The ‘oath crisis’ in parliament is still not over. Ever since both CHP and BDP refused to take the oath to be inaugurated in parliament, there is a lot of good will talk going on between different parties, but for now, it all leads totally nowhere. It’s been almost three weeks now, and no (for the …
What got into the High Election Board?
Now, the Kurdish candidates who were banned from running in the elections at the beginning of the week have been ‘rehabilitated’: they are allowed to run, after the High Election Board discussed the matter again. Did they change their minds because of the intense protests in Istanbul and in the south east of the country? Was there an error in …
Boring elections coming up! Or not?
We already know who’s going to win the elections in June. The latest poll even predicts a 46% victory for governing AKP – that’s hardly a loss compared to the previous elections in 2007. Opposition party CHP is growing and would get 25% of the votes if elections were held now (an increase of about 5% compared to 2007), and …
This is a very cynical thing to say, but honestly, I think at MHP headquarters there is some relief after the decision by Kurdish separatist movement PKK to end its unilateral cease-fire. The more PKK violence, the stronger Turkish nationalist feelings and the more votes the MHP will get. Will they, thanks to the PKK, be able to pass the …
About Ahmet Kaya and a young woman
The whole evening, actually the whole Kurdish question came together in one young woman last night. I saw and heard her during a break in the commemoration night for Ahmet Kayak, a Kurdish singer who died ten years ago in exile in Paris. She was being interviewed on camera about what Ahmet Kaya meant for her. The journalist wanted her …
Polarization and press freedom
The award for the most untrue quote related to press freedom goes to Egemen Bagis, Minister of EU Affairs. He wrote in “Today’s Zaman” newspaper (a religious and very pro-government daily): ‘Today in Turkey there is not an issue or topic that cannot be discussed. Everybody in Turkey can freely discuss his ideas and everyone is free to express their …
A school, who could be against founding a school? In Diyarbakir, the biggest Kurdish city in the southeast, many people are strongly against it. Well, against one special government project. The former (military) prison of Diyarbakir should be given new life as a school, says the government. No, say many Kurds, it should be a museum, so nobody ever forgets …
Every, really every foreign journalist working in Turkey, writes about the Kurdish question. It’s one of the most urgent topics in the country, there are a lot of interesting developments to report about and the stories are usually pretty sellable as well. And I haven’t heard of any foreign journalist getting into trouble (the last couple of years) with the …
Who is behind the provocation?
That’s the big question these days in Turkey. There has been violence on the streets in two cities, resulting in four dead policemen, a few dead civilians, burnt police cars, roads blocked with overturned cars and angry crowds. Some person or some group, it is believed, must have provoked the violence. What makes emotions heat up as much as they …
Stone throwing kids: problem unsolved
Kids that throw stones at the police during demonstrations in the south east of Turkey (and in other places where many Kurds live, like in Adana and Mersin) will no longer be charged with being a member of a terrorist organization or for making propaganda for terrorists. The 196 children now serving a prison sentence for that offence will be …
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