[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
We Had a Dream... Suat Kınıklıoğlu argues that the government’s policy on the Gezi uprising is the end of “a dream of a new republic constructed by all who wanted to live side by side on the ‘basis of rights.`”
New Trends Doğu Ergil reminds that “one learns by experience, if not by sheer logic, that to govern does not mean to do everything one wants.”
The “New Opposition” Instead of explaining the Gezi Park protests using conspiracy theories, İhsan Dağ advises the government to reflect on the roots and dynamics of the “new opposition.”
Has Anything Changed? Nicole Pope predicts that the AKP may face a more difficult period ahead, though “for those living in İstanbul, it would be easy to overestimate the impact of the demonstrations.”
Gezi From The Field Having spent some time speaking with working-class people in Istanbul and in a Turkish village, Jenny White shares her experiences.
Turkey`s Pulse—July 2013 According to a recent survey, merely thirty-three percent of the public considers the Gezi uprising as a democratic movement.
Turkey: Growing and Worrying Repression of Protesters and Civil Society Following the death of a fifth protester, the FIDH deplores the violent response to the demonstrations that have been held throughout Turkey since 28 May.
If You Don’t Adapt, You Will Be Absorbed Diane Bogosian warns Gezi protesters: “If you don`t adapt to the new realities you create, you will be absorbed by the ones created for you.”
Turkey`s Crisis Markar Esayan asserts that “Turkey`s crisis did not begin with the Gezi incident.”
Why Is Erdoğan So Soft on Putin? In the midst of the Gezi uprising, Joost Lagendjik seems to ask a seemingly irrelevant question that turns out to be an extremely significant one.
Turkey’s Gezi Park Protesters Regroup for Ramadan Fehim Taştekin argues that “earth tables” are new challenges which Erdogan would find hard to deal with.
Why Turkey Has “Anti-Capitalist Muslims” The answer to this question, for Mustafa Akyol, is not too hard: “a golden era of capitalist growth”—i.e., "neo-liberalism.”
Meet the Turkish PM’s New Chief Advisor: Yiğit Bulut Ali Kıncal introduces Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new chief advisor Yiğit Bulut via quotations from the latter’s articles.
Erdoğan Taps Journalist to Steer Turkey to Its Superpower Future In his first interview, the new chief adviser Yiğit Bulut declared that the EU has collapsed as a model.
Erdoğan`s Chief Adviser Knows What`s Behind Turkey`s Protests—Telekinesis From Lufthansa to the CIA, the new chief advisor comes up with some new conspiracy theories to explain the Gezi uprising.
In Turkey, Media Bosses Are Undermining Democracy Yavuz Baydar underlines that “the dirty alliances between governments and media damage journalists’ role as public watchdogs.”
Erdoğan’s Egyptian Obsession Çengiz Çandar contends that Turkey is giving the impression of having lost all its functional and moral influence over the Levant, the Gulf, and Mesopotamia while running after Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Critical Week for Kurdish Peace Process Mahir Zeynalov asserts that the Kurdish peace process is facing a major crisis that may seriously damage the entire initiative which has survived so far.
Second Phase Mümtazer Türköne comments on the debate over whether the so-called “second phrase” of the peace process has started or not.
Plots Out, Common Sense In Seyfettin Gürel analyzes the surprising meeting of the Economic Coordination Board under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Erdoğan.
The Ongoing Turkish Protests Have Left us Enlightened and Emboldened Zeynep Talay reflects on the ongoing Gezi uprising, focusing on the process after the Western media stopped paying attention.
Street Protests Are the Easy Part In Brazil, Egypt, and Turkey, Anne Applebaum notes that “it will be much harder to turn those marches and rallies into genuine change.”
A “Turkish Spring”? Galip Dalay claims that “an examination of Turkey and the Arab Spring protests via the main slogans and goals along with a cursory analysis of their political histories is enough to point out their difference in nature.”
Why Turkey Needs a Better Opposition In another article, Galip Dalay asserts that “Turkey’s democracy suffers from an opposition deficit, while a space has cleared for real political competition.”
Destroying Istanbul Andrew Finkel examines the transformation of Istanbul’s Yenikapı district for a new urban project, asking: “Why would anyone contemplate building a monstrous wasteland within hailing distance of masterworks like Hagia Sofia or the Blue Mosque?”
Turkey: A Country in Transition? Al Jazeera`s monthly magazine focuses on Turkey “as the nation grapples with protests and new voices of opposition against the government.”
Tarih: Graduate History Journal The third and most recent issue of the Boğaziçi University History Department’s graduate journal is themed “Inquiry.”
