Erdogan’s Islamist supporters sometimes suggest that he is on his way to declaring himself caliph. As the 100th anniversary of the caliphate’s abolition approaches, he may find this tempting; depending on whether he uses the Islamic or Christian calendar, that could happen, respectively, on March 10, 2021 or March 4, 2024. You read it here first.
A.A. and T.D., two teachers who were earlier dismissed from their posts as part of a post-coup crackdown on the Gülen movement, were taken into custody on Sunday at a school in Malatya where they stopped to cast their votes in a referendum on a switch to an executive presidency.
In Turkey, a national trauma has turned into a never-ending nightmare for hundreds of thousands of citizens. Erdogan aimed to root out all Gulen sympathizers and turn them into what one local columnist called “socially dead people.” The government’s crackdown has extended well beyond the Gulenists. Leftist activists, Kurdish politicians, and dissenting academics have all been targeted.
He has become a joke, albeit a dangerous one. He has become Muammar Qadhafi. Turkey is dangerously polarized. We know from Turkish political history that such polarization often leads to violence. I fear that Turkey is headed to a prolonged period of civil conflict if not civil war.
Rubin underlined that Turkey is already dangerously polarized prior to an April 16 referendum on a constitutional package that will grant sweeping powers to Erdoğan and switch the country to an executive presidency. “We know from Turkish political history that such polarization often leads to violence,” he said.
During the past few months I interviewed scores of Turkish citizens who escaped from Turkey following the unsuccessful military coup, fearing for their lives. Many of them left their families behind. Although it has the potential of becoming a major player on the global stage, Turkey’s brilliant prospects are being squandered because of President Erdogan’s insatiable lust for power.
The Ufuk Dialogue Foundation is a platform where Christians and Muslims come together to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding and dialogue, especially between the two religions. This is because we believe that if we come together we can talk the talk and walk the walk.
Abdulhamit Bilici, March 16, 2012 If I were to touch on Turkey’s national agenda by discussing the recent successful trip made by President Abdullah Gül to Tunisia, my sense of disappointment would be great. As I tried to express in my recent column “Tunisia will be a model for Turkey,” the Tunisians, who only one […]
The Journal of Turkish Weekly Thursday, 15 March 2012 The 26th Abant Platform, which brings together high-profile intellectuals, journalists, legal experts and politicians, concluded on Sunday (March 11th) with a recommendation that Turkey’s Constitution recognise the right to education in languages other than Turkish. “Education in one’s mother tongue is an essential human right. The […]
Dr. Ihsan YILMAZ, 14 March 2012 One of the most hotly debated topics of the last Abant Platform was the Directorate of Religious Affairs. There are many sides to the issue. Those who do not care about religion call for the Directorate of Religious Affairs’ total abolishment. Some advocate maintaining the status quo. I understand […]
11 March 2012 / BÜŞRA ERDAL, ABANT The 26th meeting of the Abant Platform, which discussed problematic areas of the constitutional drafting process, suggested in its final declaration on Sunday regarding education being given in languages other than Turkish — one of the most contentious issues that needs to be addressed in the new constitution […]
MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK, March 12, 2012 This year’s Abant Platform, held from March 9 to 11 in the northwestern province of Bolu, tackled the pressing issue of shaping Turkey’s new constitution. A broad range of intellectuals, lawyers, political leaders and journalists discussed the problematic areas of the constitutional drafting process. The new constitution, about which […]
ABANT — Turkey has long been trying to rid itself of the remnants of the Constitution of 1982, which was the product of the military coup of September 12, 1980, as it goes through a process of confronting and settling accounts with military tutelage and coups. Bülent Keneş, Sunday March 11, 2012 Almost all political […]