[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
Hostage Situation
Toward Chaos? İhsan Yılmaz claims that the re-emergence of the DHKP/C is a move by the deep state and will allow the AKP to generate chaos and polarize society in the leadup to the elections.
DHKP/C and Istanbul`s Security Breaches Emre Uslu argues that the hostage situation demonstrates the shortcomings of the security apparatus along with the state’s inevitable collapse.
Who Shot the Prosecutor, Who Benefited from His Silence? (1) - (2) Murat Yetkin writes about ambiguities in the ballistics and autopsy reports for Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, who was taken hostage by the DHKP/C, as well as the consequences of the crisis within political discourse.
DHKP-C Terrorists Remain a Major Threat in Turkey (1) - (2) İlnur Çevik suggests that the DHKP/C has found a “breeding ground” among leftist university students, and calls upon the state’s intelligence apparatus to work better to prevent such incidents.
The Button Was Hit before the Elections Abdülkadir Selvi claims that the DHKP/C hostage crisis was orchestrated within a genealogy of Western attempts to stage coups in Turkey.
Interview with the Militants: "Our Barrels will Bring Justice" Ahmet Şık’s interview with the militants, conducted half an hour prior to their deaths, in which they describe their motivations and demands.
The Footsteps of the Second Gezi Incident! Yusuf Kaplan speculates that the DHKP/C hostage incident is part of an effort to generate an “Alawite issue” in order to disrupt the Kurdish peace and reconciliation process.
Wave of Terror, Those Documents, and the Gezi-Gülen Movement Alliance...İbrahim Karagül claims that the hostage crisis was engineered by the same forces behind both the Gezi Park protests and the 17 December corruption investigations as a last-ditch effort to dismantle the government in advance of the general election.
Hostage Crisis, Paranoia and Questions Orhan Kemal Cengiz meditates on the consequences that the hostage crisis might have for Alevis in Turkey, given that Berkin Elvan’s family is Alevi and DHKP/C has a reputation for recruiting from Alevi communities.
Fanaticism Conquers Turkey (1) - (2) According to Mustafa Akyol, the political chaos generated by the hostage crisis has led non-pro-government newspapers to be labeled as “supporters of terrorism” and cracked down further on media freedom.
Outsider Joost Lagendijk writes about the potential that the DHKP/C may have been used as a cover for an AKP-dominated deep state to foment unrest, and his own skepticism of such an explanation.
Domestic
Is `Erdoğanism` Threat to Turkey`s Islamism? Mustafa Akyol examines how Erdoğan’s particular brand of ideology is alienating other self-professed Islamists and departing from the rhetoric with which the AKP was initially founded.
Which Court Verdict Has Served Justice? Lale Kemal writes about the alleged Sledgehammer (Balyoz) coup conspiracy in 2003, which has received a wide array of different judgments from different courts in Turkey, culminating with the release of all suspects in the trial last week.
What If This Power Blackout Happens on Election Day? Serkan Demirtaş writes about the power outage on 31 March and suggests that it was caused by the government’s unwillingness to cooperate with expert groups like the Chamber of Electrical Engineers.
Thoughts on a Day Without Electricity Ersu Ablak praises the private sector in Turkey for managing to be resilient even as the government failed to protect its infrastructural responsibility to the country.
Election
Government Crisis and Its Potential Repercussions on the Resolution Process Ruşen Çakır argues that the real truths of the Kurdish peace and reconciliation process will not emerge until after the election, when Erdoğan`s nationalist rhetoric calms down and the HDP is either in or out of parliament.
Can the AK Party Win the Election Despite Erdoğan? According to Mümtazer Türköne, the real competition in the upcoming election will be between who has control of the AK Party: Prime Minister Davutoğlu or President Erdoğan.
A Vote to Save the Republic Semih İdiz suggests that the gamble Erdoğan is making by putting forth a “Turkish-style” presidency, in which he wields extreme authority, is damaging his chances of actually succeeding in the election.
The Message CHP Sent with Primary Elections Fatih Çekirge claims that the recent election primaries of the Republican People’s Party were intended to galvanize enthusiasm for the party as well as to localize political concerns.
