Altan Tan: Kurds’ love affair with AK Party ending

by YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN

Kurdish intellectual and writer Altan Tan has said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is not the same AK Party that the Kurds fell in love with and that sooner or later there will be alternatives to it.

Turkish court rules first release in Ergenekon trial

A Turkish court ruled Tuesday for the release of a retired petty officer arrested and detained for 17 months in the Ergenekon case in which 86 people have been accused of membership to a group that allegedly plotted to overthrow Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government.

A New Turkish Idiom, "Ali Dibo" Professional Reference and Education Articles Directory: Free articles directory about reference and education ,you can submit

In the last several months a new term for ‘political favoritism’ has emerged in Turkey. The term is “Ali Dibo Şirketi” (Ali Dibo Business-Company) — or just plain “Ali Dibo” for short. And it refers to any company (usually a local municipal one) that ‘wins’ business contracts mainly because of its political ties to the ruling AKP political party."

Turkey sets upon a new track

Turkey silently entered on a new course at the weekend:Enis BERBEROĞLU

1) Turkey’s Kurdish politics will change due to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

2) The country’s economic parameters will be formed more clearly following the determination of the International Monetary Fund agreement which is agreed in principal."

Counter-Terrorism: The Turkish Old Boys Terrorist Network On Trial

Local elections in Turkey seen as a crossroads (SETimes.com)

A fierce battle for influence in Kurdish-dominated regions pits Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, which hopes for a strong reform mandate, against a party linked to PKK terrorists."

Candidates for Mayors and Municipal Councilors in Turkey must resign from state positions

Analysis: Turkey, a land of paradoxes – Middle East Times

By CLAUDE SALHANI (UPI Contributing Editor)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) — Turkey is a land of many paradoxes. While the Kemalist notions of secularism and the separation of mosque and state are taken seriously, at the same time the state provides funds for the building of mosques, keeps the Sunni clergy on the state’s payroll and allows school textbooks that teach that being a Sunni Muslim is part and parcel of the Turkish identity."

Why Atatürk Became a God

[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News] In recent years, the more moderate and reasonable Kemalists are asking themselves a curious question: How in the world has Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founder, who devoted himself to fighting "dogmatism" become a dogma himself? How has such a bold champion of "science and reason" turned into the symbol of a rigid, irrational, insensible ideology that impedes the country’s progress, including its candidacy for the European Union? Can Dündar, recently received the wrath of radical Kemalists because his documentary titled "Mustafa," was asking the same question last week in his column in daily Milliyet. Under the headline, "

A Heretical Idea: Atatürk is No God

[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News] Since its release on the anniversary of the Turkish Republic, Oct. 29, Turkey’s pundits have been hotly debating “Mustafa,” a documentary by Can Dündar, columnist for daily Milliyet and popular voice of the moderate left. The Mustafa in question is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founder, the film intends to show his “human side,” often neglected or even hidden in modern Turkey. If you know a little bit about this country, you can sense that Dündar’s idea was ambitious.

Turkish film "Mustafa" burned our fingers

I will not write anything about the content of the movie, ‘Mustafa’.Fatih ÇEKİRGE

Because it is not a documentary… So you cannot debate the details of story; it is Can’s interpretation.

It is for this reason that the question:

-Why is ‘Mustafa’ causing so much discussion, while many such films about this subject exist?"

Atatürk

by STAR ESER KARAKAŞ

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder of the republic and our first president. Taking Atatürk as a reference point at a time when our country’s EU membership is being discussed is ridiculous, but so is insulting and disrespecting his personality and memory in 2008.

Vecdi Gönül and the faint-hearted republic

The "wrong republic," the "second republic" and the "military republic" are among the adjectives used to describe to our current government style. If I were asked to provide one, I would suggest the "faint-hearted republic."

Accreditation practices threaten basic rights

It is customary practice, even in democracies, that media members close to the ruling party will have a more favored status in terms of access to good stories than journalists who are not sympathetic to the policies of the government.

Shift in AK Party caused by local elections

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) have been the subject of much criticism recently, as even the circles that supported him during his party’s fight for survival now complain that Erdoğan is reconciling with the status quo and abandoning his pro-reform, pro-democratic stance.

The Alevis and secularism

Last week several Alevi associations organ

ized a rally in Ankara at which thousands of people gathered and put forward their demands. What they want from the state is to be recognized as a separate religious sect with which, they expect, will come some advantages that are already enjoyed by Sunni Muslim groups.

Beginning of the end for AKP power?

