[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Turkey and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Turkey Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to turkey@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
English
Graft Crisis
Erdoğan Backtracks on Failed Policies (1)-(2) Cengiz Çandar criticizes Erdoğan, calling him “a shining example of metamorphosis—from an asset to a liability for Turkey."
Will Corruption Scandal Lead to Return of Military to Politics? (1)-(2)-(3) Orhan Kemal Cengiz comments on the tactics the government has developed against the graft probes in order to protect itself.
Rule of Law Casualty of AKP-Gülen Conflict Kadri Gürsel argues that “the Republic of Turkey has lost its qualifications to be a state following the rule of law.”
Erdoğan Takes on the Internet Semih İdiz writes about the government’s attempt to restrict public access to certain websites.
Masters of Chutzpa and Politics of Hostage Nuray Mert argues that “what we are witnessing nowadays deserves to be called a profound ‘scandal’ rather than political crises.”
Witch Hunt—In the Name of Who and What? “Turkey has gone through much, but has never before fallen into such madness,” Yavuz Baydar writes.
Communists in Cold War, Reactionaries in February 28 Coup and Gülenists in Erdoğan Era Hasan Cemal argues that "Gülenist" has become a fashionable tag these days.
Corruption in Turkey: The Arab Road The Economist contends that “the Arabs did not follow the Turkish path. Instead, Turkey has set off down the old Arab road to corruption and autocracy.”
Erdoğan's Arab Allies Disappointed Abdulrahman al-Rashed writes that Erdoğan's Arab allies are in trouble: “They are losing their beloved leader; Saddam left, Nasrallah disappointed them, and Mursi was ousted.”
Democracy's Pains “Disillusionment with political leaders is spreading across the globe,” Daron Acemoğlu and James Robinson write.
A Tale Two of Hojas, or, the Mendacity of Alternative Modernity A cartography blog reviews the links between Kemalist and Islamist modernities, citing the Gülen movement as an example.
Turkey’s Internal Strife Is Endangering External Security Firdevs Robinson argues that both the AKP and the Gülen Community are jeopardizing their reputation.
A Part-time Jihadist Burak Erdil comments on one of the slogans shouted at a public rally by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s supporters: “Jihadist Erdoğan.”
Graft Probe's Effects (1)-(2) Leyla Kemal speculates on the graft probe’s transatlantic and domestic effects: “if the government wins two big cities, it may go to early elections.”
Source and Limitations of AK Party's Power “How this crisis ends will be determined by the public's acceptance of the government's claim that there is a ‘parallel state,'” writes Doğu Ergil.
Both the Key and the Lock of the System at the Prosecutors İsmet Berkan looks at some juridical figures of Turkey.
Turkey’s Financial Practices Under Review At the 9 February meeting of the Financial Action Task Force, Turkey will most likely remain on the “gray list,” predicts Tülin Daloğlu.
Precious Isolation Yusuf Kanlı shares his impressions on The Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria.
Erdoğan After One-man Rule: CHP Leader Murat Yetkin reports on a press luncheon with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Spinning Stories Joost Lagendijk says that “since December 17, Turkey has become the stage on which a fierce media war is being fought.”
Beware of Self-destructive Turkish Propaganda (1)-(2) Mustafa Akyol advises all observers to follow the propaganda war with caution, and not to take its extravagant claims too seriously.
"Unripe" Democracy Those from Europe who look at Turkey should see the paradox in its true light, Etyen Mahçupyan suggests.
If Only You Knew What You Lost Ekrem Dumanlı, the CEO and Executive Editor-in-Chief of Zaman, compares the graft oppression to one that took place during the 28 February coup
A Major Scandal by the Mukhabarat State Bülent Keneş, the Editor-in-Chief of Todays’ Zaman, comments on the voice recordings of Fethullah Gülen posted recently on the Internet.
When Strange Winds Blow Apart from running for shelter, there is nothing left to do when strange winds blowing over Turkey are turning into storms, says Hüseyin Gülere.
Erdoğan Becomes a Liability (1)-(2) Abdullah Bozkurt says that “Turks have to prepare themselves for a long restoration period in the post-Erdoğan era.”
Hizmet, Erdoğan and the US Ali Aslan responds to the AKP government’s proponents who call the Gülen and the Hizmet movement the "manservants of the US.”
