Tag: Turkey
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Peacemakers and Academics Facing Prison in Turkey
As cultural workers, unionists and academics working in Toronto and Canada, we strongly condemn the continuing harassment and sentencing of academics and students charged by the Turkish state with “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” (Article No. 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law No. 3713). Over two thousand academics in Turkey signed the Academics for Peace statement, … Keep reading »
Turkish Elections, Looming Fascism and Left Politics
The elections on 24 June in Turkey for a new president and parliament, which took place under a state of emergency, constitute an historic moment in Turkish republican history with important consequences. Firstly, it has institutionalized and consolidated the regime change put in place by the controversial 2017 referendum. The Turkish political system has successfully … Keep reading »
The “New Turkey”
Permanent State of Emergency and the Dream of Absolute Power After declaring a state of emergency in the country, the decree laws of the government have replaced the law and therefore the constitution (already suspended partially) in Turkey. The main aim of the government since the failed coup attempt is quickly avoiding the cases slowing down … Keep reading »
Turkey’s Privatization of Sugar Factories
On February 21, a notice was released in Turkey’s Official Gazette stating that bids will be collected for Turkey’s state-owned fourteen sugar plants. According to Directorate of Privatization Administration’s (OIB) announcement, sugar plants will be privatized. The AKP government, which has looted and made benefits of public-enterprises available to both national and international capital, seeks new privatization opportunities. Keep reading »
Ecological Crisis and Capitalist Accumulation in Contemporary Turkey
Zafer Ülger spoke with Arielle Concilio of Left Voice to discuss environmental issues in Turkey, their relation to capitalist accumulation, and the increasing violence against environmental activists in the country. Keep reading »
State and Labour During the AKP Rule in Turkey
A Balance Sheet of 15 Years The AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi-Justice and Development Party) is celebrating 15 years in power in Turkey. The party came to power in November 2002, against the backdrop of the major 2001 crisis and amidst a legitimacy crisis of the then mainstream political parties stemming from the crisis-ridden 1990s. The … Keep reading »
Building Solidarity through Standing Up for Truth
Academics for Peace in Turkey The fate of the neoliberal Islamist project of authoritarian restoration in Turkey will be determined by an upcoming referendum on April 16 of this year. The referendum will be held under the conditions of a state of emergency in effect since the July 15 coup attempt last year. The regime’s use … Keep reading »
Sheikh Bedreddin: A Greco-Turkish Communist Internationalist Avant la Lettre
To draw the net from the water together while singing a song in unison, to forge together the iron fine like lace, to be able together to cultivate the land, to be able to eat the honeyed figs together, to be able to say: “all together in everything, save the cheek of the beloved”… Nâzım … Keep reading »
Turkey: After Failed Coup, Erdogan Cracks Down
Faced with an attempt to overthrow his government, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the coup as “a gift from God” – and wasted no time in exploiting it to further entrench his authoritarian regime. Turkish government broadcaster TRT was seized by a group of military officers calling themselves the “Peace in the Country Council” on … Keep reading »
Turkey: Atlanticism versus Rabiism
The dramatic events that unfolded in Turkey on the night of 15 to 16 July have been excessively confined to the internecine struggle of two different Islamic currents, that of the AKP under the iron fist of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its latter day nemesis the Gulen fraternity. This is misleading in two senses. On … Keep reading »
The “New Turkey’s” Test With Freedom of Thought and Expression: Resurgent Fascism?
The petition by the “Academicians for Peace” in Turkey has resulted in an assault against the academic community of the country, which resembles the practices of the military junta of the September 12 1980, coup d’état. The petition itself and the reactions for/against it have gained a different momentum following the increasing pressure by the … Keep reading »
The Syrianization of Turkey
The immense catastrophe that struck Turkey in the streets of Ankara, the capital city, on 10 October, when two bombs exploded in the midst of a thronging crowd of what would possibly turn out to be hundreds of thousands of people, leading to the death of an indefinite number of people, in any case exceeding … Keep reading »