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Mar 28, 2013
“Syria is as important as our domestic affairs,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Jan. 19. His government put strong emphasis on the moral responsibility that Turkey has in caring for the nearly 200,000 Syrians who fled to Turkey for safety from the atrocities of the Bashar al-Assad regime, but a recent incident at a Syrian refugee camp risks putting Turkey’s good name on the line and has the potential to cause some international repercussions.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/turkey-denies-deporting-600-syrian-refugees.html#ixzz2R0jNZWdq
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Mar 27, 2013
When someone says something and then feels that it needs an explanation, it is a clear signal that something is wrong.
That is exactly what happened to Mehmet Gormez, Director of Religious Affairs. What he touched upon was something so sensitive that it mirrored all the arguments concerning what Turkish democracy really means if the state is controlling religious practices, and whether there is a way forward under an Islamist-oriented ruling party for people to also exercise the right of freedom from religion. In a free society after all, everyone should be free to choose how they reach God, or not.
“Izmir has a different kind of religiosity. This religiosity is in need of wisdom of the [religious] traditions,” Gormez said on Tuesday [March 26] when he addressed the members of his directorate in Izmir. “Therefore, it is no coincidence that a mufti raised by this [religious] tradition of wisdom is appointed to Izmir.”
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/turkey-izmir-religious-freedom.html#ixzz2R0iq3NgQ
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Mar 25, 2013
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains cautious in engaging Turkish parliament in any way on the steps taken in talks with the jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, which got under way in Oct. 2012, and denies sharing direct information with any of the parliamentary political parties on this issue. While the Erdogan government stresses that the process is very sensitive and needs encouragement and support from all segments of society, Gultan Kisanak, pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chairwoman, however, is asking for legal guarantees that they will not face any legal ramifications for helping the government’s initiative, and therefore, calls for assurances acknowledged and approved by parliament.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/bdp-turkish-kurdish-ceasefire-legal-guarantees.html#ixzz2OdwIqaey
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Mar 24, 2013
The rapprochement between Turkey and Israel on Friday [March 22] included an official apology from Israel — an attempt to make amends for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. And while some will see the apology as a clear victory for Turkey over the Jewish state, the truth is that this diplomatic development is a way to keep Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan both on the side of the United States and Israel, and in line.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/israel-apology-turkey-flotilla-syrian-crisis.html#ixzz2OaJsOf00
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Mar 22, 2013
Much has been said about whether US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and the West Bank this week served any good for revamping the peace process.
While the jury is still out on what happens with the peace process, Obama will return to Washington from his Middle East tour with one solid victory.
Turkey and Israel decided on Friday [March 22] to renew their friendship for the sake of regional security and stability, and therefore agreed to put behind their differences over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/netanyahu-apology-erdogan-gaza-flotilla-obama-trip.html#ixzz2OaJTwpec
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Mar 21, 2013
Jailed Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] leader Abdullah Ocalan’s Newroz message to a large crowd in Diyarbakir on March 21 revealed some significant overlaps with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s lecture in the same city at Dicle University on March 15 asking Kurds to give their full support to the government’s new initiative and aiming to end the bloodshed in the country.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/ocalan-turkey-talks-new-era-kurdish-issue.html#ixzz2OaIvXtUD
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Mar 20, 2013
As US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on March 20, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan began an official visit to Denmark with an effort to clarify the controversial remarks he made on Feb. 27 at a UN conference in Vienna referring to Zionism as a crime against humanity. “Let no one misunderstand what I said. Everyone knows that my criticism [of Israel] focuses on some critical issues. It’s directed especially toward Israeli policies on Gaza,” Erdogan said in an interview with Politiken, a Danish newspaper. “As long as Israel denies Palestinians the right to statehood, our criticisms will continue. On the other hand, we have recognized Israel’s existence within 1967 borders based on a two-state solution.”
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/erdogan-zionism-remarks-obama-israel-visit.html#ixzz2OaIarEuH
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Mar 19, 2013
The state of the freedom of the media in Turkey has sunk to a new low with Hasan Cemal’s resignation from the daily newspaper Milliyet. Since Milliyet broke the biggest scoop on the latest talks between the government and the imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan the tension could not be contained. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly slammed Milliyet for reporting Ocalan’s side of the approach to the talks, and considered it an attempt to sabotage the successful ending of the bloodshed in the name of the Kurdish rights in the country.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/turkey-freedom-of-press-milliyet-journalist-cemal-resigned.html#ixzz2OaIG6C9n
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Mar 18, 2013
Speculation abounds as to what (and how) Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan will or will not say on March 21, when Kurds in Turkey mark Newroz, their new year’s celebration. A most likely scenario is that Ocalan will reassert that he is in direct negotiations with the Turkish government to gain constitutional guarantees for Kurdish rights and that it is time to end the use of violence as a tactic in the Kurdish movement in Turkey.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/turkey-negotiations-ocalan.html#ixzz2OaHin7I5
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Mar 17, 2013
In a country where there seems to be a mosque on almost every corner, it sounds overblown to claim that pious Muslims are oppressed in Turkey. But since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power over a decade ago, it has been the party line to accuse Kemalist ideology as being Islamophobic and responsible for oppressing and discriminating against practicing Muslims in state, business, and personal affairs.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/religion-turkey-akp-islamists-zaman-gulen-dagi.html#ixzz2OaHEU2Zg
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