"You have to hand it to the Turks
You have to hand it to the Turks
By Patricia H. Kushlis
At least the Turkish Government is trying to bring about a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Syrians – or at least prevent another hot war from breaking out to its south on some not-to-distant broiling summer’s day.
Sure, it’s in the Turkish interest to see that neighborhood quarrels are patched up – or the protagonists, at minimum, kept under wraps. The Ottomans, the ancestors of today’s Turks, controlled this region until less than a century ago and understood its fractious peoples and their needs all too well.
In the case of the Israelis and the Syrians, the Turks retain good enough relationships and leverage with both to bring them to the negotiating table – or more accurately to mediate between them indirectly after eight years of a void. And to do so secretly out of the media’s glaring eye. This is all to the good.
Multidimensional Turkish foreign policy
Sylvia TİRYAKİTURKEY’S PUBLIC PROSECUTOR LAMBASTS EU, U.S. OVER AKP CLOSURE CASE - Eurasia Daily Monitor
By Gareth JenkinsOn May 30 Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya presented his response to the initial defense of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) against the application for the party’s closure which he originally he filed with the Constitutional Court on March 14 (see EDM, March 17)."
Turkish ruling party to present defence in 10 days: report
ISTANBUL: Turkey’s ruling AK Party will present its second defence within 10 days in a court case brought by a prosecutor seeking its closure for anti-secular activities, a senior AK Party source was reported as saying.Turkish financial markets are closely watching the case, fearing months of political instability could hurt the economy."
Click CHP | Republican People's Party
And the web site even has a section in English. Do not... repeat, do not click. You will only find a note that says "YAPIM AŞAMASINDADIR...". They can not even say "Under Construction". it is common knowledge that the oppositon party is not very technologically up to date and historically confused.Turkish Neo-Nationalists and Their Neocon Back Door To the US Administration
The details in this article might be a bit too heady for those not familiar with the issues and the personalities, and I am not vouching for accuracy, but the article makes intriguing allegations about links between Turkish neo-nationalists (”ulusalcis”) and US neo-conservatives (”neocons”), like Michael Rubin and Daniel Pipes, through them gaining access through the back door to the US administration and convincing it to favor ties to the Turkish military over the elected AKP government. Neo-nationalists are in favor of using any means necessary — including military intervention — to remove Islamic influence from Turkish politics and public life. Neo-nationalists are against the introduction of liberal values because these would lead to further undermining of “Turkish” values and, by giving minorities rights, would assist them in undermining the state. They also generally are against joining the EU and tend toward xenophobia and authoritarianism. (The article mentions the newspaper Cumhuriyet as a prime mouthpiece for the ulusalcis.) I particularly like the reference to the aestheticization of violence, which is something I have written about on this blog — the role of violence, masculinity and honor in imprinting national(ist) feeling.
Here is an interesting excerpt:
Why would Gündüz Aktan,Turks uneasy over head-scarf debate -- Court Administration -- baltimoresun.com
Will hangmen of dignity blush?
Turkey has been unsettled for days because of a scandal generated by Önder Sav, the secretary-general of the Republican People's Party (CHP). The negative words he uttered against the Prophet of Muslims and the Muslim pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, were his own fault.CHP's Sav fails to hang up the phone
The veil of secrecy over reported eavesdropping on the secretary general of the main opposition party has been lifted, revealing an answer that will surprise many who spent the week puzzling overWhat is at stake: secularism?
Authoritarian groups with bureaucratic and civilian elements have been trying to prepare the grounds for a military move to remove the civilian government and abolish the elected Parliament. They long for a repetition of the military coup of May 27, 1960.Isn’t there a problem of religious freedom for Muslims? by MUSTAFA ŞENTOP
The discussion that began following remarks by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on the religious freedoms of Muslims in Turkey is a healthy and necessary one.[LETTER TO THE EDITOR] The impossibility of a Turkish Islamic theocracy
The rhetoric that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has designs to subversively transform Turkey into another post-Islamic revolution Iran has reached an insufferable pitch.New plot
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is being accused of having a justice and a high-ranking official from the opposition wiretapped although it should be busy defending itself in a case to shut it down.Not an end, a beginning
The chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals wrote in his indictment on the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) accusing it of aiming to establish a state based on Shariah law.Slandering Babacan or pillars of faith?
The speech delivered by Ali Babacan in the European Parliament allegedly proves that he aims for the establishment of a Shariah state, according to some.CHP suffering from lack of credibility
Recent allegations by the Republican People's Party's (CHP) that the telephone of its secretary-general had been wiretapped by the state's secret service and the content of the conversations disclosed to the daily Vakit were proven false by phone records.Trade isolates the PKK | openDemocracy
Nikolaj NielsenTurkey and Iraq's Kurds discuss bilateral trade agreements to develop Kurdistan. A car bomb detonates outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad. The UN Security Council is on a ten-day tour of Africa. The normally reclusive Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, holds a press conference. And much more in today's security briefings."
