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Apr 19, 2013
Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the Palestinian issue his vehicle to move Turkey closer to its Muslim neighborhood, and earned an unprecedented popularity on the Arab street like no other Turkish leader, he may be risking for the first time losing the support of at least a part of the Palestinian population if he chooses to travel to Gaza toward the end of May, before the Palestinian rift between Fatah and Hamas can be reconciled. And it seems the chances of overcoming this separation by then are dim.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/erdogan-gaza-visit-hamas-fatah-maarouf.html#ixzz2R0nPCGdo
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Apr 17, 2013
In the last few days, two deeply troubling court decisions brought to light Turkey’s double standards in respecting freedom of expression and religion. While historic churches risk being converted to mosques in Turkey, world class concert pianist Fazil Say has been given jail time for insulting Muslims. Something seems to have gone terribly wrong in how the Turkish nation develops its sensitivity to freedom and democracy.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/religious-freedom-speech-fazil-say-turkey.html#ixzz2R0n5Z5XW
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Apr 16, 2013
Although it yielded no result so far, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), or Turkey’s main opposition party, submitted a proposal to the speaker of the parliament on Jan. 22 to inquire about the alleged torture suffered by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We propose opening a parliamentary inquiry in order to determine when, where, and how the prime minister was tortured,” the CHP statement read, demanding that the torturers be identified and held responsible for this heinous crime.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/turkey-human-rights-mixed-record-trials-kurds.html#ixzz2R0mi2EtJ
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Apr 15, 2013
Turkish people have an all-or-nothing thinking pattern about the US role on crucial domestic and foreign issues that shapes their future. When American diplomats hear about it, they often express sadness of Turkey’s self-perceived vulnerability and remind us that their conduct of diplomacy has no place in meddling anyone’s domestic affairs. This common dialectic unfortunately does not help either side to correct misperceptions, and that by refusing to meet halfway — by accepting some US influence in shaping policies here, it continues to make this an unhealthy alliance.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/turkey-kurdish-issue-endgame-peace-process.html#ixzz2R0mNylMg
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Apr 12, 2013
Last week, for the first time in my life, I met an Israeli intelligence official, a retired Mossad agent. On April 7, I gave a lecture at Tel Aviv University on the state of Turkey’s Kurdish issue. Although the room was not as full as I had wished, the audience was not only sincerely interested in the subject but some interesting people were present. Such as Eliezer Geizi Tsafrir.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/mossad-chief-israel-turkey-kurds-territory.html#ixzz2R0m4nY8B
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Apr 10, 2013
JERUSALEM — After the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident and its diplomatic fallout, many debated long and hard whether Israel or Turkey most needed the other. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an official apology to Turkey on March 22, another type of debate ensued. Turks presumed that Israel decided that it could not bear the loss of Turkey as an ally, even if a frosty one, and therefore extended the apology. In Israel, meanwhile, the issue became that the Turkish government seemed to be deceiving the public in its statements on the apology. After spending nearly a week in Israel and having conversations with numerous diplomatic sources, the following is what I gathered about the state of Turkish-Israeli relations.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/turkey-israel-apology-normalcy-trust.html#ixzz2R0ldkZMi
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Apr 8, 2013
JERUSALEM – Minutes after I walked into the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry at about 10 a.m. today [April 8], the sirens sounded in remembrance of the 6 million Jewish souls who had brutally vanished by the end of World War II. Although there is no Holocaust denial in Turkey, there is a growing and deepening perception that Israel has become just like its Nazi perpetrators — cruel and merciless in the way it treats the Palestinians. From the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) members to the ordinary Ahmet, Mehmet, Leyla and Fatma on the street, Turks by and large consider Israel a “genocidal state.” While there may be room to educate the Turkish people on what the Holocaust really means for Israelis and the Jewish people, their current views of Israeli treatment of Palestinians makes this tragic chapter in history less important for their consideration. I have even heard from the Turkish diplomatic corps that Israel should overcome this traumatic experience in its societal psyche and stop thinking about everything from a security prism, which they see as the true cause of horrible mistakes Israel makes with its recent Gaza offensives. The more Palestinians get killed, the more support Israel loses from the Turkish public and international community, they say. To them, Israeli actions are the root of the debates challenging its legitimacy.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/israel-turkey-relations.html#ixzz2R0lJ8zQK
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Apr 7, 2013
Turkey, as the legitimate inheritor of the Ottomans, is now challenged to come clean on the Armenian and Kurdish issues. Not that there is any economic or political instability in Turkey, but the ruling party must have come to a conclusion that the speedy transformation in the Middle East urges Turkey to prioritize finding a quick end to its Kurdish dilemma. That would enable Turkey to maximize gains for its national security interests, and to minimize the risks of a potential breakup. Many politicians continue to worry about Kurd desires for an independent Kurdistan.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/bdp-parliamentary-commission-nazmi-gur-turkey-erdogan.html#ixzz2R0kydORA
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Apr 4, 2013
Talk about being for it before being against it. That has been the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s position on the need for parliamentary supervision over the talks aiming to end the three decade long Kurdish armed movement in Turkey. For example, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued up until few days ago that any parliamentary involvement would be risking to legitimize the separatist Kurdish terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He said on March 29: “It’s the government that bears full responsibility [for these talks.]” On April 3, however, AKP proposed to form a parliamentary “commission to evaluate the resolution process.” On Thursday [April 4] both opposition parties flatly turned down the request to participate in this “investigative commission.”
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/turkey-kurdish-peace-talks-parliamentary-supervision.html#ixzz2R0kgjqX5
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Apr 3, 2013
Whether imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan will share the fate of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who was also denounced as a terrorist and spent three decades in prison on charges of treason before being released, is a big unknown.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/talks-akp-pkk-turkey-kurdish-peace-process-move-ahead.html#ixzz2R0kNAqhd
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