Terror`s Election Calculation Mümtazer Türköne examines how each of the parties are attempting to frame the recent hostage crisis in the leadup to the election in June.
Foreign Policy
Verbal Outburst between Turkey and Iran Emre Gönen examines the recent history of Iran in relation to its support for Houthi rebels in Yemen in order to frame Erdoğan’s recent comments on the Iranian government’s actions.
A Letter to John Kerry from Turkey Markar Esayan speculates that the Gülen movement has been trying to present the image of an undemocratic, tyrannical regime in Turkey to the US government in order to damage Turkey`s reputation.
Turkish Foreign Policy Needs a New Start: CHP Murat Yetkin writes about the CHP’s newly updated stance on Turkish foreign policy, which is rooted in a frustration with the failings and aggression of foreign policy under Erdoğan.
Turkey`s Misguided Yemen Move Fehim Taştekin frames Erdoğan’s saber-rattling with Iran as attempts to stimulate the flow of Gulf money into Turkey, even though Turkey’s reputation in places like Yemen is fraught.
Iran`s Houthi Plan for Turkey Examining the sectarian stakes in the Iran-backed Houthi rebellion in Yemen, Abdullah Bozkurt claims that Iran is trying to foment instability in Turkey in order to make it the next Syria or Yemen.
Maybe Turkey Prefers Failure Etyen Mahçupyan asserts that, if Turkey is to wield real regional and global influence, the “zero problems with neighbors” approach is not the most pragmatic.
How the Turkish Military Hit Syrian Missile Batteries Burak Bekdil describes how Turkey’s missile defense systems, augmented by US military and NATO technology, are being deployed along the Syrian border.
Wise Men Speak, But Will Anyone Listen Semih İdiz analyzes the recommendations of a report from the “Global Relations Forum,” which suggests among other things that Turkey cannot become a regional actor all on its own.
Economy
Economy Needs a New Story According to İbrahim Türkmen, the government’s approach to the economy has proven itself unreliable and has therefore lost the confidence of consumers and investors.
Economic Data Signal SOS Emre Deliveli examines correlations between consumer confidence, rates of import/export, and rates of investment to demonstrate that the Turkish economy is drastically slowing down.
Other
The Erdoğans` Lavish Lifestyle Pınar Tremblay examines the outrage surrounding the discrepancy between the Erdoğan’s image in the media as traditional and frugal, and the revelations of their habits of consumption at the Presidential Palace.
Don`t Build a Nuclear Power Plant, That`s All We Ask Pelin Cengiz profiles the town of Sinop, where Parliament has given permission to a Japanese company to build a nuclear power plant, and argues that instability in Turkey makes it a bad place for such a plant.
Turkish
Hostage Situation
“Halkımız sizi çok seviyoruz” / #BizdeSiziSeviyoruz According to Efe Kerem Sözeri, a sympathetic, if not positive, attitude towards the hostage situation shows signs of blurring of the distinction between “terrorism” and “martyrdom” in the west of Turkey.
31 Mart karanlığı: Ne devletin yanındayım ne de silahın Hasan Aksay states that he will neither be defending the state, nor the use of guns to bring about justice, while underlining the importance of the June elections in breaking away from this pessimistic political atmosphere.
Başarısız Türkiye’nin başarılı (?) operasyonu Levent Gültekin criticizes Erdoğan’s framing of the operation that left three people dead, including the prosecutor taken hostage, as devoid of emotion and conscience and as reflecting the state of the country today.
31 Mart 2015… Bu perişan ülkede, Allah herkesin yardımcısı olsun According to Murat Sevinç, Turkey has become a country where people’s trust for each other and their trust for the government has dropped to zero, effectively losing its integrity as a nation.
Bir karanlık ülke… Leyla Alp underlines the slow judicial process of the Berkin Elvan case, and an overall decay of the sense of justice as factors in bringing about the death of three people.
‘Neyi kurtardınız? Adliyenin duvarlarını mı, katliamcı polislerinizi mi?’ “Can shooting two young people and a public prosecutor and killing them count as successful operation? Who and what did you save; walls of the courthouse or the murderous police officers whose names you protect?” asks the Progressive Lawyers Association.
