Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) is accompanied by top military officials as he attends an official ceremony to mark the 85th anniversary of Republic Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of secular Turkey, in Ankara October 29, 2008. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY)
AKP’s Paternalism And Hierarchy, Not Conservatism, Is The Problem
Turkey needs an urban, secular and liberal political movement that can successfully utilize the inherent potential of society to complete the modernization process while addressing the Kurdish and secularist-anti-secularist clash, according to Dutch historian and Turkey expert Erik Jan Zürcher.
Turkish republican concept hinders the flourishing of democracy
Turkey celebrated yesterday the 85th year of the establishment of the republic, founded in 1923 out of the ruins of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire.
Republic and armed forces
On the 85th anniversary of establishment of the republic, Turkey has only one problem: crowning the republic with democracy.
Turkish Courts Try Shadowy Military Group
The ongoing Ergenekon hearings would make good satire if the shadowy organization weren’t a serious challenge to the nation’s democracy.
GENERALS IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE ARE HARMING THE AKP – Eurasia Daily Monitor
General Staff’s Aktütün explanation not satisfactory
The General Staff, which has recently been the target of harsh media criticism for having failed to prevent a deadly terrorist attack on a military outpost in eastern Turkey which left 17 soldiers dead, responded to the accusations on Monday.
Who supports what in Turkey?
Is there anyone in Turkey who does not support democracy, human rights, freedoms and the supremacy of law? I suppose not — at least not in general.
Does Tayyip feel lucky?
“ I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did the lira go down six points or up five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this market confusion I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a global crisis, the most powerful one in the world, and could blow your party’s chances clean away at the next election, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”
Turkey longs for a republic crowned with democracy
The 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic, which was marked with celebrations across the country yesterday, led many to question the course of development taken by the republic and discuss its shortcomings, in addition to its achievements.
Like a scene from a Mel Brooks movie
Turkish gendarme soldiers prepare to change shifts with their colleagues as they walk in front of Silivri prison, some 70 km (43 miles) west of Istanbul, during the trial of the shadowy-right wing group Ergenekon October 27, 2008. The trial of Ergenekon resumed with 86 defendants, including former army officers, politicians, and journalists, accused of plotting assassinations and bombings to spark a military coup against the government. REUTERS/Osman OrsalEymür: Deniz Feneri case retaliation for Ergenekon probe
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
‘I support neo-Eurasianism, not Ergenekon,’ says Dugin
Today’s Zaman,
Turkey’s Islamic democrats , Max Farrar
A week in Istanbul can hardly fail to be an enriching experience for the intellectually curious visitor – even more when this great city, and Turkey generally, is at the heart of so many of the world’s shaping concerns of faith and politics. This was certainly the case for me, when I stayed in Istanbul as a guest of the London-based Dialogue Society which supports the ideas and aims of the influential Islamic thinker Fethullah Gülen.
Has Erdoğan turned Kurdish problem over to Turkish military?
Governments are responsible not only for fighting against terror but also for leading the nation within the guidelines of democracy and for keeping demands from security institutions within these guidelines.
The republic, or a republican supporter?
Of course, everyone is capable of putting the focus on a different aspect of it. … But since it’s the 85th year, let me finally say it: The republic is actually the sense of justice.
Is the court a council of the republic?
The reasons given by the Constitutional Court for its decision regarding the headscarf ban really work to convey the sense that in Turkey we have passed through the concepts of rights, justice and democracy, and moved on instead to a different sort of state.
What do streets of the Southeast tell us? by BEJAN MATUR
< p class="author"> In Op-Ed
At the entrance of some Democratic Society Party (DTP) buildings in the Southeast, you can see an inscription saying, "What have you done for the people today?"
Counterterrorism policies as a vicious circle by EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ
Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ briefed Cabinet members about recent developments in terrorism on Monday.
At the age of 85, a weary, nervous, troubled republic
Few, if any, would successfully argue that the project — or experiment — staged 85 years ago in Ankara by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his associates has proven to be a total failure.
What to do with the Constitutional Court
Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno once noted that "in the wake of Auschwitz, writing poetry is barbarism."
Republican leap in Turkey’s economy
Despite the several economic crises it has encountered, the Turkish Republic’s economy has grown 46.5-fold in the 85 years since its inception.
Turkey’s gross domestic product, or GDP, was $16.8 billion, in today’s money, when the Republic was founded in 1923. By the end of this year it is expected to reach $779.4 billion.
In 1923, per capita national income was $45.3, which would amount to $1,344 today. The figure is now likely to reach $10,913, an increase in over 800 percent in 85 years.
Over the period, the country’s population rose more than five-fold, from nearly 12.5 million to more than 71.4 million people. The average growth rate over this time was 4.62 percent.
Urban, secular, liberal movement needed
EZGİ BAŞARAN
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet
Turkey needs an urban, secular and liberal political movement that can successfully utilize the inherent potential of society to complete the modernization process while addressing the Kurdish and secularist-anti-secularist clash, according to Dutch historian and Turkey expert Erik Jan Zürcher. "
The republic’s direction
It’s the Republic’s birthday today. It was born 85 years ago out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. To turn Turkey into a modern, western nation state, that was Atatürk’s aim, and that’s what he accomplished. For days now, there have been banners over the streets and on bridges, wishing people a happy ‘cumhuriyet
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