06 - Articles de juin 2007

Dernier ajout : 29 juin 2007.

Articles de cette rubrique

Sex matters -2- (the tragedy of Kemalist feminism)
29 June 2007, by Mustafa Akyol

Unlike Mustafa Kemal, who did a lot to improve women’s status, his dedicated followers stopped asking for progress and became ‘secular conservatives’.
Last weekend I was sitting at one the busiest Starbucks Coffee shops in Istanbul and reading the recent report by the European Stability Initiative (ESI) titled, “Sex And Power In Turkey : Feminism, Islam and The Maturing of Turkish Democracy.”
Suddenly someone said “Hi!” to me, and I realized that she was the perfect person to do so while (...)
Sex matters -1- (toward a post-patriarchal Turkey)
28 June 2007, by Mustafa Akyol

The recent report by the European Stability Initiative shows that, despite all the alarmists that suggest otherwise, Turkey is making great progress on women’s rights and heading towards a ‘postpatriarchal’ stage.
Do you recall the recent debate in Turkey about “Islamic capitalism” ?
Well, that was sparked by a 2005 report prepared by the Berlin-based think tank, European Stability Initiative (ESI), and which had the witty title, “Islamic Calvinists: Change and conservatism in Central (...)
Unnerving developments
27 June 2007, by Dogu Ergil

Those were good days : there were the military and civilian bureaucrats that ran the state affairs and a small stratum of middle-class professionals that staffed the academia, media and Turkified (after the transfer of property and capital from minorities by various methods during and after World War I) business concerns that mainly lived under state protection.
Then there were peasant masses that lived in poverty, isolation and in obedience to their traditional local leaders like the (...)
Why nationalism works — and how capitalism might help
26 June 2007, by Mustafa Akyol

It is no accident that the proponents and followers of militant nationalism are at best indifferent to and most likely antagonistic towards free markets.
I was taking a nap on Cem Uzan’s “election bus” last Wednesday when the shiny vehicle was about to reach Trabzon, a city that has been on the news lately for its rampant nationalism. The loud music and chanting coming from the party convoy woke me up, and the first thing I noticed was a pickup truck which had several youngsters hanging out (...)
The existential crisis of the Turkish Military
25 June 2007, by Orhan Kemal Cengiz

The Turkish Republic was founded by soldiers. Mustafa Kemal was a first class soldier before anything else. The Turkish military has always seen itself as the revolutionary, modernizing and progressive power of this country.
To some extent this has been true. Today, however, the Turkish military is going through an existential crisis. Atatürk had always pointed to the West and western values as the main direction to which Turkey should head. However, today’s West, namely the European Union, (...)
Ankarapology : what is to fuss about?
22 June 2007, by Emre Uslu

You are familiar with my Ankarapolgy analyses that deal with the issues of Ankara politics and security related tug of war. In one of the analyses, Ankarapology: A manual to understand what’s going on in Ankara, which appeared on this column more than a year ago, on May 23, 2006, the developments that are happening in these days, were predicted in most accurate form.
Let me bring the year old analysis to your attention first, then move on make further clarifications and predictions for (...)
Regards européens sur la Turquie
21 juin 2007, par Meike Dülffer

La Turquie doit-elle entrer dans l’Union européenne ? Peut-on même la compter parmi les Etats européens ? Ces questions sont au cœur des débats houleux qui animent responsables politiques et intellectuels comme aucun autre sujet. Mais si les positions semblent irréconciliables, elles contribuent en tous cas à accélérer les évolutions et à avancer sur la voie de l’entente intereuropéenne.
Depuis octobre 2005, l’Union européenne mène avec la Turquie des négociations officielles sur son adhésion. (...)
Why the CHP does not care about the economy ?
20 June 2007, by Taha Akyol

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal accepts the existence of a widespread opinion in the country regarding his party that “they cannot run the economy well.” But of course he says this is wrong. Indeed, the CHP all along identifies itself with the “republican values,” rather than economic policies. CHP prioritized “economic and social” factor only once in the 1970s, during the “Left of the Center” movement and it is the only time the party won the highest number of electoral (...)
The ups and downs of democracy in Turkey
19 June 2007

Une Interview de Yüksel Söylemez
Question: Turkey could not elect a President. Was this not a minus, or a poor show, for Turkish democracy?
Soylemez: Well, some people may think that it was, but I beg to differ. It was the unprecedented revolt of the parliamentary minority against the heavy handed imposition of the parliamentary majority in power. Seen from that angle, it was an expression of democratic freedom of choice, and as such it was an historic event that can be described not as (...)
Turkey withdraws military support for EU security, defence policy
18 June 2007

Turkey withdrew its military support to the EU under the European security and defence policy.
Turkey supported the EU’s several military operations with its air and naval troops since the beginning of 2000s.
After the EU failed to meet Turkey’s expectations and resolve some problems, Turkey decided to withdraw its support.
Reliable sources said that Gen Yilmaz Oguz, Turkey’s highest level military representative to NATO and the EU, officially conveyed Turkey’s decision to the EU in May. (...)