Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Op-Ed

[Silent Turkey-4] Conservatives by EKREM DUMANLI

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

There is one truth we need to underline even though it may come as strange to some: The most suppressed group in Turkey is the conservatives, even though they are the biggest group of people.

MHP’s nationalism and the Kurdish issue by MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE

MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Nationalism is the party doctrine of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). In other words, nationalist ideology is the raison d’être of this party. This doctrine implies that all characteristics of the party are directly based on nationalism, giving the MHP a basic direction in all areas.

[Silent Turkey-3] Nationalists by EKREM DUMANLI

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Many justifications may be found to defend a counter argument, but how Turks perceive the notion of “nationalism” (milliyetçilik) is different from the widely accepted definition of nationalism and from the popularly held idea of racism.

Fait accompli strategy against non-Muslims by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Michel Foucault says you can understand a society from what it excludes. We generally tend to look at what a society includes, what they are willing to embrace.

[Silent Turkey-2] Kurds by EKREM DUMANLI

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

There is benefit in making an assessment of an event that recently took place but was not mentioned in the press. The Kurdish problem was discussed at length in a meeting held in a southeastern province.

[Silent Turkey-1] Alevis by EKREM DUMANLI

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

One of the most distinctive qualities of our society is silence. Our ancestors said, “If words are silver, then silence is gold.”

Change of axis in foreign policy and Israeli problem (2) by ALİ YURTTAGÜL*

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The crisis around the bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel would not have been so grave had the Gaza attack taken place a decade ago because back then, Turkey’s foreign policy lacked of vision and was unable to address the regional problems and appreciate the importance of the issues in the Middle East.

Change of axis in foreign policy and Israeli problem (1) by ALİ YURTTAGÜL*

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Recent comments published in Europe and the US on Turkish foreign policy argue that Turkey is moving away from the Western world and changing its axis.

Travels behind the Iron Curtain: before the fall of the Berlin Wall by KLAUS JURGENS

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall much has been written about the significance of this event and how it changed the political and ultimately economic world order.

Caucasus and Balkans, Karabakh and Bosnia by Hajrudin Somun*

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Much that has transpired these days has led me to recall once more my meeting in Baku with former Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev.

The real tragedy of the Fort Hood massacre by Christopher Vasillopulos*

CHRISTOPHER VASILLOPULOS * — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

“All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” -- Cecil Alexander

‘Red lines’ of the democratic initiative by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

“Red lines” is a military term referring to the borders of the “forbidden zone.” The military tends to set certain red lines beyond which it allows no one to pass, thereby declaring that zone to be forbidden.

Emergence of new political space in Kurdish domain by EMRE USLU

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

With the government having brought its proposal to address the Kurdish question to Parliament, Turkey has been concentrating on the details of the proposal.

Killing another Armenian by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

I was originally only planning to write an entertaining story, but then I came across a piece of news in Today’s Zaman. I said to myself Turkey is like a family that has a psychopathic father who does extremely disturbing things whenever the children feel happy -- all just to kill their happiness. Why I use this metaphor in which I portray psychopaths as the father figure and myself as a child needs to be analyzed separately.

European Union and the Cyprus issue by ALİ YURTTAGÜL*

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The talks in Cyprus over the last year have come to a halt; all eyes were turned to a probable decision, long awaited by the Cypriot Greeks, to be taken at the December summit in Brussels on Turkey.

Zero problems with minorities? by ALİ ASLAN

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A meeting with the US president in the White House, a meeting with the vice president and a formal dinner in his honor at the vice presidential residence, a dinner hosted by the secretary of state honoring his visit, a lunch in his honor hosted by the House of Representatives and Senate leaders at US Capitol and conferences organized at Georgetown University and the Brookings Institution.

The main fault of Turkish intellectuals by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

What would you say if I were to ask you what your biggest fault was? Try to answer this question, but keep the answer to yourself or, better yet, write it down to compare with those I will mention below.

Historic breakthrough Controversies: Will Azerbaijani lands be free soon? by LEILA ALIEVA*

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The Caucasus region is once more at the eve of events of historical significance -- a century-old conflict between Armenia and Turkey may be coming to an end.

Hypocrisy in languages: criticizing Fethullah Gülen, English or Turkish? by ABDULHAMİT TÜRKER*

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Fethullah Gülen has been the subject of several books and hundreds of articles, in many languages. Some of these books and articles are very critical of Gülen and the Gülen movement.

This is just too much! by EKREM DUMANLI

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

I was on a live program on TV when the General Staff’s briefing to accredited journalists began. CNN Türk interrupted my interview with Ayşenur Arslan to give a summary of the briefing. Then, Arslan prompted me, “What do you think about it?”