Turkey

In November 2019, Libya and Turkey concluded an agreement that will give a huge swath of the Eastern Mediterranean to the two states, effectively cutting right through the sea and other countries’ interes... Be More Curious...

POLICY BRIEF | Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria: Why does it matter to the EU?

Ebubekir ISIK

14/10/2019

The European Union (EU) and its member states have expressed their concerns over Turkey’s ongoing incursion into northeast Syria. With the military operation named Peace Spring, Turkey declared that it aims at eliminating the terrorist threat to Turkey’s... Be More Curious...

Reflection on the potential emergence of a new party in Turkey and what it means to the EU

Ebubekir ISIK

10/09/2019

With the potential emergence of a new political party in Turkey resulting from the fragmentation of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the current political set-up in Turkey might turn in... Be More Curious...

OPINION | Why Would Turkey Torture its Diplomats?

31/05/2019

Reports of torture are nothing new in Turkey, particularly since the 2016 coup attempt. This set the scene for an unprecedented crackdown on anyone considered ‘enemies of the state’. Since then, over 100,... Be More Curious...

Supporting the rule of law and the dismissed civil society in Turkey through reoriented IPA funds

Cengiz Aktar

11/04/2019

As a negotiating candidate country to the European Union, at least officially, Turkey continues to benefit from pre-accession assistance (IPA). Turkey’s negotiating process, in fact, has been ailing for a long time and gradually reaching the standstill p... Be More Curious...

Turkish Local Elections in the Shade of Endangered Media Trust and Economic Credibility

27/03/2019

Turkey is in a continuous election race as the local elections to be held on 31 March will be the 6th elections in the last five years. Besides the ongoing electoral tension, the country has also been in ... Be More Curious...

Turkey and the European Union: Towards the post-candidacy era

Cengiz Aktar

14/03/2019

It is safe to say that in the history of European Union’s enlargement, opening in 1973 with the accession of Britain, Denmark and Ireland, the first spectacular failure is the candidacy of the Republic of... Be More Curious...

Interview with Cengiz Aktar on Turkish Civil Society and Opposition

Stephanie Leysen

13/03/2019

As part of our "Beyond Europe" research program, we have interviewed Cengiz Aktar who is a professor of political science at the University of Athens and a columnist for Ahval. Among many other issues, we discussed the way in which the European Union can... Be More Curious...

PANEL — Can the European Union Remain Connected to Turkey?

Pavel Vanev

12/03/2019

Events, Turkey

On the 6th March 2019, Vocal Europe organised an expert panel discussion on the future of EU-Turkey relations under the question “Can the European Union remain connected to Turkey?”. The central pa... Be More Curious...

POLICY PAPER — EU Support to Dismissed Civil Society in Turkey: Yes, There is a Better Alternative

Stephanie Leysen

04/02/2019

It has been fourteen years since the negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the European Union (EU) were formally opened and the process has been bumpy to say the least. Whereas the European leaders ... Be More Curious...

OPINION — Why is tension in Cyprus rising again?

Tionenji Lishomwa

27/12/2018

Inside Europe, Turkey

For much of the international community watching, ‘Ayşe will go on holiday again’ means very little. Especially if 1974 is before your time, you may have wondered what such a bizarrely innocuous phrase could possibly have to do with Meral Akşener – the... Be More Curious...

COMMENTARY — How effective is the European Court of Human Rights against the human rights violations in Turkey?

15/12/2018

As it is known by most, Turkey has been in an extraordinary atmosphere since the 15 July 2016 attempted coup. Fotis Filippou, Amnesty International's Deputy Europe Director, describes this atmosphere wh... Be More Curious...

COMMENTARY — The Turkish model: How Turkey has coped with 3.6 million Syrian refugees

Robert Ellis

06/12/2018

There is one issue that has preoccupied Europe since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011: immigration. More than six million Syrians are internally displaced and five million have fled to neighbo... Be More Curious...

POLICY PAPER — The revival of EU-Turkey relations: Erdoğan’s double strategy of rapprochement

Ebubekir ISIK

25/11/2018

Following the attempted coup d’état since July 2016, Turkey has been pursuing a two-track strategy towards the European Union (EU). Mainly, because of the course of action adopted by President Erdoğan Administration concerning the treatment of the ... Be More Curious...

Time to Pay Attention to the Relationship with Turkey

Geoffrey Van Orden

02/10/2018

Turkey is a vital NATO ally and strategic partner of the West. Yet, over the past two years its relationship with the Western democracies and their allies has deteriorated. The catalyst for this was the... Be More Curious...

Departing further from European values

Helmut Scholz

22/09/2018

First Kosovo. Then Moldova, Georgia, now Ukraine. Or just the way around. Not important. But everywhere the same unbelievable facts of parallel and somehow frightening tendencies over last months and ye... Be More Curious...

