Turkey’s anti-femicide group expands goals to new fields
21 May 2021, Friday
The We Will Stop Femicide Platform has decided to transform the women’s struggle, symbolized by the motto “You Will Never Walk Alone” used by many rights groups over the years, into a larger-scale movement. Concerns regarding the future and society as a whole are behind this decision. According to the platform, Turkey’s withdrawal from the
- Published in Life
No need for a suit and a tie for gender equality
09 May 2021, Sunday
I was curious while watching the speech by President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary. She would talk about the conclusions of the meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during their visit to Turkey. I had no doubt that we would listen to the criticism of a woman, who was the main
- Published in Politics
EU-Turkey: Lack of vision, inconsistency, double standards
14 April 2021, Wednesday
The protocol accident European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen experienced and the statements released afterwards once again revealed the mood that prevailed in EU-Turkey relations. Instead of working to realize the enormous potential of unity and cooperation between these two parties, to strengthen the liberal democracy front in the world by becoming one of
- Published in Politics
Sofagate orientalism: put all the blame on Turkey
12 April 2021, Monday
For the past decade whenever I heard a Western friend expressing sadness on Turkey’s slide to autocracy and wishing me “good luck,” my response was usually, “Good luck to you too. Things do not look good either in your part of the world.”This was not an irritation against something touching on a nationalist nerve. It
- Published in Politics
Ineffective Turkish opposition: reality or urban legend?
12 April 2021, Monday
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu appeared last week on Global TV, with host Buket Aydın, who had ironically laughed during an interview on Kanal D, another private broadcaster, in 2019 when the main opposition leader claimed that his party would win the mayor seats in major big cities. The CHP actually won the
- Published in Politics
EU can’t tame Turkey’s policy by ignoring democratic deficit
05 April 2021, Monday
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has partially blocked Turkey’s accession negotiations in mid-2000’s arguing Turkey had no place within the European Union (EU). In a recent televised interview on March 24, Sarkozy said he objected to Turkey’s membership, as the country with a more than 80 million population would have divided Europe from within. “Who
- Published in Politics
Erdoğan: Main opposition is behind the admirals’ statement
05 April 2021, Monday
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed 104 retired admirals’ a joint statement against a recent debate on Turkey’s retreat from the Montreux Convention that regulates sovereignty rights of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, saying that some of the signatories are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). “You will see it soon on
- Published in Politics
Turkey rolls into yet another coup debate out of the blue
04 April 2021, Sunday
A joint statement of 126 retired ambassadors, a previously published text that opposed the possibility of annulment of the 1936 Montreux Convention on the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, popped up in Turkey’s agenda. Then came the joint declaration of 103 retired admirals. The government did not respond strongly to the statement of the retired ambassadors.
- Published in Politics
Pandemic hits Erdoğan’s Turkey again but not only that
30 March 2021, Tuesday
Unfortunately, it’s not only the COVID19 pandemic that hit Turkey with its third wave as President Tayyip Erdoğan admitted in his March 29 statement. According to Erdoğan’s statement, now 58 out of 81 Turkish provinces where 80 percent of the population live are at the “very high risk” level. Despite telling people to obey the
- Published in Politics
Pros and cons of EU’s ‘conditional’ statement on Turkey
26 March 2021, Friday
An official statement after the European Union leaders’ summit on March 25 used an optimistic but conditional language over Turkey, with the Turkish foreign ministry responding to it in a similarly welcoming and still cautious manner. However, the EU statement is also interpreted as a text that actually confirms the continuation of the distance between
- Published in Politics