Tag: Turkey

Ozlem Goner: Banning the pro-Kurdish HDP in Turkey is a move towards fascism

On 17 March, a top prosecutor filed a case with Turkey’s Constitutional Court demanding the closure of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), as well as a five-year political ban on more than 600 party members. Around the same time, HDP parliamentarian and prominent human rights advocate Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was forcibly removed from parliament, and later detained. These… Read More Ozlem Goner: Banning the pro-Kurdish HDP in Turkey is a move towards fascism

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In Turkey, two Facebook posts are enough to land you in jail. By Ömer Ongun & Umut Özsu

In October 2014, protesters in dozens of cities and towns throughout Turkey came together to pressure the government into providing assistance to the mostly Kurdish inhabitants of Kobanî, a Syrian town directly adjacent to the Turkish border that was then under heavy siege by Islamic State forces. Police and demonstrators clashed violently and repeatedly during these protests.… Read More In Turkey, two Facebook posts are enough to land you in jail. By Ömer Ongun & Umut Özsu

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Bethan McKernan: Turkey's mobsters step out of shadows and into public sphere

After decades in hiding, in prison or keeping low profile, players from a bloody period in the country’s history are now seen as ‘folk idols’ by the Turkish right. At first glance, the photograph of two smartly dressed older Turkish men, posing for the camera in an office filled with flags, could be of any… Read More Bethan McKernan: Turkey's mobsters step out of shadows and into public sphere

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Oguz Alyanak & Umit Kurt – The sultan and his sycophants: Erdoğan is leading Turkey towards a bleak future

When the Justice and Development party (AKP) came to power in Turkey in 2002, one of the first things its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, did was surround himself with well-educated bureaucrats. This practice was key to the AKP’s success in subsequent elections, as many citizens of Turkey trusted Erdoğan’s ability to recruit promising names to… Read More Oguz Alyanak & Umit Kurt – The sultan and his sycophants: Erdoğan is leading Turkey towards a bleak future

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