For what it is worth, the CHP-led National Alliance was an exemplary political experiment. Today, Meral Akşener broke ranks with five other opposition parties that formed “Table of Six” on March 3 and said her party would not support main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the joint candidate. She stated that her party wanted CHP Istanbul Mayor (İBB) Ekrem İmamoğlu or … Read more
Ex-Grey Wolves leader, Sinan Ateş, was assassinated in Ankara a few days ago. Sinan Ateş, the ex-president of Grey Wolves, a far-right paramilitary organization and political movement affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was killed in Ankara on Friday (December 30). I learned about him only 5-6 days ago while checking out my Tiktok timeline. … Read more
A former professor of mine asked me my opinion about an opinion piece at Washington Post. This helped to think about the Imamoğlu case. The trial is a political one and in the long run, those who are responsible will be ashamed of this sentencing. However, I do not share the logic that this will … Read more
Many friends, colleagues, and journalists have already criticized the new law. Without much repetition, I have four points to make: 1- The ruling party’s plans to colonize social media/ to build hegemony over social media failed. Political trolls and various types of intimidation did not work in general. Despite owning nearly 90 percent of legacy … Read more
Visa issues are a mess. The rejection rates increased. There are, of course, abusers, but many who have legitimate reasons are also victims of Western consulates’ new visa policies. Before rejecting, we need to collect many personal documents, and we need to get an appointment, which may take months. Then comes the rejection. It is … Read more
This image from his campaign bus triggered understandable reactions in the opposition. Some of the columnists in this photo helped build up an autocratic regime and had never really apologized for that. Although İmamoğlu triggered hopes for the future and his win in İstanbul is a plus, he is too ambitious and reminds me of … Read more
Worker’s Party of Labor organized a meeting in which delegates from all over Turkey attended. It has the potential to mobilize some younger citizens. I believe their energy is good for the Turkish opposition. I have many reservations and I do not believe they can not get more than 1% but they are providing legitimacy … Read more
David Selim Sayers has recently penned a very long and detailed piece entitled as The Real Academy in Exile He is one of the Peace Academics but he did not join the more organizational dimensions of the movement such as joining the core mailing lists etc. The whole issue started after his application for a … Read more
The US has failed its allies once again. The ways it chooses its allies are problematic, the way it makes decisions are problematic. I do not categorically think the US was wrong to retreat from Afghanistan. But only the fools in the decision-making process of this hasty retreat could not see what would happen. I … Read more
Twitter, Pinterest face ad ban in Turkey under new social media law Al-Monitor Twitter, Pinterest face ad ban in Turkey under new social media law Al-Monitor Erkan Saka, an associate professor of journalism and media studies at Istanbul Bilgi University, said Facebook’s decision was likely made to protect its “relatively good” advertisement revenue in Turkey. “This all … Read more
It is sad to watch the news. I graduated from Boğaziçi University (Sociology BA and MA). The university had a tradition of electing its presidents. Erdoğan killed that before by appointing a professor who was not even in the election instead of a person who got more than 80% of the votes. This time Erdoğan … Read more
Facebook surprised many of us by deciding not to appoint a representative in Turkey. It had its quite reasonable reasons. They do not want to escalate tension with the Turkish government but they had no choice. In the meantime, I heard some admins in Turkey’s Google businesses do not take the law seriously and due … Read more
For three days, Turkish leadership promised the news of a miracle. But the news was partially leaked. It would be something about a natural gas discovery in the Black Sea. However, the leaked amount was too big, and when Erdoğan stated a smaller amount even some pro-AKP citizens were disappointed. Three takes from today’s media … Read more
I saw this at Engin Önder’s tweet. Google News Initiative funded a project proposal from Demirören Media Group (DMG) This staunchly Erdoğanist group is Turkey’s predominant media group. Doğan Media Group was sort of forced to sell its media holdings to this group. Doğan Media Group had maintained its professionalism to some extent. However, Demirören … Read more
If you search “HDP and mothers” in Google News you will reach a bunch of news and commentaries on the first page all from the pro-government media. It probably started with a sincere mother, but it was quickly appropriated by the government circles and trolls to encourage more mothers to participate (More mothers join protest at HDP office … Read more