Monthly Archives: June 2011

After inquiring why in the world the EU has not even disclosed the results of screening chapters it completed in 2006 on Turkey, I was told by officials in Brussels that the ball is with the European Council, and some … Continue reading →

Let me lay it out for you in plain words: Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) is the last bastion of the old hardcore, die-hard, secularist/nationalist camp deeply entrenched with the ideology of state supremacy over individual liberties. The latest decision … Continue reading →

As shown in the last three parliamentary elections in Turkey, the proportional representation system in the elections with a 10 percent national threshold has produced two extreme results that warrant close examination for future stability in the country. In the … Continue reading →

In sharp contrast to the European failure in a humanitarian crisis on the tiny island of Lampedusa following the arrival of some 15,000 Tunisians by boat, Turkey has declared an open-arms policy to refugees fleeing a violent crackdown by the … Continue reading →

If one thing was clear in the aftermath of Turkey’s national elections on Sunday, it was the appetite for reform of Turks whose demand for a better Turkey was clearly displayed by a landslide. The only party that lost big … Continue reading →

Turks will be exercising their fundamental democratic rights on Sunday by going to the polls to cast their votes for the political party of their choosing. It is the first time parliamentary elections have turned into a race for a … Continue reading →

The mediocre performance by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in coastal provinces in the West and the South in past elections was not necessarily the result of a purported threat to the way of life for residents … Continue reading →

During an election campaign tour in the western part of the country, I reaffirmed my earlier conviction that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is the best we have, at least for the moment, to solve the decades-long … Continue reading →