[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
Turkish Foreign Policy
How Turkey Went From “Zero Problems” to Zero Friends Piotr Zalewski gives a recap of Turkey's post-Arab spring foreign policy: "Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now burned his bridges with the military regime in Egypt, squabbled with Gulf monarchies for refusing to stand by deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, and started a war of words with Israel for having a hand in the coup that removed Morsy from power."
Turkey's "Precious Isolation" in the Middle East Semih Idiz writes that Turkey's political influence in the region has already begun to wane.
Turkey Takes Sides, Pays a Price Fehim Tastekin provides historical context to Turkey's relationship with Syria.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey Falter Over Egypt Madawi Al Rasheed explores Turkey-Saudi Arabia relations in the aftermath of the Egyptian coup.
Precious Gollumland… Yusuf Kanli comments on Turkey's "precious isolation" policy by making a Lord of the Rings analogy.
Egypt Ties on Brink of Rupture in Wake of Cairo Massacre A summary of the latest developments in Turkey's Egypt policy.
Heart vs. Mind Evaluating PM Erdoğan's reactions to the events in Egypt, Nicole Pope writes that "emotions, rather than cool-headed assessments, have regained the upper hand" in Turkey's foreign policy.
Could Turkey One Day Turn Its Back on the Syrian Opposition? Lale Kemal predicts that "Turkey may soon enter into a psychology of shifting its foreign policy, for example, on Syria out of a concern of increased isolation and the war's fallout effect."
Turkey Must Disengage from Intra-Arab Conflicts Mohammed Ayoob explains why Turkey needs to give up its interventionist politics in the Arab world.
Historic Importance of Gorran's Ankara Visit Discusses the visit of Iraqi Kurdistan’s major opposition party to Ankara.
Polarization at Home, Isolation in the World Argues that Turkey needs to decrease polarization at home and isolation in its foreign policy.
Do Egypt, Syria or Kurds Hurt Turkey More? Points to the connection between Turkey’s policies towards Syria and the peace process with Kurds.
Is Turkey's Foreign Policy Romantic? Argues that the massacres in Egypt have proven Turkey’s condemnation of the military coup right.
Turkish Domestic Politics Hijacked Argues that over-concentration on Egypt will harm Turkey’s international reputation and domestic well being.
Who Is a Liberal? Addresses whether liberalism can pose an alternative to the AKP’s rule.
Why Did Turkey Cut Back on Troops in Lebanon? Criticizes the AKP’s decision to cut back on troops in Lebanon after two of its pilots have been kidnapped there.
Turkey Condemns Egypt's Coup An account of the AKP’s rising anti-western sentiments as the western world fails to condemn Egypt’s coup.
Turkey's Erdoğan: A Smart Man With Jews on the Brain Jeffrey Goldberg blames Erdoğan for anti-semitism.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Should Resign! A commentary on the AKP’s criticism of Saudi Arabia due to its policies on Egypt.
Obama’s Strong Reaction to Erdoğan Discusses the tension between the U.S. and Turkey regarding Israel.
Erdoğan Raises “Four Fingers” and Shoots Himself in the Foot Addresses the consequences of Erdoğan’s open endorsement of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Turkey Alliances Over Syria Conflict Strained by Egypt Coup Compares Erdoğan’s stance against Assad with his endorsement of the Muslim Brotherhood in terms of the sympathy it gains from the world.
Turkey Bemoans Regional Loss With Egyptian Brotherhood Fall Another account of the AKP’s reaction to the Egypt’s coup.
Lonely Command Argues that Erdoğan remains powerful despite some setbacks at home and abroad.
Erdoğan’s Anti-Israel Remarks Reflect Broader Anti-Semitism in Turkey Another criticial review of Erdoğan’s recent remarks on Israel.
Erdoğan’s Israel Remark Brings Condemnation, Ridicule An account of Erdoğan’s accusation that Israel is behind the coup in Egypt, and the ridicule he has attracted with this statement throughout the world.
Israel's Military Intelligence Aims for Transparency with Startling Revelations on Turkey, Egypt An account of Turkish-Israeli intelligence cooperation in late 1950s, from declassified Israeli documents.
Precious Loneliness for Election Victory Emre Uslu reviews how Erdoğan made enemies from the west, Israel, the Gulf countries, and other all at once, and how this rhetoric might actually help him win elections.
Egyptian Twitter Post Pushes Turkey's Buttons Yasemin Congar tells the story of how a twitter suggesting that the current government will recognize Armenian genocide frustrated Turkey.
Turkey's Foreign Policy: Slip-Up or Success? Debates whether the current aggressiveness in Turkey’s foreign policy will benefit Turkey, or the contrary.
Domestic Policy
Dangerous Friends: Power Struggle Splits Turkish Ruling Party Discusses the split between the PM Erdoğan and Fetullah Gülen, the leader of Gülen Movement, which has recently become public.
