Tag Archives: PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The New York Times: Rights Groups Accuse Turkish Police of Excessive Force Against Protesters

Turkish riot squads fired enormous amounts of tear gas, often at close range in confined spaces, and used other types of disproportionate force in their tactics to crush the antigovernment protests that erupted last month in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities, an alliance of international medical rights groups said in a report released Friday. The report, which cast a new [...] → Read the full article…

Jadaliyya: The spring of Turkey, the fall of Erdogan

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s insistence on demolishing Gezi Park and building a shopping mall on it was only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the causes behind the demonstrations that have shaken Turkey. The real reason is composed of three elements: rising authoritarianism, declining secularism, and stalled democratization. On 28 December 2011 at 9:37 pm, [...] → Read the full article…

İstanbul’s ‘Crazy Urbanization’ that offends Mehmet the Conqueror

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On Wednesday, the 560th anniversary of İstanbul’s conquest by the Ottomans, actor Devrim Evin, who starred as Mehmet the Conqueror (Fatih) in the 2012 movie “Fetih 1453,” turned down an invitation by the city of İstanbul to join the traditional ceremonies. Evin’s decision was surely a surprise to local authorities. I don’t know what else we could expect him to [...] → Read the full article…