I have been sadly observing the power struggles, competition for economic benefits, and bursts of anger among the tariqats (Islamic orders) and Islamic community groups in Turkey.
We do not know yet what the legal basis on which the alliance between the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will look like. I need to emphasize this: Removing the ten-percent electoral threshold for political parties that seek to form an election alliance but keeping it in place for other parties violates the constitution‘s principle of equality.
Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call to remove “Turkish” from the names of the Turkish Medical Association and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, based on the assumption that they have not supported “Operation Olive Branch” into Syria, debates have turned to the concepts of “Turkishness” and “Turkey.”
The People’s Protection Units (YPG) are believed to control a 70,000-square kilometer area in Syria. The largest part of this land under YPG control stretches from “east of the Euphrates” to “the Iranian border” (area highlighted in yellow in the map).
It is not enough for courts to be independent and impartial, it is also necessary for the public to believe they actually are.
For the first time in our judicial history, a local court decided not to execute the decision of the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court has finally made a move and has decided to act on the applications of the detained journalists. For months, it has avoided bringing it on the agenda.
The slogan “Crusader-Zionist alliance” is common in many parts of Islamist circles in Turkey. Similarly, the same circles often like to describe the European Union as a “Christian club.”
During President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens last week he stirred a debate about the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which fixed the borders of modern Turkey and Greece.
