[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
Istanbul Protests A public and moderated collection of news articles on the protests on Crowdvoice.org.
Fifty Shades of Grey: Turkey After the Storm Oguz Işık thinks that "a new form of politics based not on polarization but on consensus building is a real possibility" in Turkey, thanks to the Gezi protests.
Egyptian Coup Shakes Turkey Semih Idiz explores Turkey’s struggle to find the right response to the military coup in Egypt.
AKP Comes Unhinged in Response to Critical Media Cengiz Çandar explores the ongoing demonization of critical Turkish and foreign media by the AKP government.
Gezi Park Has Brought Down Illusion of Turkish Democracy Cüneyt Özdemir elaborates on the flaws of Turkish democracy: “Whenever you talk about politics in Turkey it always ends up being about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”
Coup in Egypt Strategic Loss for Erdoğan Kadri Gürsel argues that the overthrow of Morsi by military coup in Egypt adversely affects the AKP’s regional policies.
Turkish Leadership Demoralized by Coup in Egypt Cengiz Çandar analyzes the extent to which the Turkish leadership identifies with the ousted Egyptian leadership.
Egypt Upheaval Deepens Turkey’s Regional Isolation Semih Idiz analyzes the conflict between Ankara and Riyadh in the face of the collapse of the “Sunni axis.”
Pluralism vs. Majoritarian-ism and the Future of Democracy in Turkey After Gezi Park Vernon Schubel argues that the “real conflict” in Turkey, Egypt, and other parts of the world is between those who embrace pluralism and those who prefer majoritarianism.
Testing What We Learned in Gezi Park Oğuz Alyanak reflects on the post-Gezi politics of solidarity with Lice and Diyarbakır.
Erdoğan Weakened, Turkey Polarized Ömer Zarplı argues that “an uncertain future awaits Erdoğan” in the face of both national and regional challenges.
Can Erdoğan`s Enemies Kill Him With Their Minds? Marc Champion comments on the recent appointment of conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Yiğit Bulut as chief advisor to PM Erdoğan, suggesting that “Erdoğan may have embraced a dark fantasy world.”
Gezi and Kemalo-Islamist Attacks on sociologist Göle (1) İhsan Yılmaz argues that both “ultra-nationalists” and the AKP present “essentialist narratives” of Gezi in addition to being hostile to experts who strive to understand what is going on.
Post-Morsi Egypt: Gulf In, Turkey Out Fehim Taştekin explores the fast-fading positive image of Turkey among Egyptian protesters after Turkey’s diplomatic efforts to reinstate the deposed president.
Quiet Before the Storm? Referring to the AKP, Cengiz Aktan concludes that “governments that rely on one single man pay a price.”
So Our Boys Overthrew the Government… Etyen Mahçupyan reflects on the “instrumental” uses of the word democracy in Turkey.
Egyptian Lessons for Turkey (1) and (2) Joost Lagendjik compares Turkey and Egypt, touching on “majoritarian approach to democracy” embraced by the AKP and Muslim Brotherhood, fear of Islamization, and lack of political alternatives.
Turkish Concerns Over Egyptian Coup`s Spillover Effect Lale Kemal argues that Ankara can only avoid a possible “spillover effect” from the Egyptian coup if the AKP government chooses to “focus on strengthening its institutions, broaden civil liberties, and resume its half-finished military reforms.”
Who Owns the Earth? Noam Chomsky says that “The defenders of Taksim Square are at the forefront of a worldwide struggle to preserve the global commons.”
Gezi Revolt: Critique, Courage Ali Rıza Taşkale “follows up on the continued import of the revolts in Turkey, specifically exploring how the revolts upend linear conceptions of temporality.”
Distortions and Divisions Jenna Krajeski asks whether “distrust and distortion” in the distance between Turks and Kurds can be overcome.
Turkish
Y Kuşağı mı yeni hayatın yeni insanları mı? Bekir Ağırdır contends that “Y Generation” analyses are insufficient. For him, the Gezi uprising should be evaluated in terms of “new life” and “new blood.”
2013 Gezi kuşağına hitap ediyor olmak Ömer Madra addresses the “Gezi generation” at Boğaziçi University’s graduation ceremony. The video of the speech is also available.
