The AKP, Turkey, and Kobanê: The Enemy of my Enemy is also my Enemy

US B1 bomber conducting airstrikes over Syria

   by  DVIDSHUB 

Anyone such as myself who follows developments from the Middle East is rarely, if ever, bored.  But the recent months have been both gripping and horrifying at the same time, thanks to a new calamity.  No, I’m not talking about the Ebola outbreak that seems poised to spread beyond Africa, but rather an unnatural pestilence that now plagues Iraq and Syria, and seems hell-bent on spreading further.  I’m speaking of course of the pseudo-religious savages of the so-called Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS or ISIL.  IS has been at the forefront of many peoples’ minds, particularly in recent weeks as a result of the heavy fighting in the largely Kurdish Syrian border town of Kobanê (also known as Ayn al-Arab).

Pride Goeth Before a Fall: Why the AKP Could Be Its Own Worst Enemy (Part II)

In my last article, I suggested that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP’s most recent electoral success in the first-ever presidential elections could actually represent the beginning of a period where the AKP turns on itself, with chaos ensuing afterward.  Though it seems unlikely, in the 19 days since the election, there have been subtle and not-so-subtle signs of just that, especially to a trained cynical Turkish eye.

So let’s get down to business.  Logically, there are three potential fracture points within the AKP: the Abdullah Gül-Erdoğan divide; the old guard-new blood divide; and the Erdoğan-Davutoğlu divide.

Pride Goeth Before a Fall: Why the AKP Could Be Its Own Worst Enemy (Part I)

A citizen who voted in the 2014 Turkish presidential election in Istanbul

Turkey’s recent presidential elections were mired in controversy, even by the routinely volatile and bordering on insane standards of Turkish politics.  Even its immediate aftermath didn’t escape controversy and allegations of foul play, which also marked the entire run-up to the election itself on August 10, 2014.  But now that the electioneering is coming to an end, it would appear that new battle lines are being drawn across the Turkish political landscape, even within the previously-thought-to-be-invulnerable AKP.

Showdown for Çankaya Palace: Round One

   by  openDemocracy 

A short while ago, polls opened once again in Turkey for the second time in 5 months.  This time, Turks will be casting their votes in probably one of the most important elections in Turkey’s recent history: the first ever election to choose a president for the country.

The Turkish presidency, traditionally a largely ceremonial position, had until now been a role filled by an individual appointed by the elected parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (TBMM) in Turkish, though this person held veto power over laws passed by the TBMM. In the past, the office of the president had acted as a check and balance on the authority of the TBMM.  This prevented any one party from amassing too much power, but also regularly created deadlocks in the passing of laws, thus hampering reforms.

When the AKP was elected in 2002, the tenuous balance that had existed previously was turned on its ear, with the party remaining solidly in power in the TBMM, and also holding the presidency through Abdullah Gül since 2007.  This allowed the AKP to pass laws and decrees to benefit itself and its supporters largely unimpeded by the opposition, particularly with once-independent government institutions like the judiciary falling under the party’s control one by one like dominoes.

Deciphering the Russian Bear: Reading the Tea Leaves (Part II)

EUROMAIDAN: Barricade with the protesters at Hrushevskogo street on January 25, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.

   by  snamess 

As of the writing of this article, the conflict in Ukraine is entering a new and likely even more dangerous phase, both militarily and economically.  The now-mobilized Ukrainian military has begun turning the tide of war against the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.  With Ukrainian forces having recently recaptured the city of Slavyansk and who are now moving on the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk (the seat of the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic or DPR), the question on everyone’s mind is this: how will Russia react?

My Europe? Your Europe? Or OUR Europe?

As a Canadian born of Turkish parents who has studied and lived in Europe, I’ve started thinking of myself as a truly global citizen.  But I’ve also never forgotten that I am who I am because of those who raised me and where I was raised.  As I built a new life for myself at the heart of Europe in Brussels (though I have since returned to Canada), I often think about the experiences my parents must have lived through as immigrants to Canada from Turkey in the 1970s.  And, of course, I can’t help comparing their experiences in Canada, my own Canadian experience as the son of immigrants, and my new experiences in Belgium as someone who strove to become a new European of a Turkish-Canadian background.

   by  greensefa