Dealing with Autocrats: A principled approach to Erdogan’s state visit to Germany

Julius M. Rogenhofer

14/09/2018

Despite ongoing tensions between Turkey and its Western allies, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier invited his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a state visit in late September. The success of this meeting will depend on Europe’s w... Be More Curious...

Is Abduction Becoming a Tool for Turkish Foreign Policy Under President Erdogan?

Alessio Tardivo

01/09/2018

Turkish foreign policy appears to become increasingly aggressive. Despite the growing concerns echoed by her Western friends and allies, Ankara seems to act with a modus operandi inspired by the ruthles... Be More Curious...

Opposition in decay: Erdogan’s perpetual victory

Irene Christodoulaki

13/08/2018

After the June elections, the Turkish opposition is in disarray. It seems to be out of ideas while trying to reorganize itself. Even the ongoing currency crisis with the USA was not enough to make the o... Be More Curious...

Turkey’s Pledged Economic War: Pastor Brunson Effect or A Self-fulfilling Prophecy

13/08/2018

On last Friday, Turkish Lira has fallen to a record low against the dollar suffering its worst one-day lost. At the wee hours Turkish lira has traded at the exchange rate of 6.30 Dollar and 7.22 Euro. “We will not lose the economic war.” Erdogan sta... Be More Curious...

Erdogan educating African youth: consequences for radicalization in Europe

Clara Berthelot

08/08/2018

Like France or the United Kingdom, Turkey runs schools located outside of its territory. However, unlike the other examples, the Turkish schools were not managed by the state, at least until very recent... Be More Curious...

Turkey’s Presidential System and Resource Distribution Tools

Xavier Palacios

03/08/2018

Analysts in Europe, the US and Turkey have focused on how the latest victory of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the presidential elections and the victory of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) in the parliamentar... Be More Curious...

“I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose”

27/07/2018

Mesut Ozil, Germany’s star football player of Turkish origin has announced his retirement from Germany’s national team on Sunday. Ozil stated discrimination and racism he has experienced particularly after the World Cup in Russia as the reason leading him ... Be More Curious...

Between a rock and a hard place: how EU should deal with “Turkish issue”

22/07/2018

Rather than talking about the necessity of cooperation between the EU and Turkey, an issue that has been triggering a massive body of literature, this analysis will focus on what strategy the EU mig... Be More Curious...

Understanding Turkey’s election

Julius M. Rogenhofer

26/06/2018

It is an eerily familiar sight: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims victory in a televised address. Across Turkey and several European capitals victory celebrations erupt in chants of the president’s name... Be More Curious...

Turkey’s Snap Dual Elections Under a New Political Paradigm

22/06/2018

Previously, Turkey had covered a significant distance on the path of democratization by starting accession talks with the EU on October 3, 2005; however today, the global perception towards Turkish democracy has come under question more than ever. Part... Be More Curious...

Which factors may determine the outcomes of critical June 24 elections?

21/06/2018

Only a few days left for Turkey’s June 24 snap elections. Turkey will hold to two elections: parliamentary and presidential on Sunday. It is of capital importance. In April 2017 referendum people of Turkey ... Be More Curious...

Can Austria’s anti-mosque decision turn to Erdogan as vote?

15/06/2018

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s move to close mosques frustrates Turkey’s President Erdogan. Kurz’s statement on closing seven mosques and expel around 60 imams and their families seems to trigger a ne... Be More Curious...

Erdogan the merchant of Gaza

Tionenji Lishomwa

13/06/2018

There is a complex web of vested interests and moral battles surrounding the notorious Gaza conflict. The deaths of Palestinians being used as ‘human shields’ have been used as a political bargaining chip by many parties - including dissenting voices from ... Be More Curious...

Turkish Prosecutor Falsely Imprisoned in Horrid Conditions

24/05/2018

Since the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, 4,463 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed from their jobs, leaving behind a non-impartial and non-independent judicial system. This is paramount to the fur... Be More Curious...

President Erdogan’s juggling act

Robert Ellis

17/05/2018

At Tuesday’s press conference with Turkey’s President Erdogan, the best Theresa May could muster in the form of condemnation of Turkey’s human rights abuses was a pious reminder: “I have underlined to Presi... Be More Curious...

Abduction of Turkish Dissidents Can Target Ordinary Europeans

Ugur Tok

08/04/2018

Six Turkish nationals, five education workers and a cardiologist, living in Kosovo have been arrested by Kosovar authorities and handed over to Turkish Intelligence last week. The international community is shocked by the unlawful nature of arrest and rend... Be More Curious...

Erdogan’s Parallel State in Kosovo Functions Despite Prime Minister Haradinaj

Julien Hoez

30/03/2018

On the 29th March 2018, six Turkish nationals from a college in Kosovo were “urgently” detained, arrested, and subsequently deported to Turkey due to alleged links to exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen. No doubt tha... Be More Curious...