Başbakan, ‘Herkes tarafını seçsin’ diyor; bizim tarafımız belli sayın başbakan! In response to Davutoğlu’s polarizing statement after the hostage incident, Hürrem Sönmez argues that we should choose to stand for justice and the right to leave.
Yayın yasağı hangi mantıkla getirilir? Onur Yazıcıoğlu discusses the consequences of media blackouts, leniently and frequently used by the government, including the hostage taking incident this week.
Avukatlar neden hedef gösterildi? Murat Özveri thinks that the targeting of lawyers for the hostage situation is because they resist the domestic security bill and uphold the right to defence in an highly organized fashion.
Bu mu başarılı operasyon? Bülent Korucu debates Erdoğan’s “successful operation” remarks, arguing that Turkish intelligence suffers from severe security vulnerabilities, failing to prevent what was known to be coming.
Terörün hedefi... Mustafa Ünal suspects that the series of attacks (i.e. the hostage situation, an armed attack in front of the Istanbul police headquarters, a raid on the AKP’s local party building) are associated with the upcoming elections.
`Ben bana yeterim` diyorsun da seni sana bırakırlar mı?! Veday İlbeyoğlu criticizes the DHKP/C’s hostage taking act, arguing that it neither benefits the democratic struggle in the country, nor the family of Berkin Elvan.
Domestic Politics
Hukuk devleti de yok, kanun devleti de yok, Erdoğan devleti var! According to Hasan Cemal, the only way out of one-man rule is committed support for the HDP in passing the ten percent threshold.
AK Parti’nin kurumsallaşma ve yenilenme siyaseti Nebi Miş argues that the rift in the AKP’s ranks will be successfully overcome and will not affect the outcome of the elections, as an alternative political center does not exist.
Erdoğan AKP`ye karşı According to H. Bahadır Türk, the conflict between the party and Erdoğan, especially regarding the Peace Process and the presidential system proposal, will be suspended until after the elections.
Muhaliflere karşı kışla-saray ittifakı İrfan Aktan purports that with the passing of the domestic security bill, the fate of democracy depends on the unity of the democracy forces against the Erdoğan-military coalition.
Elektrik kesintisi gerçekten siber saldırı işi mi? Advising caution with conspiracy theories over causes of the power blackout, Ezgi Başaran points out that it is possible that it happened because of a cyber attack, as the official statements purported.
`Balyoz`un davası ve hakikati Alper Görmüş thinks that if the argued fabrication of the evidence for the Sledgehammer (Balyoz) case is investigated thoroughly, it will mean the recent acquittals in the case were aimed at taking revenge on the Gülen movement.
Büyük elektrik kesintisi: Düşünme sığlığı var, kriz ya da risk yönetimi yok Füsun Sarp Nebil gives an account of the potential reasons for the power blackout and complains about the lack of expertise and risk analysis mechanisms to deal with such cases in the future.
Enerji bakanı istifa! Şahin Alpay asks why failure in one or a few power stations could cause the complete breakdown of electricity supply in the country, and asks for the resignation of the Energy Minister.
Silahlara veda mı? Mustafa Ünal welcomes the joint public statement regarding the peace process, yet finds Öcalan’s terms too vague to predict the continuation of the process.
June Election
Hesap verenle yetki sahibinin aynı kişi olması! Tarhan Erdem points out the distinction between rulers’ accountability to the public and their accountability to the law, criticizing the AKP for confounding the two meanings.
Rakamlarla CHP ve 7 Haziran`daki başarı şansı Akdoğan Özkan provides statistical data, and argues that it is possible for the CHP to increase its vote to thirty percent if it learns from past mistakes.
HDP gümbür gümbür geliyor Hüseyin Ali talks about the increasing popular support for the HDP, and states that the HDP will be successful in the elections despite the government’s discomfort .
Artıları ve eksileriyle CHP’nin önseçimi Ruşen Çakır analyzes the elected candidates in the primary elections, noticing some patterns in the lists for young people, women, and Alevi candidates.
