AKP Congress: the mountain gave birth to a mouse
25 March 2021, Thursday
Expectations have been raised for weeks, even months, about Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) congress on March 24th. President and Party leader Tayyip Erdoğan would declare a manifest in the Congress. That would be a strategy for Turkey covering the year 2053; a roadmap for a new Turkey.It was the talk in Ankara
- Published in Politics
Turkish foreign policy: any need to be anti-Western?
25 March 2021, Thursday
The long-awaited meeting finally took place. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken got together on March 24, in Brussels, the premises of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting. This meeting constitutes the first high-level face-to-face contact between Turkey and the new US administration. Although all details are not clear yet,
- Published in Politics
Erdoğan back-pedals from reforms in rights, economy
20 March 2021, Saturday
The rumors that Turkey would withdraw from the Istanbul Convention against violence against women intensified late on March 19. Journalists worked until midnight but could get no answers to their questions, a sign that something bad was going on.The presidential decree on the Offical Gazette after midnight confirmed the rumors.But the leaked information did not
Cracks inside Erdoğan’s AKP, ahead of key congress
15 March 2021, Monday
The ruling Justice end Party (AKP) will gather on March 24 its general assembly and party congress, a key event in terms of President Tayyip Erdoğan’s political future and its People’s Alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). According to political backstage information, Erdoğan and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli have discussed scheduling the MHP congresses
- Published in Politics
US grants courage award to Turkish activist Güllü
09 March 2021, Tuesday
Canan Güllü, a prominent Turkish women rights activist, has been granted the “Women of Courage” by the Department of State of the U.S. “Canan has been a steadfast champion of gender equality, working to promote women’s participation in governance, labor force, and education,” the U.S. State Department said in a March 7 social media post
- Published in Politics
Erdoğan declares two-year human rights action plan
02 March 2021, Tuesday
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the government’s Human Rights Action Plan, which was prepared within the scope of a promised judicial reform package. The plan, which includes nine objectives, 50 targets and 393 activities, focuses heavily on legislative regulations, pledges improvements in a broad range of fields from freedom of expression to arrest procedures.
- Published in Politics
Babacan: Erdoğan may hold early election to extend term
15 October 2020, Thursday
President Tayyip Erdoğan and his election partner MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) leader Devlet Bahçeli reiterate that there will be no early elections. The election is expected to take place in June 2023. But DEVA Party leader Ali Babacan insists on the claim that Erdoğan will hold early elections. He even narrowed down his prediction from
- Published in Politics
Ankara is about to lose control over key issues
10 September 2020, Thursday
President Tayyip Erdoğan has been saying that everything is fine, but many key issues tend to get out of control. Let’s start listing the problems without further ado. Uncontrolled herd immunity 1- The coronavirus epidemic has spread again, starting to collapse the morale of society. The Covid-19 outbreak, which regressed due to restrictive -but not
Public diversion tactics in Turkey: the death penalty trap
07 September 2020, Monday
The demand for the reinstatement of the death penalty is too serious an issue to be called a diversion. And this time though, it hits the Turkish society on a particularly sensitive spot. Discussions of the death penalty are coming up just as an Islamist sect sheik got arrested on charges of sexually harassing the
- Published in Politics
Successor of Erdoğan? Albayrak, Soylu, someone else?
24 August 2020, Monday
While watching President Tayyip Erdoğan announcing at a ceremony the natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, I also had the impression that we are witnessing the ceremony for the announcement of a successor to him. Of course, neither Erdoğan is the sultan nor his son-in-law and Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak is the crown