Since there has been considerable confusion about the current political crisis in Turkey let me explain who is who and what is happening and why it matters.
The Facts:
The current constitution requires the President to be elected by the Parliament. The Turkish Parliament is made up of 550 MPs. A 2/3 … Continue Reading…
On Saturday, Turkey witnessed one of its republican history’s largest rally. Hundreds of thousands of people — from children to elders, from farmers to artists, from socialists to nationalists — traveled from across the country to Ankara not only … Continue Reading…
Joshua Kucera has written an interesting piece on the emergence of a new U.S. strategic policy for the Black Sea. Of course, there are limitations for the U.S. in dealing with this region at a time when Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran are priorities, however, as this article suggests, … Continue Reading…
On Friday afternoon, the Turkish-Armenian writer, intellectual, and journalist Hrant Dink was assasinated. Thanks to an extensive network of public cameras the suspect’s identity was quickly identified. Yesterday, the suspect’s father identified his son from the multitude of TV screens showing the footage extensively and provided his name to the … Continue Reading…
On Sunday, January 14th, Nicolas Sarkozy, current Interior Minister and head of the conservative party (UMP) was designated as an official candidate by 98,1% of the party’s members who voted (aprox. 70% turn out). He gave his first campaign speech the same day.
Beyond the very lyrical nature of the speech, … Continue Reading…