A New Era in US-Turkish Relations?
Less than one week ahead of the US presidential election, Turkish-US relations and Turkey's role in its neighboring regions were the subject of a one-day conference organized by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
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Back To Square One On The Kurdish Issue
First it was a devastating attack in Dağlıca. Now it is Aktütün. And countless other attacks occurred in between. Outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorism is back.
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Some analysts interpreted the decision of the Constitutional Court as heralding a long dull moment for Turkey. A closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had the potential to create the biggest political crisis in domestic Turkish politics in recent years.
The decision by the Turkish Constitutional Court to reject the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) opens a new chapter in the history of Turkish democracy.
The revamped Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) was launched by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Diyarbakır last week in the company of 12 of his ministers, 75 deputies and an army of bureaucrats. In the biggest sports stadium in Diyarbakır (which only hosts 1,300 people), he spoke for two hours about the new program and how it will change the socioeconomic structure of the region.
Doing the right thing at the right time is essential for finding a comprehensive solution to the Kurdish issue. Half-baked measures will not produce concrete results.
A Hierarchy of Freedoms
The debate over lifting the headscarf ban has turned into a larger debate about freedoms in Turkey. While the vast majority of Turks support the expansion of civil liberties, there seems to be a fundamental disagreement as to how freedoms should be prioritized. The problem with this is that until and unless the question of freedoms is taken as a whole, there will be no guarantee for civil liberties in Turkey.
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Will the Alevi Initiative Share the Destiny of the Kurdish Initiative?
Last week Turkey witnessed a first. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan broke his fast with 1,000 Alevis in Ankara. The fast was in observance of the beginning of the month of Muharram.
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SETA D.C. PANEL Speakers: Taha Özhan, (Moderator) Director-General of the SETA Foundation Ömer Taşpınar, Brookings Institution December 9, 2009 SETA D.C. 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite #1106 Washington, D.C.
SETA D.C. PANEL Moderator: Kadir Üstün Doctoral Candidate at Columbia University Speakers: Taha Özhan Director-General of the SETA Foundation Ömer Taşpınar Brookings Institution Date: December 9, 2009 Venue: SETA D.C. 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite #1106 Washington, D.C.
A Brookings-SETA Policy Conference on Turkey University of California, Washington Center 1608 Rhode Island Ave, NW Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The survey “Turkey's Perception of the Kurdish Issue,” jointly conducted by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and PollMark, has yielded quite important sociological findings on the relations between Turks and Kurds. The research was undertaken to reveal the content and the grounds of the social relations between the two communities, the current phase of social integration and whether terror and violence have caused lack of trust and confidence between these social groups. The survey shows that the will and desire for coexistence transcends ideological, ethnic and political identities. The research points out that despite the lengthy period of violence and terror, political polemics and crises, there is still no environment of distrust or enmity between Turks and Kurds and that the country is not threatened by the danger of ethnic violence over Turkishness or Kurdishness.
SETA CONFERENCE Chair: Taha Özhan, SETA Konuşmacılar: İhsan Dağı, METU Ertan Aydın, Pollmark Date: September 22, 2010 Wednesday Time: 14.00 – 15.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, ANKARA
Once Turkey considers and comes to terms with the challenge of formulating a new political language, it can rise to the level it aspires to as a new actor in a new region and in a new global order.
SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Chair: Taha Özhan, SETA Panelists: Ali Çarkoğlu, Sabancı Univ. Cengiz Çandar, Radikal Yavuz Baydar, Sabah Date: June 15, 2011 Wednesday Time: 14.00-16.00 Venue: SETA, Ankara
For the PKK, the process can only go from the initial “Defeat in the 1990s” to the “Second Defeat” in the 2010s.
The world’s economics in 2010 were still struggling to overcome the financial crisis, which began in 2008 in the United States and became global in 2009.
Turkey’s foreign policy and the Arab Spring turned out to be as important in determining the political agenda for 2011 as the June 12 elections. Turkey’s role in the spreading political movements from North Africa to the Middle East surpassed its previous involvement in the area.
Turkeys long-standing Kurdish issue was also mentioned in the commentaries as a major issue that awaited a comprehensive solution.
If Turkey’s CHP believes that they are up to the task of running the country, the Syrian crisis may serve as a great opportunity to convince the still doubtful voters.
Despite the challenging period ahead, the CHP must continue its campaign for a peaceful resolution to the issue as well as for democratic reforms.