Turkey: End Incorrect, Unlawful Use of Teargas Human Rights Watch urges the Turkish government to end incorrect, unlawful use of teargas.
Turkey Must End Violent Response to Protests In correspondence published in Science magazine, twenty-five scientists (four of them Nobel laureates) call upon the Turkish government “to obey international law in the treatment of protesters and those providing medical treatment to them.”
Turkish
Konuşa Konuşa A new online portal that seeks to “collectively and thoroughly examine Turkey’s deep-rooted problems” in order to “find innovative and creative solutions.”
Tarihin vakti çok, bizim yok Oya Baydar writes that Gezi started a process through which both the secular and Muslim communities of Turkey can take a step towards learning “pluralist modern democracy based on principles of freedom, equality, and justice.”
Yeryüzü sofraları ezilenlerin sofrasıdır Spokesperson for Anti-Capitalist Muslims group Sedat Doğan writes about the communal “earth tables” protesters set up for breaking fast during Ramadan, situating them in an “ancient tradition” which symbolizes “equality, fraternity, collective sharing, abundance, and living amicably amidst differences.”
Yer sofrası ve sınır ihlalleri Nilüfer Göle argues that the “earth table” signals a first in Turkey, “a praxis where the secular and the religious sit down side by side and share their meal, starting to familiarize and immunize themselves with each other’s cultural codes.”
Toplum nasıl müdahale edecek? Bekir Ağırdır examines the electoral process in Turkey from 1987 on, highlighting the fact that recent history is full of parties who have experienced both “victory and extinction.”
İslamcı bio-iktidarın bedenleri ve hazları Meyda Yeğenoğlu writes that the emerging governing style seeks to use “biopolitical” power to “produce a certain kind of subjectivity, acting upon the body; the individual’s biological existence, desires, feelings, and thoughts.”
Gezi’deki üç beş ağaç… Foti Benlisoy writes that, despite the claims that the Gezi uprising has a narrowly defined political content, the resistance maintains its “openly anti-neoliberal content” and “inherently anticapitalist” character.
AKP bir imajdan ibaretti; Gezi Parkı bu imajın yıkılmasıdır… Mehmet Bekaroğlu analyzes how the AKP emerged and came to power with “realpolitik” strategies, and how the Gezi protests shattered the AKP’s “image” by exposing its failure to change the old regime and its ruthlessly neoliberal policies.
Biji Gezi? Ragıp Duran explores the ongoing, evolving, and possible future relationships between the Gezi and Kurdish movements.
Direnişin Zamansallığına Dair Özge Kelekçi adds an “important note” to her article: “Throughout this article, the question of which historical segment the resistance resembles the most (1968, Tahrir, Wall Street, pre-1960 coup, etc.) has never been asked.”
Nüfus mühendisliğinden Gezi Parkı direnişine Asım Karaömerlioğlu claims that the Gezi resistance is a result of the “population policies” of the AKP, an approach which, “although widely used throughout history, stipulates intervention in excessively delicate and private areas and therefore has unpredictable results.”
`Süreç` ve `Rojava Devrimi`... Quoting BDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, Cengiz Çandar asserts that supporting peace must not be confused with supporting the AKP, and provides projections for the path of the peace process post “Rojava Revolution.”
Sınıfsal nefretleri kaşımak Hüseyin Kalaycı writes that the AKP harkens back to the techniques of the old regime with its polarizing and “labeling” rhetoric, reflected in the words of the PM who “seeks to mobilize not only religious but class anger.”
Gerçeklikten korkulmaz Analyzing the Gezi uprising, Murat Belge writes that it is a “good” thing when social realities are revealed.
Direniş ve Özgürlerin Ekonomisi An anonymous blogger says the Gezi resistance revealed the “economy of the free,” restoring autonomy and a sense of the commons among protesters.
Gezi direnişi: bir yanımız bahar bahçe... Tanıl Bora writes that the “2013 June rebellion” will be known as the “coming of age” of the youth, going against all “paternalistic” authority, ranging from the “father-shah” at the top to the “leftist big brotherhood of left and other political institutions.”
Dayanışma ruhudur esas örgüt Ongun Yücel, a member of Taksim Solidarity who was detained last week during a protest, says that the state looks for a “criminal organization” in vain, since the real “organization” responsible for the uprising is the “spirit of solidarity.”
Haziran Ayaklanması’na dair tespitler, öngörüler ve çıkarımlar Analyzing the “June uprising,” Sertan Batur concludes that, although the forums (people’s assemblies) in central neighborhoods are important, the “revolution” will only start when those in the conservative, suburban neighborhoods also participate in numbers.
