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Turkey has been rattled by the news this week that about 50 military commanders were detained for allegedly planning a coup to overthrow the democratically elected Islamic-leaning government.
The commanders are accused of “attempting to remove the government through force and violence” in a supposed plot codenamed “Sledgehammer.” Alleged tactics include planting bombs at mosques and [...]

Following the recent developments in Turkey, the opposition parties have begun to put pressure on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to have an early election. The opposition parties realized that the failure of the Kurdish opening, TEKEL workers’ resistance, and the ongoing economic crisis has damaged the AKP and they are trying to benefit from the situation

The current Tekel and union movement is also up against a notoriously barbaric police force, which has unleashed violence and mayhem at regular intervals on peaceful demonstrations in Istanbul and around the country, most infamously at the annual May Day celebrations

Denied Support to the Refah Party (Welfare Party)

As far as we know, the origin of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey (AKP), is actually the Refah Party, who previously held the position. This political party was closed by the constitutional court on January 16, 1998, on grounds of being at the center of [...]

The silent attitude of the U.S. means that the plans laid out for Turkey constitute the priority right now. After every crisis with Israel, Turkey gains more and more trust in the area. Following the latest crisis, Al Akhbar , a newspaper in Lebanon, defined Erdogan as a padishah (Ottoman sultan )and stated that only Turkey can make Israel understand. But despite all these developments, strategically important areas still do not trust Turkey

In order to extinguish a fire, first you must prevent it from spreading to other areas. If we want to put out the flames of this fire, then the U.S. must conduct detailed investigations into their schools and recognize them as “a crime organization without guns” and freeze their assets. It would lead to the Gulen cult losing their financial power and an eventual collapse of the organization itself

The detention of human rights workers and elected officials for being part of an alleged “urban network” of an armed, militant group without any real proof except for speaking in parliaments and participating in film festivals, is an outright abuse of democracy and will undoubtedly stall the peace process in the region

When I was growing up, everything I heard from Diyarbakir involved death and tragedy. Turkish media has covered the conflict extensively through the years, but generally only from the Turkish military’s point of view. Visuals of crying mothers of dead soldiers, coffins and military funerals on the evening news often accompanied our family dinners. But I don’t remember ever seeing a crying Kurdish mother or anything about the other side of the story on the news. For many of us, Kurds were the enemy, the “Other” that existed to destroy the Turkish people and the nation

I think rather than going towards the East or West, Turkey is becoming more like itself. It is rediscovering its Ottoman past and coming to terms with its history and multiple identities. As long as Turkey remains democratic it will be Janus-faced, looking both to the Islamic world and Europe, just like the Ottoman Empire did for centuries

In that case, considering the already strained relations between the two “allied” nations, the question becomes, is the Turkish government interested in enlarging the rift between the two countries? And if so, what would this say about the future of the Middle East?

I think it’s a huge step forward to have a professional women’s football league in Turkey; after all, it has been established in so many European countries for many years. Girls playing football or lifting heavy weights are at the beginning of a long road to establish total equality for women and men in Turkey

In the aftermath of this horrid massacre, which has demonstrated this anachronistic feudal system in full-view, the AKP must be bold and eradicate these paramilitaries, which, in the absence of a real insurgency to police, have turned to everday criminality including bribery, extrajudicial murder and drug dealing