"Who won 2007?
Who won 2007? by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE
I titled my article as such in order to make a brief assessment of 2007, considering how we are about to enter 2008.
Imam: "C'mon, come join us too..."
"The [Turkish] Government plans for imams to convince [PKK] terrorists to come down from the mountains"
Source: Milliyet, Turkey, December 26, 2007 VIA
Democratic civilian operation
It is now time for a “democratic civil operation” because no military operation alone is sufficient to bring anything to a conclusion, regardless of its success.It would be a waste to miss this opportunity
Since the very beginning there were signs that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government wanted to handle the Kurdish problem at hand in a more comprehensive and solid manner.US-Kurdish Relations in Post-Invasion Iraq
Events are not related to each other, says Istanbul governor
Acts of arson were committed again in different neighborhoods of Istanbul Wednesday night. In a press release Wednesday Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler said it has not been provenErdoğan furious at bargain allegations
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late Wednesday dismissed claims that he has promised amnesty to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in return for the support of theDTP can participate in local elections, top court says
Turkey's top court gave a green light to the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) to participate in the upcoming local elections although the party is on trial and facing the risk of closure,US and Turkey need to overcome mutual suspicion, says Lesser
Few policy analysts would deny that these are difficult times for Turkey and for US-Turkish relations, traditionally dubbed "a strategic partnership" in a traditionally troubled region. Hitting the Kurds from All Sides - TIME
Spring mood in relations with the US
The unpleasantness that has marked Turkish-American relations for a few years is again turning into a “spring mood” due to cooperation with the US over the struggle with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).DTP’s narrowing scope leads to a dead end
Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies, who have never dropped off the agenda since they made it into Parliament in the July 22 elections, announced that they were contemplating measures to stop the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) from carrying out operations against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camps in northern Iraq and even act as live shields to stop the operations.What happened when the government could not be provoked?
Starting even before the July 22 elections, the opposition parties and those who sought to pull the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) into the quagmire of northern Iraq have tried to provoke the government to order a “comprehensive military operation.”500,000 Turks at 'hunger line'
As the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government announces the new minimum wage, Turkey's grim economic reality is reflected on a recent study by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). The institute announced that more than half a million people live under the “hunger line,”Crossing the line
The images stand in sharp contrast: on the one hand, an increasingly prosperous Turkey, benefiting from strong inflows of foreign capital, regularly inaugurating new shopping malls where consumers can spend their share of the country’s growing gross domestic product (GDP); on the other, the more sobering picture offered by the “2006 Poverty Study” recently released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), which highlights the plight of nearly 13 million people living below the poverty line and more than half a million actually going hungry.After the operation
A Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) air operation directed at the Kandil Mountains and a series of small ground operations that followed, most of which were inside Turkey’s borders, were first met with newspaper headlines that spoke to our national pride, but followed with rather conscientious new analyses in the immediate aftermath.Turkey hits terrorist targets in Iraq -- what now? by O. FARUK LOĞOĞLU
Dec. 16 will be a date to remember. That night Turkish air force jets hit selected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq in a complex and large-scale operation. Pressure of the majority?
Behind the civilian and intellectual opposition that has been addressed to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for a while lies the concern of “despotism of the majority.”Judiciary, becoming a political weapon?
In Turkey there is a dangerous new tendency toward politicization in the judiciary.The future of the Kurds is the future of the Middle East
Damla ARASThe 30th Kurdish uprising
Burak BEKDİLYusuf Kanlı: Democracy and terrorism
For success against terrorism there has to be a full understanding among the international community of what is and what is not terrorism. Resorting to violence for the promotion of any aim – with the exclusion of the sacred right to resist a foreign occupation – is nothing less than terrorism. The “My terrorist, your freedom fighter” understanding, or the lack of understanding of the menace all of humanity faces, has to be abandoned. Unfortunately, the reluctance of the international community to come up with a common definition of terrorism and the covert or implied legitimization of some terrorist gangs – with reference to terrorists by terminologies such as “freedom fighters” defending2007 saw PKK's return to the scene
Mehmet Ali BirandBarzani’s mistaken calculation
It is obvious that there is a relation between the anger the leader of the Kurdish regional administration, Massoud Barzani, has been addressing to Turkey recently, and his own serious political mistakes.How will 2007 be remembered?
I looked at my journal to see what I wrote last year. I said that 2007 would be the “test year for politics and democracy.” I also underlined that not only political institutions but everyone was going to take this test.Press Roundup
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi. She had returned to Pakistan in October to make a political comeback after eight years of exile. Bhutto’s slaying put Jan. 8 polls in doubt and sparked wide conflict in Pakistan.Turkish Press Scanner
SABAH Sad departure of a Turkey loving US national U.S. citizen Robert Johnson, who settled in Turkey 11 years ago, is returning to his country because of bureaucratic obstacles against his company and police's treatment of him as a missionary, reported daily Sabah yesterday. The Turkey adventure of Johnson started with his position as a lecturer at the Middle East Technical University (METU). Johnson and his family later settled in Ereğli (Heraclea Pontica), a city in Zonguldak province. Johnson established a translation company and undertook many well-known Turkish companies' works. However, the Labor Ministry granted him a one-year work permit only. After the miniPress Roundup
President Abdullah Gül helps Professor H.C. Onur, who received a Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) science award on Wednesday, return to his seat after presenting him with the award.