Authoritarianism has always been both a “show of power” and an “expression of weakness.”
It is sad that innocent people have been murdered brutally. It is sad that the murderers did it in the name of a great religion.
At first sight it seems that Turkey has turned into a great play of political vaudeville theater. Most recently, President Erdoğan announced that he will chair Cabinet meetings after he was elected head of state
The beginning of the “Kurdish peace process” was a big relief, as it was a giant step for the government to engage with the Kurdish political movement to solve the problem.
Finally, the crackdown on the Gülen movement has been extended to the Gülenist media, and 16 people, including two editors-in-chief (of daily Zaman and Samanyolu TV), were detained on Dec. 14
Turkey has been in political limbo ever since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected president. This was the first time a president has been elected by popular vote, but Turkey is still a parliamentary system where executive power is in the hands of the prime minister and the Cabinet.
Nobody admits to doing so openly, but some have recently considered rethinking whether Samuel Huntington’s infamous prophecy of the “Clash of Civilizations” is actually correct after the rise of Islamism, and especially the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
U.S.-Turkey relations are similar to the stories of celebrities’ failing marriages. Everyone knows that the couple does not get on anymore and even cheats on each other, but both parties publicly say the marriage is going well
It was very interesting to read an interview by Barçın Yinanç in the Hürriyet Daily News on a recent British Council survey in seven countries, including Turkey and the U.K., on views of the First World War.