HDP: Sadece seçimi değil, Türkiye`nin geleceğini de belirleyecek kilit aktör Fuat Keyman examines the factors that could determine the HDP’s success in the elections, as well as some implications of success or failure scenarios for the peace process and presidential system.
HDP Türkiye partisi olursa… Oya Baydar lists the reasons of her support for the HDP, and hopes that the party merges its particular political interests with the larger democratization struggle of the country and becomes a significant opposition to the AKP.
CHP`yi iktidara CHP tabanı taşır Former journalist and television anchorwoman Çiğdem Anat narrates her experience as a CHP candidate with the CHP’s electorate, and rejects the argument that the CHP is a party for the elite.
‘Kendim için...’ According to Ahmet Yaşaroğlu, the fact that parliamentary members did not react to Erdoğan’s “the parliament is suspended” rhetoric is another indication of the importance of the upcoming elections for the future of democracy.
400 kurtarmaz! Sinan Alçın discusses why the logic of the AKP’s election propaganda of economic expansion is not based on sound expectations.
Muhalefetin gücü ve farkındalık Ayhan Bilgen expects provocations before the elections in the form of protests, assassinations, etc. and argues that to counter such an organized effort, democracy forces should be in unity and solidarity.
HDP ve adayları Ali Bulaç claims that the increasing support for Demirtaş shows that Turks’ attitude regarding the Kurdish movement is not unbreakable in the absence of violence; and sees the HDP’s potential election success as easing political tensions in the country.
Economy
Dünya krizi ve Türkiye: İhracattaki sert daralma sürüyor Ümit Akçay examines recent figures that show a strong decline in exports and suggests that 2015 will represent a year in which the model of neoliberal growth from the 2000s became clogged up.
Türk lirası mum gibi eridi Selim Işıklar analyzes how the dollar’s rise since the 2008 crisis, as well as the pressure from Erdoğan on the Central Bank to lower interest rates, has devalued the Turkish lira.
Davutoğlu, yatırımcıyı niye ikna edemiyor? According to Turhan Bozkurt, a recent stimulus bill proposed by Prime Minister Davutoğlu is unable to promote confidence in investors because of the lack of security and stability in the public sector and in the government in general.
Foreign Relations
2015 seçimleri ve Türkiye-İsrail ilişkileri Muhammed Mustafa Kulu compares and contrasts the March election in Israel with the June election in Turkey within the context of trade, commerce, domestic politics, and various conflicts in the Middle East.
İran: Sünni diktatörler ve İsrail`in ortak "kâbus"u Examining the various stakeholders in the tentative Iranian nuclear deal, Cengiz Çandar asserts that the deal will stir up more trouble in the wider region along sectarian and geopolitical lines.
Şimdi de İran Amberin Zaman discusses the changing dynamics of Turkey-Iran relationship in the context of President Erdogan’s recent criticism of Iran’s leadership.
İran barışıyor, Türkiye ayrışıyor Lale Kemal comments upon the irony of Iran’s growing stability and rapprochement with the international community as Turkey becomes less stable and more alienated from the rest of the world.
Dış politikada çöküş Comparing the AKP’s foreign policy between 2002-2011 and between 2011-2015, Şahin Alpay emphasizes how the Turkish government’s “zero problems” approach to its neighbors now only applies to Iraqi Kurds, Hamas, and Qatar.
Other Pertinent Pieces
Eşitlik adalet hegemonya Handan Çağlayan dissects the government’s hegemonic womanhood discourse, and exposes some of its tactics that aim to delegitimize and impoverish the voice of the women’s movement in the country.
Yüzüncü yılında Ermeni soykırımı ve sol Ender İmrek argues that in the history-writing of the leftist and communist movements in Turkey, there has been a tendency to ignore significant non-Muslim figures, similar to the official history writing practices.
Published on Jadaliyya
Kurdish Alevi Music and Migration: An Interview with Ozan Aksoy
In Memory of Ozgecan Aslan: Sexual Violence and the Juridical System in Turkey
Becoming a `Media Intellectual`: The Platitudes and Partisanships of Etyen Mahçupyan
Imperial Consequences of Things: An Interview with Alan Mikhail
Bio-Istanbul: A Speculative, Segregationist, and Sustainable Urbanism