Corruption and Elections (1)-(2) Mümtazer Türköne argues that success in covering up corruption and success in elections are incompatible.
Turkey Must Defend its Democracy Against the Gülenists The Gülenists pose a greater threat than the politico-military elites, contends Osman Can.
The CHP, Hizmet Movement, and Elections Markar Esayan claims that the Hizmet movement has distanced itself from the AKP and has moved closer to the CHP.
Politics and the Judiciary Taha Özhan argues that “the police-prosecution-judiciary bonds must be severed in a way that would prevent them from colluding in the future.”
Kurdish Question
Intelligence Assessment Weakness at Uludere In relation to the Roboski (Uludere) massacre, “whatever comes next, the duty that falls on Turkey has not been lifted,” writes Sedat Ergin.
Settlement Process and Alevis Cafer Solgun emphasises that “above all, different ethnic, religious and cultural groups in this country need peace like they need water and air.”
Turkey, US Need to Change Policy Towards Syria’s Kurds According to Amberin Zaman, “there is absolutely no reason why Turkey and the Syrian Kurds cannot enjoy the same kind of strategic and economic ties that Turkey now has with Iraq’s Kurds.”
Other Pertinent Pieces
Istanbul's Skyline Betrayed Fehim Taştekin argues that a generation that professes to worship the Ottomans betrayed Istanbul by destroying its silhouette with high-rises.
Divine Wisdom Kaya Genç gets at the heart of the Hagia Sophia controversy.
Can Turkish Government Do More to Reduce Pedophilia? Pınar Tremblay writes that the death of another “child bride” has put the family and marriage policies of the AKP under scrutiny.
Why Turkey Is So Predominantly Urban, Male, and Western Güven Sak comments on a recent survey made by the Turkish Statistical Institution..
Turkey Shifts Toward Iran on Syria Ali Hashem claims that Turkey is resetting its relations with Iran, including over Syria.
Turkish
Graft Crisis
Kriz yeni bir devlet aklında mutabakat üretiyor Bekir Ağırdır points that the graft probes gave rise to a political crisis and constitutional crisis.
Iki nehrin arası bir yere dökülebilir mi? Cihan Tuğal argues that the Kurdish movement and the Gezi uprisings are caught between two rhetorics—"corruption" and "parallel state."
Galiba her şey daha yeni başlıyor Based on Fethullah Gülen’s newly published phone call records, Ruşen Çakır argues that the crisis is going to be more complicated.
Cemaat-hükümet savaşının küresel boyutu Ruşen Çakır comments on the differences between Erdoğan’s and Gülen’s approaches to Islamic world.
Paralel devlet: Yeni deli gömleği Nuray Mert argues that the "parallel state" is a new straightjacket of Turkish policy.
Şiddet ve kurban Nazan Üstündağ puts an emphasis on victimhood.
Iktidar, muhalefeti kriminalize etmeden degisime katmali Pınar Öğünç’s interview with political historian Mehmet Alkan, who discusses the historicity of the "parallel state."
Paralel evrende hayat var mı? Yalçın Doğan argues that the Gülen movement’s parallel organization is drawing negative reactions from society.
Kaset-war! Cüneyt Özdemir comments on "cassette wars" in the social media between the AKP government and the Gülen movement.
Yeni yol haritası Abdülkadir Selvi writes about Fethullah Gülen’s recently exposed recordings and argues that Gülen is more of a businessman than a religious leader.
'Devlet' ve 'siyaset' According to Samim Akgönül, the real war is to create a uniform society, but this political project is doomed to fail in Turkey.
Hırsız yargıyı çalıyor… Mehmet Altan argues that the jurisdiction does not function in the AKP’s "new Turkey."
Kimlik siyasetleri ve radikal demokrasi Erol Katırcıoğlu writes that the recent political and legal crises in Turkey may be read as prerequisites for a radical democracy.
Siyasi alana yönelik tehdit ve tehlike “Today’s crisis is the crisis of the ‘lack of democratic fabric’ in Turkey,” writes Ali Bayramoğlu.
Tayyip Erdoğan’la Abdullah Öcalan 17 Aralık’ın neresindeler? Hasan Cemal writes about Abdullah Öcalan’s approach to the graft probes.
