The protests that erupted in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in late May and then spread across the country marked a watershed in Turkish politics. The protests aimed to stop the cutting of trees at Gezi Park, but quickly grew into mass demonstrations against the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and most particularly against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [...] → Read the full article…
Erdogan’s Islamist government accused of exploiting religious divisions in Antakya, long renowned for its ethnic diversity By Constanze Letsche – ANTAKYA Nearly a quarter of the 2 million people who have fled the crisis in Syria – some 460,000 – have made their way into Turkey, the UN high commission for refugees announcedon Tuesday. While many find themselves at the [...] → Read the full article…
BURSA Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç asked a local singer not to sing the folk song “Vardar Ovası” because the song contained the word “rakı” in the lyrics in a meeting with the Bursa-based Balkan Immigrant’s Culture and Support Association, or Bal-Göç, on Aug. 9. A local folk singer, Fahriye Güney, asked Arınç for support to attend cultural events [...] → Read the full article…
A court arrested four suspects (including a policeman) for the willful murder of Ali Ismail Korkmaz, a Gezi Park protestors who died in the results of massive beating in Eskişehir province. By Beyza KURAL – Istanbul – BIA News Desk beyza@bianet.org A court arrested four suspects (including a policeman) who stood trial for the willful murder of Ali Ismail Korkmaz [...] → Read the full article…
By Yavuz Baydar Turkey needs freedom of expression more than ever. Erdoğan’s clampdown could stop dead our transition to a liberal democracy Last week I was fired from my job as independent ombudsman for the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah, following the censoring of my column. I had worked for the newspaper in this position since 2004. I had been hired [...] → Read the full article…
Edited by Jennifer Sills THE TURKISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (TTB) REPORTED THAT 8121 PEOPLE WERE OFFICIALLY admitted to hospitals resulting from police violence between 31 May and 26 June (1). This number includes 5 deaths, 61 life-threatening injuries, 104 head traumas, and 11 ophthalmic injuries, one of which led to loss of an eye due to shots of tear gas canisters from [...] → Read the full article…
ISTANBUL — THE protests that convulsed Istanbul and other Turkish cities last month exposed, among many other things, the shameful role of Turkey’s media conglomerates in subverting press freedom. As the social unrest reached a peak on May 31 with clashes between tear-gas-happy police officers and protesters spreading through the heart of the city, the lack of even minimal coverage [...] → Read the full article…
The recent uprisings in Turkey indicated a transformation of youth cynicism into a widespread protest against the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) government’s conservative and autocratic policies. This transformation demands a new way of thinking about youth and politics in the country. If nothing else, young people can no longer be easily characterized as politically apathetic. In June 2013, Turkey [...] → Read the full article…
Haydar Tunç, who is the father of Hasan Tunç who is 20 years old and one of the arrestees of Gezi resistance, believes his son was arrested to take revenge due to the Taksim Gezi Park actions. Tunç stated: “This process is not an organizational operation process. My child is a member of a legally acknowledged party. Being a member [...] → Read the full article…
Neoliberalism, Illegality, and State of Exception in Turkey The Gezi Park protests, and the state response to them, have crystallized larger dynamics in Turkey. These include recent legal changes and their contribution to the institutionalization of neoliberalism, centralization of powers, allegations of cronyism, authoritarianism, and encroachment on professional independence and labor rights. Overall, these protests offer a valuable opportunity to [...] → Read the full article…