Unscrupulous News Reporting by Der Spiegel Blames the German newspaper Der Spiegel for misrepresenting the AKP and falsely reporting a split between Erdoğan and Gülen.
I Wish It Was All About the Election Ballot! Praises Turkey’s recent Ergenekon trials as an example for other countries in the region as a way for ending military tutelage.
What Makes a Constitution “New”? Discusses agreements and disagreements between political parties in regard to the definition of citizenship as they debate their proposals for the new Constitution.
Erdogan Veers From “Reformed Moderate Islam” Argues that Erdoğan makes more references to Islam since the Gezi Protests, as can be seen in his recent endorsement of Mursi on the basis of Islam rather than of democracy.
Kurdish Question
Erdogan's "Now or Never" Moment in Turkish-Kurdish Peace Process Talks about the recent controversies between the Turkish government and the Kurdish movement regarding the steps that Turkey must take in relation to the peace process.
The Kurdish Peace Process Still a Priority for Turkey? Murat Yetkin, a prominent journalist in Turkey, debates whether the AKP considers its priority to be the peace process with the Kurds, as the President declared, or its dealings with Syria and Egypt.
Academics Protest Facebook's Censorship Policies Academics from 101 universities in sixteen countries protest Facebook’s censorship policies in Turkey.
Economy
Istanbul Skyline Reflects Cheap Dollars Now Growing Scarce Discusses how and why the Turkish lira has lost value against dollar.
Global Rate Hike Is Unavoidable in Face of FED’s Positioning A commentary on the likely fall of the Turkish economy.
Government Facing Unpleasant Options An account of what the government can do in order to avoid recession.
The Energy Triangle Discusses Turkey’s ongoing energy problems.
Private-Public Joint Projects for Infrastructure Accelerate An account of how the private and public sectors cooperate in the sectors of communication, energy, and transportation.
Fighting Poverty: The Case in Turkey Discusses conditional cash transfer as a means for fighting poverty.
Gezi Uprising
On Occupy Gezi & “Turkish Spring”: The Answer to Permanent Accumulation Is Permanent Revolution! An interview with Michael Löwy addressing the Gezi Protests and their links to global capitalism and movements against it.
Other Pertinent Pieces
Turkey’s Women Strike Back Provides answers to the question of why so many women participated in the Gezi Protests.
Turkey's Rising Middle Class Drives Demand for Islamic Fashion An account of the rise of Islamic fashion in Istanbul.
Patriarch Asks Turkey to End Stalemate Over Shuttered Seminary Summarizes the views of the Greek Patriarch on the reopening of a theological seminary in Istanbul.
Turkish Children Steered Toward Religious Education Tulin Daloğlu is critical of Turkey’s recent policies in the field of education.
Literature Does Not Stop at National Borders Writer Sema Kaygusuz’s speech at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
We Won't Give Up Anatolia Discusses various environmental and ecological movements in Turkey.
From the Ashes Discusses how Armenians commemorate their past and the opening of a new museum is in Diyarbakır.
Gay in the Turkish Army An account of how gays are treated by the Turkish army.
Turkish
Bir ittifakın çöküşü… Ali Bayramoğlu claims that the triple alliance that had constituted the AK Party’s power since 2002 has been broken.
Mısır'dan 'Çözüm Süreci'ne: Yanlışlar, yanılgılar… Cengiz Çandar outlines the mistakes made by the AKP, from its postion on the coup d’etat in Egypt to the settlement process in Turkey, and suggests that the government is uncalibrated following the Gezi uprising.
Yarım-doğrularla tartışmak Murat Belge contends that Prime Minister Erdoğan “argues via half-truths” following the Gezi uprising.
Demokrasi pilavın üstüne konan "az" kuru değildir Rober Koptaş comments on the debate over democracy that Prime Minister Erdoğan recently promoted.
Demokrasi Batı’da başka, Doğu’da başka mıdır? Levent Köker asks whether democracy is different in the East and in the West.
Yaşasın demokrasi“Long life democracy,” Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu says, in regard to the same debate.
Solcusu, İslamcısıyla hepimizin kafası çok kötü karışık Ruşen Çakır contends that we all, from Leftists to Islamists, are very confused.
Orta sınıflar orta sınıflara karşı Süleyman Seyfi Öğün reads major political developments in terms of class struggle, specifically the struggle between two middle classes.
Kimin ölümü ağlanmaya değer? Meyda Yeğenoğlu asks whose death is worth mourning, amid comparisons made between Gezi Park and Rabia al-Adawiya Square.
Taksim'den Amed'e Aysel Tuğluk, an independent pro-Kurdish deputy and the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), highlights the significance of struggle “from Taksim to Amed.”
”Yerel seçimlere Doğu'da BDP, Batı'da HDP ile girilecek”“In the east BDP and in the west HDK will take part in the local election,” People's Democratic Congress (HDK) co-chair Yavuz Önen announces.
HDK-HDP ve BDP ile siyaset Baki Gül explores the possibility of a “politics via HDK-HDP and BDP.”
