Quo Vadis America?
While politics in America is witnessing the rise of the far-right, few in Turkey are paying attention. Turkish policymakers and the public are focused on the election of Joe Biden as the next president...
Monthly Archive: November 2020
Turkey faces Storm December as Erdoğan eyes applause
President Tayyip Erdoğan reproaches the party members at his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) provincial congresses, asking “Where is that old storm of applause?” as he says every once in a while that...
Yönetimde dağınıklık had safhada, Erdoğan’ın işi zor
Ne derseniz deyin, Cumhurbaşkanı Tayyip Erdoğan’ın siyasetteki en büyük meziyetinin bir beka ustası olmak olduğu açık. En zor durumlardan dahi o an kimi, neyi feda etmesi gerekiyorsa edip ayakta kalmayı bildi. Çünkü siyasette tek...
Crisis in the EU, again: budget versus rule of law
It is not only Turkey where the rule of law is under debate. Something quite extraordinary happened during the last budgetary negotiations among the 27 EU countries. Last amendments were being brought on the...
Is Erdoğan sincere about new reforms move this time?
When I was listening to President Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech on reforms on Nov. 17, I remembered a saying attributed to Nevzat Tandoğan, the Ankara governor during the single-party system in Turkey in 1941: ‘If...
Crime gang’s Çakıcı threatens Turkish opposition leader
Crime gang leader Alaattin Çakıcı has threatened main opposition Republican People’s Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, triggering reactions from the party. “Watch your step,” Çakıcı said on his Twitter account on Nov. 17, addressing Kılıçdaroğlu,...
Who is next after Albayrak, Turkish bureaucrats worry
President Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that he will start a new wave of reforms in “law, economy and democracy.” There was no election, the administration did not change, but why is it necessary for...
Albayrak the first minister Erdoğan sacrificed to opposition
There was one thing that President Tayyip Erdoğan had never done during his rule since 2002: He had never sacrificed a minister targeted by the opposition during the peak of the debate. The first...
Erdoğan learns the hard way, as Turkish people pay the bill
Erdoğan spoke and the markets were thrilled, according to the mainstream Turkish media. The reason is that the value of the Turkish Lira rose to 7.8 per dollar from 8.5 following a year that...
Crucial dates ahead of Erdoğan: November 14 and 19
It mustn’t have been easy for President Tayyip Erdoğan to respond to his son-in-law Berat Albayrak with a belated “goodbye” when he said “goodbye” to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. Until recently, Albayrak...