[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.]
English
Turkey and the US: State of the Crisis
Absent new agreements, Trump-Erdogan meeting ends with pledge to work together. The meeting between Turkish president Erdoğan and his US counterpart Donald Trump ended with a promise to work on mending the relations, yet without new agreements.
Turkey’s Tyrant Eats a White House Turkey. Erdoğan’s visit to the United States will remain “in the annals of diplomatic humiliation,” writes Bret Stephens.
No breakthrough in Turkish-American relations soon. “Only a reset in Turkish-American relations can assure a significant change,” contends Talha Köse, convinced that tensions will not end any soon.
Is a lasting U.S.-Turkish détente possible? “The most optimistic scenario for US-Turkish relations may be that they simply stop mattering so much. Both countries have clearly lowered their expectations from the other as an ally dramatically,” argues Nicholas Danforth.
Cozying up to Russia?
Turkey remains determined to keep Russian missiles. “Turkish political leadership thinks the United States is in decline and that Turkey should expand its options with global powers,” Aaron Stein comments in an article published by al-Monitor.
Turkey, the West, and ISIS
Turkey’s Deportations Force Europe to Face Its ISIS Militants. Turkey “is not a hotel for Islamic State fighters,” the Interior Minister recently said. Western Europe, writes the New York Times, has now to contend with a problem it hoped to avoid.
Turkey’s fight against IS riddled with black holes. Turkey wants the West to take back its ISIS fighters, writes Fehim Taştekin, but the way the country is dealing with IS suspects is less than transparent.
Turkey’s Syrian Operation
Syria incursion delivers limited boost to Turkey’s Erdogan. According to political analysts, the rise in political support that president Erdogan had managed to obtain in the immediate aftermath of the Syrian operation is shrinking. The initial nationalist fervor failed to deliver in the long term.
You won't see this report in Western media. “Western media outlets continue to misportray PKK/YPG as a modern, democratic movement fighting Daesh terrorists,” writes Yahya Bostan, arguing that the Western public is misled into believing that the Syrians see the PKK/YPG as saviors.
Turkish offensive may consolidate Kurdish identity in Syria. Former Foreign Minister Yaşar Yakış contends that Turkey’s modus operandi in Syria could result in the opposite of what the country is seeking, “The Kurds will find a safe haven where they will be able to promote their identity.”
Domestic Politics
Inept opposition blues. According to Aydın Selcen, there is not much left of the “Everything Will Be Fine” slogan that the opposition used for the municipal elections in Istanbul. The party, the journalist contends, is reduced to “the role of the government’s loyal opposition.”
Erdogan’s Attacks on His Old Ally Could Backfire. Turkey’s ruling party aims to shut down a university linked to former Prime Minister Davutoğlu, who is about to launch his own party. Erdoğan’s move, argues Umar Farooq, “risks alienating precisely the voters he claims to champion.”
Power and Society
Trump’s claim of primordial Turkish-Kurdish enmity false and dangerous. “To characterise a group as having long been at war with another entity serves to naturalise the conflict, justifying it as inevitable,” comments Lisel Hintz in an article on Ahval.
Turkish
A Polarized Society
Birbirini sevmeyen bir toplum. A number of attacks against women wearing a headscarf in Istanbul made news this week. Nagehan Alçı takes what happened as an example of Turkey’s polarization and criticizes the opposition media. “If the victims had had a miniskirt, they would have screamed the place down,” she says.
Türban PKK’dan daha tehlikeli? The aggressions are at least ideologically motivated, contends Bülent Orakoğlu. According to him, someone want to bring back the climate of the 1997 “post-modern coup,” which tried to put a halt to the rise of political Islam.
Syrian Refugees and the Syrian Operation
Siz Suriyeli bir mülteci olsanız. There are two ways open for the future of Syrian refugees in Turkey, contends Ege Cansen: either they go back to their cities voluntarily, or “we stop looking at them as ‘bad foreigners,’ teaching and learning how to live together.”
Kim 7 milyon Suriyeliye bakar. Murat Muratoğlu criticizes the government on its refugee policies. “With sixteen million poor in this country, we are proud of taking care of seven million Syrians,” he writes.
Turkey and the US: State of the Crisis
Erdoğan, Trump’dan çok özel (!) görüşmeler istedi… Ahmet Takan asks whether Erdoğan is a Trump employee, criticizing him for bringing back to Washington the harshly worded letter that the US president addressed to him.
Vermiş olduğumuz rahatsızlıktan gurur duyarız. During a press conference, after his meeting with president Erdoğan, US president Trump asked pro-government journalist Hilâl Kaplan whether she was “a journalist, or working for Turkey,” because of a question on the Syrian YPG militias. In a column, she wrote, “it was an important opportunity to have the Turkish point of view heard on pro-YPG foreign channels.”
Turkey and Russia
Batı neden Erdoğan ve Putin’e karşı? According to Zekeriya Kurşun, we should look at the issue from a historical perspective: as it was the case at the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia and Turkey are today once again relevant players.
Domestic Politics
HDP yönetimi 'sine-i millet' seçeneğine sıcak bakıyor mu? Among a protracted crackdown, the pro-Kurdish HDP party started discussing whether its lawmakers and mayors should collectively resign, writes Ayşe Sayın.
HDP, önemli bir karar aşamasında. In recent years politics have revolved around the HDP, yet the future of the party is now at stake, writes Saygı Öztürk.
HDP'nin kazanmış olduğu mevzileri elinde tutması daha doğrudur. Hasan Cemal argues that, even when faced with what he calls a “political crime,” the HDP should not resign the positions it gained.
HDP, Sine-i Millet kararını verdi. Yavuz Atalan reports that the HDP has instead chosen to stay in parliament and called for early elections.
İYİ Parti’den Erdoğan’a ‘erken seçim’ çağrısı! İYİ Parti group deputy chairman Türkkan has also called for early elections to go back to a parliamentary system. Türkkan said that the party “is ready to make a sacrifice,” hinting that they might support the AKP, provided that a number of ministries are assigned to them.
Economy
Erken emeklilikle Türkiye ağır fatura ödedi. Turkey is still paying the price for an early retirement law introduced in the 1990s, writes Dilek Güngör. President Erdoğan has recently argued that early retirement led Scandinavian countries to bankruptcy.
Yıldız Kenter (1928-2019)
Yıldız Kenter: Bir özgürlük tutkunu! Legendary actress Yıldız Kenter had died at ninety-one. Turkey has lost a great artist with a “passion” for freedom, writes Mustafa Balbay.
Genco Erkal'dan Yıldız Kenter’e: Unutulmazsın… “There are good actors, great actors, and then there was Yıldız Kenter.” Actor Genco Erkal remembers the life and deeds of the Turkish actress, who died recently.
Published on Jadaliyya
Statements: Several Opposition Groups in Turkey Condemn Turkish Military Campaign in Northeast Syria.