Söz doğru, duruş yanlış… Delil Karakoçan argues that although the AKP’s rhetoric for the peace process is valuable, its policies and practices appear incompatible with those explanations.
Kriz ve duruş… According to Delil Karakoçan, the AKP and the Gülen movement both aim to "use" Kurds and make them a part of their own political plans.
Ocalan'in tavri net According to Oral Çalışlar, Abdullah Öcalan shares the idea that the 17 December operation was a coup attempt.
Arafta beklerken (kim kime mecbur?) Yücel Göktürk analyzes Öcalan’s last letter about the graft probes and the peace process.
Özerklik şartı: çekinceleri kaldırmanın tam zamanı… “Some global powers are trying their best to prevent an alliance between the AKP and the Kurdish movement,” Alper Görmüş argues.
Bu krizden nasıl çıkılabilir? (1)-(2) Murat Somer comments on alternative solutions to overcome the graft and parallel state crises.
Sade vatandaştan naçizane uyarılar Oya Baydar calls the government and opposition parties to solve graft crisis within using a democratic and transparent framework.
Seriksiz iktidar sirekti ve yakilacak kadilar Ali Topuz comments on the jurisdiction crisis caused by the AKP’s counter-attacks on judges involved in the graft investigations.
Siyasal İslam yönetemiyor According to Ergin Yıldızoğlu, political Islam cannot govern the capitalist state and it tries to solve problems with totalitarian methods.
Yetişin darbe yapacaklar! Hayko Bağdat ridicules the "coup allegations."
Cemaat-AKP catismasi: İktidar için bir devrin sonu mu? Ömer Laçiner’s article analyzes the AKP’s policies and the political implications of the graft wars.
"Darbe"—muharref bir kavram According to Ozan Utku, “to use ‘coup’ as an explanation for the graft probes is a symptom of the AKP’s problematic power.”
Meo Voto: Türkiye'nin karanlık gündemi Mithat Sancar analyzes the graft crisis in Turkey.
Yeni Osmanlıcılık-yeni İttihatçılık (1)-(2) Ali Bulaç writes about the state tradition in the Ottoman Empire and comments on the “new Ottomanism."
Neden Cemaat kazanır? Mücahit Bilici argues that it is very likely for the Gülen community to win this power struggle, since it fights in a moral realm.
Yolsuzlugun icadi: 1840 ceza kanunu, iktidar ve burokrasi Cengiz Kırlı’s article historicizes corruption and connects it to law, power, and bureaucracy.
Anniversary of the Dink Murder
Dink ailesinin avukatı Fethiye Çetin: MİT'teki infaz kodu 80-85'ti An interviewed with Hrant Dink's lawyer, Fethiye Çetin, who comments on the recent legal process and the trial.
Gülten Kaya: Nizami bir cinayet işlediler This year Hrant Dink’s commemoration speech was given by Ahmet Kaya's wife Gülten Kaya.
Rober Koptaş: Devletten hiçbir adalet beklentimiz yok Rober Koptaş, the editor-in-chief of Agos, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper, comments on the seventh anniversary of Dink’s murder.
Mutabakat dağılırken Dink davası An interview with journalists Nedim Şener and Yavuz Arslan about the graft probes and the anniversary of Hrant Dink murder.
Other Pertinent Pieces
İzlenimler II: Wacquant’a göre gezi isyanı A voice recording of Loic Wacquant’s talk in Boğaziçi University, on “Inequality in the City, Marginality, and Social Injustice,” followed by Emrah Göker’s response to Wacquant’s talk.
'Kırmızılı kadın' Radikal için yazdı: O polisin yargılanması yetmez The “woman in red,” the icon of the Gezi uprising, argues that it is not enough to punish only one police officer.
Başörtülü Bülent Ersoy ve Müslüman LGBTI varoluş Şebnem Keniş writes about being a Muslim LGBTI individual in Turkey.
Published on Jadaliyya
From Oriental Nightingales to Peace Pigeons
The Not-So-Tangled Web of Tear Gas Manufacturers
Proverbs, Politics, and Paris: An Interview with Nancy Kricorian
Ismail Besikci and the Reality of Kurdistan
Towards the End of a Dream? The Erdoğan-Gülen Fallout and Islamic Liberalism’s Descent