COLUMNISTS
November 30, 2015, Monday
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An EU ambassador in Turkey with fewer than 400 Twitter followers
Saturday was another dark day in Turkey. Tahir Elçi, a human rights activist and the head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, was assassinated. A day before this tragedy, two prominent journalists from the Cumhuriyet newspaper were jailed. As of today, Cumhuriyet's chief editor, Can Dündar, and the Ankara representative of the daily, Erdem Gül, are in prison. Indeed, these are difficult and dark days for Turkish democracy. While surfin -
Welcome to stability!
It has only been few weeks since the "repeat" election that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted on having took place on Nov. 1. After the "controlled chaos" strategy during the summer, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won by a landslide. Tired and scared of economic crisis and war, people voted for stability. Yet, as we are now witnessing, the chaos in the country is out of control. Yes, it has only been few weeks since the e -
Loss of a friend never easy
I'm in Diyarbakır to fulfill my last duty to my friend. Tahir Elçi was not only a very good lawyer and a human rights defender, but he was also a very good friend of mine. We met in 2000. As part of a group of human rights defenders, we were trying to establish the Turkish section of Amnesty International at that time and Tahir Elçi was involved in the Diyarbakır group. He dealt with Kurdish villagers' cases in the European Court of Human Righ -
Potato juice in a dictocracy
Can Dündar and Erdem Gül have been arrested. I am sadly sure that in some printed papers calling themselves “newspapers” some spare wheels of power who call themselves “journalists” are saying, “at last.” The reason is very simple. The existence of just one single, real newspaper with real journalists is enough to show the true nature of these “newspapers.” These people simply cannot stand to be the subject -
A logic of war threatens Turkey
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in its first two terms in power, between 2002 and 2011, pursued policies that were solidly based on a logic of peace. A “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy sought diplomatic solutions to disputes and greatly improved relations with almost all neighbors, particularly Russia. Internally, reforms toward securing basic rights and freedoms were adopted, while negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers -
Rights and duties to the state
The rights referred to herein historically emerge in the face of pressure from a political authority and the state's arbitrary attitudes that pay no heed to rule of law. In this context, it must be noted that despite traditional belief, which has enjoyed historical popularity, the true Islamic perspective makes it clear that our rights, rather than our duties to the state, are important. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of practice. The holy Quran, the Prophe -
Overseas Debt Collection in Turkey
Debt collection in Turkey is a big part of the Turkish legal industry. Different procedures apply to different claim types. Debt collections for unpaid checks are processed differently from debt collections for unpaid invoices due by a company. The timing, local procedures and even defense of the debtor when collecting an invoice are different from check collection procedures. Pre-legal debt collection in Turkey Whether it is a check/p -
Turkey and Russia: two old enemies
Turkish-Russian relations describe two uniquely steady, relentless enemies. A perusal of the map reveals the precise reason for this hostility. Turkey remains an obstacle to Russian access to the South and warm seas with its huge potential for expansion. If we look at the tension that started with Turkey's downing of the Russian aircraft as a return to this traditional hostility, it becomes easier to understand both sides of the conflict and what may happen. Pr -
Enemy at the gate
As authoritarianism looms over Turkey like dark clouds, Turkey underestimates a threat next door: the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or, as they call themselves following the declaration of a “caliphate” in Raqqa, the Islamic State (IS). The problem and the atrocities of ISIL do not disappear when one calls it by its Arabic name, Daesh, in order to avoid using the word “Islam.” Whether or not we turn our heads away, facing the g -
78 CEOs send letter of support for new climate pact
When we look at the outcomes of the 18th Annual Global CEO Survey, which was announced by PwC, synchronized with the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, we cannot see climate change among the issues that CEOs cared about the most. In the interviews conducted with 1,300 CEOs from around the world, only 6 percent of them listed climate change as a primary problem. Overall, the topics prioritized by CEOs were over-regulations, geop -
Angela Merkel’s Turkey test
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most powerful woman in the world. She has been the chancellor of Germany for ten years. She is a successful politician. Merkel's Germany is a country where the economy has grown and welfare and inner peace deepen, while Europe was being shaken by the global economic crisis. However, Mrs. Merkel is now facing Syrian refugees as the third biggest crisis in her political life, after nuclear energy and Greece. She is under pre
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