Öteki "Y Kuşağı" anlatıyor The other “Y Generation” is reciting: neither Gezi Park nor Kazlıçeşme—Kazlıçeşme is the place where AKP usually holds its meetings in İstanbul.
Umuda İhtiyacı Olan Müslümanın Gezi Rehberi… Mehmet Efe writes on the guidance of Gezi for Muslims who need hope. According to him, “Islamism agonizes.” His slogan is: “Long live Islam!”
Siyasal İslamın Sonbaharı - I Ergin Yıldızoğlu asserts that the faith in “Moderate İslam” has been shaken irreversibly after the events in Turkey and Egypt. According to him, this is “the fall of political Islam.”
Hangimizin Y kuşağı? Medaim Yanık claims that the Gezi uprising is not a complete movement of the “Y Generation.” For him, the protests started as such but in time were captured by “aged leftists.”
Siyaset ve kültürel çatışma To prevent social unrest triggered by policies based upon cultural conflicts, Şükrü Hanioğlu argues that differences should be guaranteed via democratization.
Gezi Parkı ile ilgili gerçekler BDP Istanbul Deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder, one of the symbols of the Gezi uprising, explains the facts about Gezi Park, showing his tear gas canister wound to the deputies of the AKP in the General Assembly.
Gezi’deki Patlamanın Kökenleri(2) Mücahit Bilici continues to explore "the roots of the Gezi explosion." The second part of his exploration is about the relationship between the AKP and the Gülen Community.
Ergin de pala olayına kızdı Deniz Zeyrek focus on the same issue as Mücahit Bilici—conventions and conflicts between the AKP and the Gülen Community.
Laik kesim sekülerleşirken Murat Aksoy argues that the significant achievement of the Gezi protests is “the secularization of seculars.” By secularization, he means politicization.
Gezi ulusalcı bir kalkışma mı? Umut Özkırımlı asks whether we are aware of the meaning of the pro-Kurdish protests of “white Turks,” supposing all who shout “Resist Lice” in İstanbul are nationalist.
Hayatı bir Kürtle paylaşmak Esma Bayar tells of her experience in the Gezi uprising, where she shared her life with Kurds. She writes about that experience in order to “reunite people and make peace.”
Gezi’yi tepeleyen demokratlar Ohannes Kılıçdağı criticizes the “democrats” who reduce the Gezi uprising to a reactionist movement aiming at the overthrow of an elected government.
Vesayetçiler ile sandıkçılar arasında Şahin Alpay argues that Turkey is squeezed between guardians (vesayetçi) and balloters (sandıkçılar).
Darbe karşıtlığı demokratlık için yeterli midir? Oya Baydar reveals the fact that an attitude against the coup does not intrinsically imply an attitude towards democracy.
Besmele’den Twitter’a Propaganda: İktidar ve İkna Ahmet Ataş investigates the relationship between basmala and twitter as “propaganda,” reminding us of its etymological and cognitive history.
Gasp edilen medya mı, hayatlarımız mı? Nurçay Türkoğlu writes on the social media. According to her, “struggle is inevitable and all around where power relations are at work.”
Hayali Twitter Cemaatleri Mensur Akgün argues against the Gezi uprising, calling it an “imagined twitter community.” Akgün refers to Benedict Anderson’s theory of nationalism in his argument.
Gezi sosyolojisi: Bir gençlik ve hayat tarzı güzellemesi Nazife Şişman speaks out against the dominant sociological analyses of the Gezi uprising and claims that they are just “panegyrics.”
#gezidirenişi Express Magazine prepared a special edition about the Gezi Uprising.
#yaşarken yazılan tarih The last edition of NTV Tarih, a popular history magazine that was shut down after covering the Gezi uprising, is published online. An interview with its editor is also available.
Published on Jadaliyya
Brand Turkey and the Gezi Protests: Authoritarianism, Law, and Neoliberalism (Part One)
Brand Turkey and the Gezi Protests: Authoritarianism, Law, and Neoliberalism (Part Two)
Occupy Gezi: Die Grenzen des neoliberalen Erfolgs der Türkei
Occupy Gezi as Politics of the Body
The Visual Emergence of the Occupy Gezi Movement, Part Three: Democracy`s Workshop
The Visual Emergence of the Occupy Gezi Movement, Part Two: Every Day I’m Capulling
The Visual Emergence of the Occupy Gezi Movement, Part One: Oh Biber!