Sandığa inananlar önce seçim barajını ortadan kaldırırlar Sibel Yerdeniz interviews Büşra Ersanlı, who states that “those who believe in the ballot box should first eliminate the election threshold.”
Gezi isyanı In his editorial for the monthly Birikim, Ömer Laçiner designates the Gezi rebellion as a “turning point” and asks what’s next: assimilation into traditional politics, or a political alternative growing from its “revolutionary seedlings”?
Kırılamayan sarmal M. Şükrü Hanioğlu argues that the rapid evolution of Gezi park protests into demands for a radical change in government exposes the deep-rooted structural problems of Turkish politics.
Gezi Parkı’nda hasar tespiti Muhsin Öztürk does a “damage assessment” for Turkey’s social actors, analyzing the effect of Gezi events on the usual suspects: “social peace” and violence, the political parties, “neighborhood pressure,” elitism, the “old Turkey,” the language of democracy, public intellectuals, Kemalists, and conspiracy theories.
Faiz Lobisi II “Volkancıdam” comments on the evolution of the “interest lobby” conspiracy theory to the “Jewish lobby” in the government’s rhetoric.
Erdoğan ‘Kemalizmin duvarları’nı kendi elleriyle yeniden yükseltiyor, acaba farkında mı?.. Hasan Cemal asks whether Erdoğan is aware that he is “raising the walls of Kemalism once again, this time with his own hands?”
Nereye koşuyoruz? Ali Bayramoğlu writes that Turkey’s current political dynamics have created a “social and political environment of no confidence” and a “state of rupture,” and that the “Turkish model” is in danger.
Örgütteki değişim, süreci nasıl etkiler? Yalçın Akdoğan evaluates how the changes in the PKK’s leadership will affect the peace process, regional developments, and the organization’s internal dynamics.
Bireyci batıcılar Etyen Mahçupyan designates three categories for the “secular community” of Turkey: “Individualist Westernists, centralist leftists, and the pious pragmatic right.” The Muslim community’s entry into the political scene disrupted this configuration and created new alliances.
`Kusura Bakmayın`! Cengiz Çandar writes that, just because they happen to agree with the government on the definition of the Egyptian events as a military coup, people should not then be expected to call the Gezi events “an international conspiracy aiming to stage a military coup against Tayyip Erdoğan.”
Fas yolcularıyla mezar yolcuları Reflecting on Turkish state’s “culture of impunity,” Ali Topuz asks whether a country can exist where “some citizens’ deaths are not counted as deaths.”
Ne kadar ‘erkek’siniz! Mehveş Evin calls Turkey “a country of men in navy suits,” reflecting on the patriarchy of the Turkish media.
Erdoğan diktatör değil, tam bir neoliberal! Ezgi Başaran thinks that calling PM Erdoğan a “dictator” clouds the full picture instead of clarifying the state of things, quoting at length from Aslı Iğsız’s two-part Jadaliyya series Brand Turkey and the Gezi Protests: Authoritarianism, Law, and Neoliberalism.
Dil insanı vezir de yapar rezil de: Yiğit Bulut’un dili Mercan Doğan provides an overview of PM Erdoğan’s new chief advisor Yiğit Bulut’s diverse career, evolving from government critic to closest ally.
Forumlar demokrasisi Metin Yeğin celebrates the “real” democracy brought on by Turkey’s neighborhood forums (people’s assemblies), proposing to organize one big forum in Taksim Square on 1 September, World Peace Day.
Taraflar çözüm istiyor mu? Halil Savda questions the progress of the peace process, stipulating that the next step should be the AKP’s presentation of the “solution package” to the parliament.
Rojava-PYD ve devletin ‘Kronik Kürt Alerjisi’ Cengiz Çandar claims that it is "obvious" that the AKP`s problem with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) stems from their "allergic reaction" to Kurdish autonomy in Syria.
Türk medyasında Rojava sendromu Reflecting on the “Rojava syndrome of the Turkish media,” Cahit Mervan writes that when it comes to anti-Kurdish rhetoric, the difference between secularist-nationalist and conservative outlets disappears.
Qırıx Keko, the protagonist of Doğan Güzel’s long-running comic strip Qırıx, comments on the emerging anticapitalist spirit of Ramadan.
Böyle olur çapulcunun düğünü… Çapul TV video reportage: a couple who met during the June uprising invited the public to their wedding in Gezi park, where the police interfered with the procession.
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