Erkan's field diary

An open letter to the leaders of the Socialist International

Dear leaders of the Socialist International,
When you convene the 23rd Congress of the Socialist International early next week in Athens, Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP) will be one of the participants and its leader, Deniz Baykal, will take an honored place at the presidium as one of its vice presidents.

Turkey turns away from the future

The coexistence of an old, secularist elite and the Islamic-rooted ruling party has reached the end of its life cycle, writes Cengiz Aktar

We have a newly born trauma

Even Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy leader Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat himself might not have predicted that the remarks he recently made to The New York Times about the revolutions of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the nation's founder, would occupy the agenda so much and make him the target of harsh criticism.

Coup obsession

The global political order that emerged in the aftermath of the post-Cold War era posed serious challenges for the army and the judiciary, which viewed themselves as the owners of the regime in Turkey.

Roger Cohen: The Fight for Turkey - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

It’s easier to don a veil than take it off. Reversibility is not Islam’s forte.

Let’s talk Turkey. A war is on for the country’s soul and everyone should be watching because the little matter of Islam and democracy depends in large measure on its outcome."

COMMENT: If Turkey's ruling AKP is shut down, what will happen then?

Ozgur Altug of Raymond James Securities
June 24, 2008

We thought there was a more than 50% probability of a closure verdict from the Turkey's Constitutional Court on the ruling AK Party. However, after seeing the May verdict on the constitutional amendment on the headscarf, we increased our probability assessment to 80% for a closure verdict, despite the fact that both cases are different. In our view, this scenario is more or less expected in the market now."

Yusuf Kanlı: An important meeting

Can there be anything abnormal if the prime minister of the country and the Land Forces commander – who is slated to become the new chief of General Staff in few weeks time – meet to discuss “separatist terrorism” and “some issues that came on the agenda (of the country) lately?” Such meetings, under normal circumstances, must be considered rather normal and indeed a requirement for the better functioning of the state, achieving better coordination of the “anti-terrorism” and “security” policies of the civilian administration and the military “under its command…”The meeting of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Land Forces Commander Gen. İlker Başbuğ on Tuesday evening, however,

If only Terim had a similar plan

By MUSTAFA KARAALİOĞLU, STAR

If only the technical director of the Turkish national football team, Fatih Terim, had an action plan in his hands like the military's "Plan of Action for Information Support Activities" revealed recently by the Taraf daily, we would have no more need for last-minute miracles in our matches.

Freedom of expression and AK Party’s Fırat

Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, a senior Justice and Development Party (AK Party) official, came under fire from staunchly secular circles over remarks he made to The New York Times, published in its Sunday edition. "Turkish society has been traumatized.

When will true democracy arrive? by ÜMİT KARDAŞ

The action plans of the General Staff -- Information Support Plan and Information Support Plan Activity Table -- headlined by the Taraf daily on June 20 are terrifying.

Prosecutor delivers verbal statement in DTP case

The chief prosecutor yesterday delivered a verbal statement before the Constitutional Court to shut down the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, on charges of separatism.

Socialist International crunch for CHP leader

Whether the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, is "socialist enough" to be involved with the Socialist International, or SI, has been the topic of much debate both at home and abroad

Top general silent on Fırat's trauma

Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt yesterday declined to comment on a controversial statement made by the ruling party's number two, Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, over Atatürk's

The 'progressives' against democracy

Oral ÇALIŞLAR

Yusuf Kanlı: Trauma...

Definitely, there is a trauma… What is that trauma? Who suffered what trauma? How intense was it? These and such questions may find different answers depending on whom they are addressed to.Including this writer, many people believe that Turkey has been traumatized over the past two decades because of the separatist Kurdish terrorism, which could not have continued for so long if this menace had not been sheltered, tolerated, and directly and indirectly supported by some of our neighbors and so-called allies. Leaving this trauma behind, of course, requires intense efforts and a sincere drive toward national reconciliation, which has to include some bitter pills such as a

Trauma

By TAHA AKYOL, MİLLİYET

I find Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat's words, which have "traumatized" large sections of society, wrong. It is not that revolutions do not have a traumatic effect on society, but Fırat's assertions are entirely fabricated.

MHP leader Bahçeli’s illusion

By ŞAMİL TAYYAR, STAR

Judging from the speech made by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli yesterday before his parliamentary group, it appears that Turkey really is heading straight into a regime crisis.

Mental fatigue

The mental fatigue that Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, the deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is apparently suffering from as evidenced by his remark to the New York Times that the republican reforms “have traumatized the Turkish society” might indeed be a minor disorder compared to the much serious anomaly produced by the 9/11 attacks on the psychology and mindset of the administrators of the sole superpower of the world, the United States. Not only the administrators of the United States, but apparently executives of many other Christian nations have become victims of the same anomaly as they produced a rather awkward and rather dangerous perception of Islam and

Our 'hearts and minds' issues

Cengiz ÇANDAR

Abusing Atatürk and his revolutions

A flurry of debates sparked by remarks made by Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy leader Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat to The New York Times about the traumatizing effect of the revolutions of the 1920s on Turkish society continues to occupy newspaper columns, with writers critically examining Fırat's remarks and the criticism directed against him.