimmers traded insults and […]
Milliyet, Aug. 8 “A New Turkey Is Born” reads Monday’s front page of Turkey daily Milliyet, which joined virtually every other national paper in its wall-to-wall coverage of the massive rally in Istanbul to demonstrate national unity against the recent failed coup attempt. Perhaps more than one million people thronged to the Yenikapi district of […]
Note: This article was originally published on July 13, before the failed coup attempt -Analysis- ISTANBUL — This newspaper (Turkish daily Hürriyet) published the following report last month: “Syrians who want to spend the Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr) holiday with the relatives they left behind in their country where a horrible civil war is still […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — Having survived the coup attempt is not enough to put our minds at ease in Turkey. Turkey is on a road that doesn’t lead to a pluralistic and democratic system. We wake up to a new nightmare every day about our nation’s direction. What’s happening on Turkish soil is worrisome. But it’s […]
SPOTLIGHT: A FRENCH HERO AND THE REST OF US When a murderous truck hurtled down a promenade in the French city of Nice last week, slamming into innocent bystanders and leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake, a 49-year-old man riding his scooter nearby threw his life on the line to stop […]
SPOTLIGHT: STATE OF EMERGENCY, THE OBVIOUS ANSWER? If the whole world is always in a state of emergency, does that mean there’s no emergency? We’re not quite there yet, but an official “state of emergency” decree, with additional regulations and the granting of special police powers, is increasingly how governments react in times of crisis. […]
SPOTLIGHT: WORLD, MEET MR. TRUMP (AGAIN) Every four years, people around the world get a glance at those odd political spectacles, typically hosted in some mid-sized American city they’ll never visit. The U.S. national party conventions tend to get slightly bemused coverage abroad: candidates’ family values on full display, gray-haired delegates dancing to Dixie bands […]
SPOTLIGHT: ISTANBUL, STUDIES IN CONTRAST Taksim Square is both symbolic and convenient: Flat in the middle of the bustle of Istanbul, it can serve as a meeting point for locals and tourists — and protesters. It is where many of the most ardent supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gathered after tanks took control […]
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is enforcing a crackdown of those believed linked to the failed coup attempt that began Friday night. Turkey officials report that some 265 people were killed in the attempted military overthrow of the Erdogan government. Follow the latest updates in real-time on BBC.
Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, more than 2.7 million Syrians have registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, making it the largest host country for Syrian asylum seekers. The influx, combined with a rise in terrorist attacks in the country, have become pressing issues in Turkish politics. -OpEd- ISTANBUL — Refugees… They […]
ISTANBUL — Since Turkey made conciliatory moves towards Russia and Israel last week, critics have pointed to the inconsistencies between what has been said before and what is being said now. But that is not the real issue here: The real issue is about the roots, the true nature and the costs of these changes […]