Turkey and Europe: The Great Divide

Robert Ellis

27/03/2018

After Monday’s summit in Varna, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov could heave a sigh of relief. Beforehand, he feared the meeting between European Council President Donald Tusk and European President... Be More Curious...

EP Shadow Rapporteur Describes ‘How to React to the Rule of Despotism in Turkey’

Renate Sommer

09/03/2018

The state of the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Turkey is shocking. Since the failed coup, the Turkish government misuses the steadily prolonged state of emergency to silence critics from all fields. Members of the opposition, journalists, huma... Be More Curious...

Story of a Purged Judge, Turkey

16/02/2018

Names in this article have been changed to protect their identity. Since the infamous July 15th, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, 4,560 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed from duty, allowing the judi... Be More Curious...

If Erdoğan has a boss, it must be Doğu Perinçek

Leonardo Veneziani

11/02/2018

No doubt that there is a new and strange alliance in Turkey’s current political landscape. However, to understand the full awkwardness of this co-operation, one needs to take a few steps back in time to the... Be More Curious...

INTERVIEW — Former Turkish Navy Officer Recounts Unfair Dismissal, Detention and Torture

07/02/2018

Hüseyin Demirtaş was a Turkish Navy Officer for 22 years, after spending eight years at Naval High School and Naval Academy. He served in various regions as a Commanding Officer of a Frigate, and as a Turkish Naval Attache to Bucharest Romania in a diploma... Be More Curious...

Police Crackdowns on ISIS and the Consequences for Refugees from the Caucasus and Central Asia in Turkey

Vocal Europe

17/01/2018

OOver the past two years, numerous innocent people of the Caucasus and Central Asia in Turkey have been targeted within the police operations against ISIS, and the operations and following deportations coincide... Be More Curious...

Old habits die hard: Turkey and Greece continue their troubled relation

Irene Christodoulaki

12/01/2018

The Opinion, Turkey

Many labelled the visit of the Turkish President to Greece early on December as historic. It had been more than six decades since a Turkish President stepped his foot in Athens, and during that time the relat... Be More Curious...

The Case of Ümit Horzum, Most Recent Victim in a String of Abductions in Post-Coup Turkey

11/01/2018

Since the July 15th 2016 coup-attempt in Turkey, those deemed to have links to the Gulenist movement have faced countless human rights abuses. Since then, 131,995 people have been detained, and many more dismissed from their jobs. Moreover, abductions, tho... Be More Curious...

The EU-Turkey Statement: Gauging the Effects Nearly Two Years On

Emma Barnes

10/01/2018

Inside Europe, Turkey

On March 18, 2016, the EU and Turkey signed a deal, effective immediately, with the broad goal of stemming the flow of “irregular migration” into Europe, and creating safe and legal channels by which to reach t... Be More Curious...

The Smuggling of Syrians Evolves into an Economic and Social Conundrum in Turkey and Europe

Mahmut Cengiz

07/01/2018

Inside Europe, Turkey

The ongoing Syrian conflict has led to the displacement of millions of Syrians and the continuation of a life of uncertainty despite the prospect of a better life in a new country. Many are subject to exploitat... Be More Curious...

Justice and the Three Cs in Turkey

Vocal Europe

28/12/2017

In the 19th century, Daniel Webster wrote, “Justice is the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.” Justice refers to fairness in punishment of wrongdoing and protection of citizens... Be More Curious...

How the Corruption Investigations of 2013 Still Shape Turkey’s Bleak Future

Mahmut Cengiz

22/12/2017

It has been the four years since corruption scandals implicating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his family members and prominent high-level politicians and bureaucrats were revealed to the country on December ... Be More Curious...

Germany – Caught in the Middle Between Turkey and Israel

Emma Barnes

08/12/2017

Inside Europe, Israel, Turkey

TTurkey and Israel were once close allies, bonded as two states surrounded by hostile regimes. However, Turkey has stated in recent days that US President Donald Trump’s move to declare Jerusalem the capita... Be More Curious...

668 Babies — Children in Turkey’s Prisons

27/11/2017

In August 2017, the news outlet TR724 revealed that there are 668 children under the age of six in Turkey’s prisons. 149 of these children are under twelve months old, and there are many others under the age of eighteen. These statistics are even more appa... Be More Curious...

Tortured to Death in Turkey: The Case of Gökhan Açıkkollu

21/11/2017

The Opinion, Turkey

Detained for a crime he did not commit. Kept in a police cell for 13 days without giving a statement. Every day, severely beaten and verbally abused. Every day, taken to a doctor for examination, telling th... Be More Curious...

Torture and ill-treatment in Turkey

14/11/2017