April 9, 2014

Gov't bid to close Turkish schools draws ire

Many from various circles, including intellectuals and academics, have leveled harsh criticism against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government's attempts to shut down Turkish schools abroad affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

The legacy of a professor closing down schools

Sevgi Akarçeşme

Closing down schools and being a professor seem mutually exclusive, but thanks to the extraordinary conditions in Turkey we have seen them coexist.

The fear of losing power feeds insanity…

Begüm Burak

The current developments that occurred in Turkey draw a rather bleak picture for democracy… And this picture is being drawn by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

Misreading Turkey’s Twitter Controversy

Alp Aslandogan*

I a recent article (“Trial by Twitter”), Halil Karaveli repeated the allegations of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey’s ruling party, that sympathizers of Fethullah Gülen are engaged in wiretapping. But he relies on innuendos, not evidence. Gülen has categorically rejected illegal phone tapping or the unauthorized publication of the transcripts made from legal phone taps, including recordings of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He views investigating or publicizing people’s faults as a sin and, indeed, has himself been the victim of an illegal phone-tapping scheme, in which Erdogan used the contents of his private conversations for defamatory purposes.

Turkey's Erdoğan declares war against 'parallel structure'

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to launch a massive operation against what he calls the "parallel structure," a reference to the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in his first parliamentary party group speech after the March 30 local polls.