Turkey

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment) -On May 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed that Israel will “set eyes on Turkish territory” after Gaza. Erdoğan made these remarks during his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group meeting, stating: “Don’t think that Israel will stop in Gaza. Don’t think that Ramallah will be safe. […]

Featured

Turkey Suspends Trade with Israel over Gaza: Solidarity or Politics?

Volkan Isbasaran

Turkey, Israel, boycott, Gaza

Inequality

Erdoğan’s streak came to a screeching Halt as Turkey’s economy pays the price for Years of Policy Mistakes

The Conversation

By Gulcin Ozkan, King’s College London | – (The Conversation) – For many years, it wasn’t the economy that determined voting behaviour in Turkey. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won almost every election he contested despite a deteriorating economic outlook. This is commonly explained by the importance of identity politics in a country that […]

Democracy

Secular Opposition Crushes pro-Islam AKP in Turkey’s Local Elections

Arzu Geybullayeva

( Globalvoices.org ) – Turkey’s local elections which took place on March 31, will go down in history as one of its most surprising. Turkey’s demoralized opposition, namely the [secular] Republican People’s Party (CHP), dominated in what many pundits described as the ruling [center-right] Justice and Development Party’s worst defeat of its 22-year existence. For […]

Israel/ Palestine

No Difference between Netanyahu and Hitler says Erdogan, leader of NATO Member Turkey

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – There is “no difference” between what Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is doing in the months-long attacks on Gaza and what Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did decades ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today. At a science awards ceremony in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said: “How do you [Netanyahu] […]

Egypt

Not “Surrounded by Enemies:” Regional Powers Egypt and Turkey retain Ties with Israel during Gaza Conflict despite Critical Rhetoric

Mohamed Jegham

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A recent conversation in Israel was reported by The Forward: “‘We are surrounded by our enemies,’ muttered a Jewish history teacher to his student Moshe Klein.” Maybe decades ago this statement had some truth to it, but it is outdated and irrelevant in today’s geopolitical climate. Israel is […]

Featured

Taliban in Tel Aviv: Israel Joins Middle East in Clashing over Gender Segregation, Women’s rights in Public Sphere

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Haaretz reports that at public prayers for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, Ultra-Orthodox activists attempted to put up banners as separators to allow for the segregation of male and female worshipers. This action was seen as a provocation by liberal […]

Authoritarianism

How Turkey’s Opposition Elite enabled Erdoğan and Misled Voters

Global Voices

Written bySinan Ciddi ( Globalvoices.org ) – The sources of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s power are vast. In his over twenty years of rule, he has consolidated power to build himself a loyal bureaucratic system (including the military and law enforcement), a compliant mainstream media landscape, and a government system that positions his dictates […]

Kurds

Amid growing Tension between Russia, Iran and the US, Syria’s Kurds have been Sidelined

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – In north-east Syria, the 12-year conflict is far from over. Russian fighter jets buzz US surveillance drones, threatening to bring them down. Iranian-backed militias occasionally fire rockets at US positions. The Assad regime maintains that it will “regain every inch” of Syria, ending Kurdish autonomy in the […]