Foreign Policy
“Değersiz yalnızlıklar...” Ceyda Karan comments on the “precious isolation” of Turkey.
Nostalji, Melankoli, Paranoya Ergin Yıldızoğle associates “precious isolation” with nostalgia, paranoia, and melancholy.
Türk dış politikası hiç bugünkü kadar perişanları oynamamıştı! Hasan Cemal argues that “Turkish foreign policy has never been so miserable.”
Yalnızlaşmanın 3 nedeni! Abdülhamit Bilici sets forth three reasons for “precious isolation.”
Dış politikada ters giden ne? Murat Aksoy explains what is wrong with Turkish foreign policy.
Rejim mi ihraç ediyoruz? Yalçın Akdoğan, Erdoğan’s chief advisor, responds to accusations.
Türk Dış Politikasında “İlkeli Duruş” Erol Kurubaş comments on the ministry of foreign affairs’ acknowledgement of Turkey’s isolation, arguing that there is pride in standing up for your principles, if you must.
Mısır ve biz Nuray Mert compares Egypt and Turkey.
Mısır sınavı Doğu Ergil draws attention to the “Egypt exam” of the world, including Turkey.
Pilotlar dış politika 'kurban'ı mı? Mete Çubukçu writes on the kidnapping crisis in Lebanon.
Kurdish Question
Türkler nasıl Türkiyelileşir? Bülent Küçük explores some basic problems of the peace process.
Demokratikleşmenin öncüsüyüz M. Ali Çelebi interviews Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chair Salih Muslim.
Kadın özgür değilse demokrasi olmaz Turkey maintains contact with Salih Müslim in regard to Rojava, but the PYD also has a female chair—Asya Abdullah. Pınar Öğünç interviews her.
“Cemaat ile AKP çatışması çözüm sürecini zora sokuyor” Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), talks to Birgün.
Ergenekon’a karşı PKK affı olmaz Tuğba Tekerek interviews Gülten Kışanak, the co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party. The second part of the interview is particularly about the Kurdish National Congress.
Rojava'daki petrol savaşı mı?Çağıl Kasapoğlu addresses the question of whether the struggle that erupted in Rojava is about oil or not.
PYD üzerinden stratejik rol tahayyülü Yalçın Akdoğan, Erdoğan’s chief advisor, accuses Öcalan of trying to produce a strategic role in the region following the developments in Rojava.
Yeni Türkiye’de Öcalan rolü ve Erdoğan… Delil Karakoçan explores “Öcalan’s role in the new Turkey.”
Çözüm süreci çöküyor mu? Mehmet Metiner claims that the peace process continues despite the mistakes the PKK and BDP have made so far.
Güneydoğu notları (17): Barış Etyen Mahçupyan brings his series about the Kurdish question to an end, exploring the peace process.
Gezi Uprising
Gezi ve Çarşı, darbeye karşı (mı?) Oya Baydar examines whether Gezi is against a coup d’etat.
Beyoğlu’nu gazla temizlemek Rıdvan Akar writes on the failure of the government’s plan to clean Beyoğlu with tear gas.
“Gezi” notları ve beklentiler… Eren Korkmaz shares his notes and expectations about the Gezi uprising.
Öngörülemeyen Öngörülerimiz Ahmed Saymadi reveals his “unanticipated anticipations” about the uprising.
Ankara: Unutmanın ve Hatırlamanın RadikalliğiÖzge Kelekçi interprets Ankara’s radical activism and determination in the Gezi uprising.
Bir ülkücünün Gezi güncesi A diary of an ultra-nationalist related to the Gezi uprising.
#Direniş Oyunu The current issue of the game and culture journal “Rats at Play” (Fareler Oyunda) focuses on the Gezi uprising.
Liberaller için yol ayrımı Harun Kaban explores the effects and consequences of the Gezi uprising amongs Turkish liberals.
Tebdil-i Mekan ve Kimlik: Gezi Olayları ve R4bia Irmak Evren compares Gezi Park and Rabia al-Adawiya Square.
Gezi ve Posthegemonya Ali Murat Yel focuses on the relationship between “Gezi and posthegemony.”
Other Pertinent Pieces
Bilgiyle konuşmak isteyenler için İlker Başbuğ dosyası Alper Görmüş presents İlker Basbuğ’s case file for those who want to speak about the Ergenekon trial with knowledge. He also responds to Basbuğ’s lawyer and reveals his own mistakes about the case.
Kadının yeri yok Cansu Akbaş writes on the Turkish government’s authoritarian tendencies regarding women.
Zorla kaybedilenler The Truth, Justice, and Memory Center calls on the Turkish government to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Published on Jadaliyya
Istanbul, Its People, and Their Limits
World War I and the Ottoman Home Front
In This Sublime Struggle of Ours: After Egypt, on Turkey and Terror
Academics Protest Facebook Censorship Policies in Turkey
Bu Ulvi Mucadelemizde: Misir'dan sonra, Turkiye ve Teror uzerine