Why have reforms stalled? What is happening to the AKP? Why do Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other AKP representatives use an increasingly nationalistic discourse? Is this the beginning of the end for AKP power? Such are questions I am frequently exposed to nowadays.

Dreaming of a pure nation-state

With statements he made during the Nov. 10 ceremonies held in memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Brussels, where he was attending an EU defense ministers’ troika meeting, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül became the top item on Turkey’s agenda last week, though he repeatedly tried to deny his assertions.

Mustafa, Hussein and Recep

This article is the first of a trilogy concerning three young men. The first is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. The second is Barack Hussein Obama, president-elect of the US, and the third is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the prime minister of Turkey.

Turkish Islamism’s complete transformation

I am in Washington, D.C., to present a paper at a conference, titled "Islam in the Age of Global Challenges: Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement," organized by Georgetown University and the Rumi Forum.

An open letter to the DTP

Dear Democratic Society Party (DTP) members and supporters,
Please take this open letter as an appeal from someone who wants to live in peace and democracy, who places importance on coexistence and who defends all kind of freedoms, including education in one’s mother tongue.

Turkish local elections — the countdown has begun

I do not fully understand comments in the Turkish media criticizing the current government for basically everything they do — or do not do.

The AK Party and local elections: Think twice

Local elections will be held in four months. I see these elections as a turning point for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party); in fact, not only for the AK Party, it will also be a turning point for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) as well as other political actors in the future.

To amend the Constitution

The fourth article of the Turkish Constitution makes the following explanation about the first three articles: These articles of the Constitution cannot be amended, and their amendment cannot even be proposed by a political party.

Prime Ministry under fire for accreditation move

Following the General Staff’s system of accreditation for journalists, which many have criticized for limiting freedom of the press in Turkey, the Prime Ministry’s recent move to revoke the press accreditation of seven journalists has brought freedom of the press into the spotlight in Turkey once again.

Accreditations, polarity, censorship and hypocrisy

"There have been statements by senior figures strongly criticizing the press, in particular following press reports on alleged corruption cases and the fight against terrorism. …

Accreditation shame and unprincipled acts

Journalism is a difficult profession in a democracy that is insufficiently mature. A journalist who struggles for more democracy and freedom has to fight constantly to overcome all sorts of anti-democratic obstacles.

Trying to understand the AK Party

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan got angry recently over criticism from columnist Fehmi Koru, who had said, "Erdoğan came into power like Obama, but came to resemble Bush."

Kurdish issue is deadlocked again

The Turkish political leadership has once again entered into a dangerous compromise with the politically powerful Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) over the Kurdish issue, despite past examples of pacts between the two having been proven to be failures.

The headscarf debate: lessons from France by EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ

Although it seems to have been buried, at least for now, the headscarf debate is one of the major political issues that need to be addressed in this country. In response to a question during his recent visit to Washington, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan complained about the assertive secularist attitude of the Constitutional Court, and the Republican People’s Party (CHP), for that matter.

The PKK as a risk for Kurdish nationalism by EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ

It appears that Kurdish intellectuals are trapped between the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and the state.
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The state’s Alevi impasse

by RADİKAL ORAL ÇALIŞLAR

The demand of some Alevis to close the Religious Affairs Directorate is viewed by some circles as extreme. Those who see these demands as extreme and impossible to comply with note that the directorate needs to be restructured.

The AK Party and social sympathy

by YENİ ŞAFAK FATMA K. BARBAROSOĞLU

People have been discussing Turkey’s recognition of the Kurdish identity, but it is not only an identity problem.

Local elections and northern Iraq

by STAR NASUHI GÜNGÖR

Turkey’s dialogue with northern Iraq is important and unique in many ways. First of all, it is based for the first time on a serious consensus among the state’s institutions.

TRT’s Kurdish channel

by MİLLİYET FİKRET BİLA

The Turkish Rad

io and Television Corporation (TRT), starting next year, will dedicate one channel for Kurdish broadcasts. It will provide at first 12 hours and later 24 hours a day of Kurdish broadcasting on its new eighth channel.

Constitutional change: Is now the time?

by BUGÜN GÜLAY GÖKTÜRK

The vast majority of us share the opinion that for as long as the Sept. 12 Constitution remains in place in this country, it will be impossible to form any sort of genuine democracy here.

Let’s listen to the Alevis

by SABAH NAZLI ILICAK

One of the demands made by the Alevis at the rally held on Sunday in the capital was for the elimination of mandatory religion lessons in schools.

[CROSS READER] Repercussions of remarks by defense minister on the ‘nation-state’

First Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on various occasions that those who do not like Turkey’s "one nation, one flag" structure can leave and go anywhere they like better.