Erdoğan's US Visit Rejuvenates Turkey's Middle-Power Politics
Turkey's ascendancy as a middle power and regional play-maker in the Middle East went pretty well up until 2011 but has faced multifaceted difficulties and challenges afterward, especially in the wake of the escalation of the Syrian civil war.
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Is Erdoğan the Unwelcome Guest in Washington?
Erdoğan is expending great effort to further develop Turkish-U.S. political relations and strengthen economic relations between the two countries.
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They planted what they like to call seeds of hope. In the end, a suicide bomber blew herself up in the heart of Ankara.
In an op-ed piece published by The Washington Post last week, Mort Abramowitz and Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassadors to Turkey, called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to "reform or resign." What a joke!
The moral of this true story for starters on Turkey is to never take anything at face value in Turkey's wild politics.
The Gülenist parallel state began to operate with help from affiliated members of law enforcement, public prosecutors and judges, the covert organization gained access to all levels of government.
An Operation Against the Gülen Movement
The hundreds of policemen who were arrested on July 22 tell a valuable story about the past six years: a story of how things can get out of hand when the police, prosecutors and judges join forces.
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Gülenist Diaspora and the Discourse of Authoritarianism
Turkey is faced with a public diplomacy problem which it has never faced before in all of its history: A diasporic opposition that is hierarchically organized and ruled from the USA.
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The Gülen Movement represents an informal political force in Turkey that holds the countrys political leadership at gunpoint.
With their current structure, it is impossible to describe Gulen and his followers as a religious or a civil society organizatıon. They should be described at most as an organization fighting for a state within the State or a political opposition.
The biggest trouble a social movement may have is the impression that it contains militia or cooperates with a secret organization.
The December 17, 2013 process must succeed to transform the structure of the Gulen Movement into a civilian-religious movement for the sake of the religion, the movement and the country.
Democracy cannot flourish in Turkey if Gulen Movement's parallel structure is not dismantled.
The Gulen movement will be isolated from other Islamic groups as long as it breaks the Sunni codes. The accusations against it of acting against Turkeys national interests and joining an international alliance will also continue.
The strongest insurance for the Gülen Movement is not being organized in the Police Department and the Judiciary, but relying on the society by being getting free from (such) bureaucratic establishments and and the place its endearing services occupy in peoples hearts.
If the Gulen movement wants to serve society, they should restrict themselves to nongovernmental activities rather than using their bureaucratic influence to engage in politics.
The Gülen Movement was known for the cool-headed decisions it took at the risk of severe criticism during Turkeys most difficult times. Today, it would be expected that the same movement will display a similar rationality in a changing Turkey.
