April 4, 2014

In Conversation with the Gülen Movement’s Media Foundation Head

Asharq Al-Awsat speaks to the head of the Gülen movement's Journalists' and Writers' Foundation, Mustafa Yeşil*

The regime's character in Turkey

Bülent Keneş

My foreign colleagues have been frequently asking whether I expect an operation against me and the Hizmet movement in line with an order from the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. "No, I don't expect it," or "Yes, such a thing is a possibility," I reply, though these answers seem to be diametric opposites of one another. Then, I proceed to explain my answers. Whether there will be an operation against me or the Hizmet movement is dependent not on legal/legitimate activities by me or the Hizmet movement, but on what kind of regime the Turkish Republic will evolve into under the administration of Prime Minister Erdoğan.

Turkey's Election Results Seem to Validate Erdogan's Authoritarianism

Derek Davison*

After a campaign involving a corruption investigation and nation-wide bans on social media, and an election day marred by deadly violence, Sunday’s municipal elections in Turkey resulted in what appears to have been a clear victory for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). The outcome is expected to boost Erdogan’s stature leading up to August’s presidential election, in which he is expected to run, and it seems to have encouraged him to continue the draconian measures he has employed to counter internal opposition.

Fired journalist says Turkey shifting away from democracy

Turkey is more democratic than China or Iran but with the latest developments it is moving away from being a true democratic country, the former Rome bureau chief of the pro-government Sabah daily, Yasemin Taşkın, told the Italian daily La Repubblica on Thursday.

Psychological warfare

Lale Kemal

An İstanbul court finally released today, on April 3, the detailed reasoned opinion for its verdict in August 2013 on the Ergenekon coup plot trial, in which hundreds of former soldiers, including former Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, as well as lawyers, politicians and journalists, received prison sentences, including life imprisonment, for planning to overthrow the current government through the use of force. A close to 17,000-page reasoned opinion was just released as I was writing a column on the March 30 local election results, hence it is too early for me to make a thorough analysis of it.

Plot against Samanyolu media group detected

A plot created by an anonymous Internet user to manipulate an employee of the Samanyolu Media Group to frame the institution has been detected thanks to evidence given by the Samanyolu employee after relatives reported his involvement.

Turkish minister: 'Shelving of talks would mean parallel structure-EU cooperation'

European Union Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has dismissed the prospect that Turkey's accession talks with the European Union might be suspended, saying on Wednesday that if the EU freezes the negotiations, this will demonstrate that the EU is controlled by the so-called "parallel structure."

Erdoğan takes battle with enemies beyond Turkish frontiers

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan's battle to root out the "terrorists" he says are embedded in the Turkish state is extending beyond its frontiers to Africa and Asia, further complicating foreign policy already hit by tensions with the Arab world and Western allies.

Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu helps the homeless after floods in Zimbabwe

One of the largest charity organizations in Turkey, Kimse Yok Mu, has launched a massive aid campaign to extend help to nearly 20,000 people hit hard by floods that have devastated the border areas of Zimbabwe.