GÜVEN SAK

Turkey under siege GÜVEN SAK

Turkey under siege?

All of us in Turkey are remnants of an empire that crumbled at the turn of the last century. I was born in Bursa, in western Turkey. My mother’s Tatar ancestors came to Bursa from Romania during the Balkan Wars

December 23 2016
Welcome to the age of global reckless driving GÜVEN SAK

Welcome to the age of global reckless driving

Donald Trump will become U.S. president in a few weeks. The silence is deafening.

December 16 2016
At the gates of Europe GÜVEN SAK

At the gates of Europe

Last I checked, on Dec. 8, it had dwindled down to 0. Just 14 months ago, on Oct. 20, 2015, it was more than 10,000, mind you. Prefer long-term averages? The daily average was around 5,000 for November 2015 and 66 for November 2016.

December 09 2016
Europe needs a Turkey strategy GÜVEN SAK

Europe needs a Turkey strategy

The European Parliament has recommended to the European Commission a temporary freeze of accession negotiations with Turkey.

November 25 2016
Why the Trexit debate GÜVEN SAK

Why the Trexit debate?

There have been many articles about “Trexit” in the Turkish media since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the possibility of a referendum on Ankara’s EU membership bid. The term, of course, is derived from “Brexit,” and implies that Turks will vote their way out of the EU, just as the British did

November 18 2016
The exodus GÜVEN SAK

The exodus?

I have been hearing the same question a lot lately.

November 11 2016
Welcome to the Grand Hotel Abyss GÜVEN SAK

Welcome to the Grand Hotel Abyss

The day after that dreadful night of the failed coup in Turkey, tens of thousands of Venezuelans were crossing the Colombian border. The weekend of July 16-17 witnessed around 135,000 Venezuelans making the trip. They walked there, and they walked back. Why you may wonder?

November 04 2016
Why the growth slowdown in Turkey now GÜVEN SAK

Why the growth slowdown in Turkey now?

Have you seen the Putinphone? Caviar, a Russian jewelry company, has designed a limited edition of them on the occasion of the 63rd birthday of the Russian president.

October 28 2016
A small but decisive step towards rule of law in Turkey GÜVEN SAK

A small but decisive step towards rule of law in Turkey?

“The power to become habituated to his surroundings is a marked characteristic of mankind,” writes John Maynard Keynes in the opening sentence of The Economic Consequences of the Peace. “Very few of us realize with conviction the intensely unusual, unstable, complicated, unreliable, temporary nature of the … organization by which Western Europe has lived for the last half century.”

October 21 2016