The PKK is an ultra-pragmatist terror organization that can use even the peace rhetoric to fool communities.
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One of the most significant challenges for the future of a Turkish democracy is the formation of democratic institutions that will protect the democratic achievements of previous decades.
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AK Party governments spearheaded most of the critical reforms expanding the rights of most disadvantaged groups such as devout Muslims, ethnic Kurds and religious minorities in Turkish society.
It is impossible for the old tutelary foundation that is cemented by the Constitution to carry the emerging new edifice of Turkey.
The biggest obstacle that stands before Turkeys democratization efforts today is nothing but the 1980 constitution, which was drafted based on the founding ideology after the coup.
As one Kurdish issue is being resolved, another is being created. The new Kurdish issue is nothing but the PKKs Kurdish issue.
If Egypt has to choose between growing pains of democratization or the military-judiciary tutelage, it should not hesitate to pick the first option.
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The “Alevi Issue” is one of the most complicated and, at the same time, largely misunderstood problems in Turkey. Conflicts, resentments, grievances, and perpetual fears about Alevis that have existed for centuries have been publicly voiced through different mechanisms; yet, the message had never been understood thoroughly by the interlocutors of the Alevis. The discussions on the issue in various social and political contexts have often revolved around a rather limited list of Alevi identity-based claims. The JDP government has undertaken a series of steps to understand and respond to Alevi identity-based claims. Popularly known as the “Alevi opening” (Alevi açılımı), the initiative is a turning point in terms of the Turkish governments’ approach to problems of Alevi citizens in Turkey. The Alevi Opening is the first systematic effort to address Alevis’ identity-based contentions.
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