Sahin Alpay

Articles de cet auteur (9)

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  Time for Israel to come to its senses

  16 February 2011

  There is no doubt that Bernard Lewis is a prominent historian of the Middle East, including Turkey. His book “The Emergence of Modern Turkey” (1961) is indispensable reading in the field of Turkish politics, and I respect Lewis for that.
  What I do not respect in Lewis’ work is his ideas that have inspired Samuel P. Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” thesis that maintains that after the end of the Cold War, the major conflict in the world is between the Christian West and the Muslim East. I do (...)

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  Why do most Turks side with Erdoğan at Davos?

  6 February 2009

  The top news story last week in Turkey was surely about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan walking off the panel on Gaza held at the World Economic Forum in Davos when he was prevented by the moderator from responding to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who with a raised voice and pointed finger railed at him for criticizing Israel’s deadly offensive against the Palestinians.
  There were widely divergent assessments of Erdoğan’s performance at Davos among commentators in the Turkish media, some (...)

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  Can Turkish-Armenian relations normalize?

  2 May 2008

  Armenia’s new president, Serzh Sarkisian, on the occasion of the “Genocide Day” commemorated on April 24, said: “International recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide is an appropriate and inevitable part of Armenia’s foreign policy agenda. The motherland of all Armenians, the Republic of Armenia, should redouble its efforts for the restoration of historic justice.”
  The statement appeared to be a negative response to a recent letter sent by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to (...)

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  PKK à en mourir ?

  6 mars 2008

  Les opérations des forces armées turques (TSK) au Nord Irakien a surpris à la fois par leur déclenchement et par leur fin. Les troupes turques sont entrées dans la nuit du 21 février et se sont retirées le 29 février au matin.
  Dans un climat où on s’attendait à une opération qui allait durer au moins une à deux semaines, le retrait rapide de l’armée turque a provoqué l’étonnement. Etonnement car lorsque le secrétaire d’Etat à la défense américain, Gates suivi du président Bush ont exigé le retrait au plus (...)

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  The PKK story: ‘Blood and Belief’

  4 December 2007

  Aliza Marcus’s new book, “The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence: Blood and Belief” (New York University Press, September 2007), is the best and most recent study on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It is an extremely valuable contribution to a proper understanding of the PKK phenomenon.
  Marcus was based in Turkey between 1989 and 1996, first as a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor and later for Reuters, and she won a National Press Club Award for her coverage of the PKK. (...)

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  Turkey’s tests of conscience and rule of law

  31 October 2007

  I began school when power was for the first time transferred in a peaceful way in Turkey, without bloodshed.
  Published earlier this year during the electoral campaign hold in July, this “rope’s debate” based article is still relevant regarding the Turkish political context which led the country in the situation it is today on the verge of war. That’s the reason why TE decided to publish it today on its website.
  So my generation is the same age as Turkey’s claim to the full establishment of (...)

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  Whom shall I vote for?

  26 July 2007

  In this election I am going to vote for independent candidate Baskın Oran, because I want to see a member of the Turkish Parliament who will defend human rights and the rule of law resolutely and unswervingly. Professor Oran is a former schoolmate, and a friend of mine of 40 years’ standing. I trust that he will fully represent my views and preferences. I must, however, also declare that if I had the slightest doubt about the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) winning enough seats in (...)

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  The meaning of Sarkozy

  8 June 2007

  Last month Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France. France is not a country that is familiar to me. I have neither lived in France, nor have the ability to read or write French. I follow what is happening there mostly by reading books and newspapers in the languages available to me.
  I am aware that Sarkozy has promised France more authority, more uniculturalism, less immigration, more work, less bureaucracy, more market, closer relations with America, among other things. He does (...)

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  Turkey and Europe : the Swedish point of view

  4 November 2006

  Source : Zaman, 10-21-2006
  Last month in Sweden’s general elections a right-wing coalition under the leadership of the Conservative Party won with a small margin. The Social Democrat Workers Party, which has been in power for the last 12 years and has governed the country for the 65 of the past 75 years, became the opposition.
  The exit of Goran Persson,57, prime minister for the last 10 years, and the arrival of Fredrik Reinfeldt,41, doesn’t necessarily mean Sweden will face major changes (...)