POLICY BRIEF | Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria: Why does it matter to the EU? Ebubekir ISIK 14/10/2019 Publications, Turkey 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 ai... 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 Publications, Turkey 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? Leighann Spencer 31/05/2019 Turkey 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 100,000 people have been arrested and international or... Be More Curious...
Supporting the rule of law and the dismissed civil society in Turkey through reoriented IPA funds Cengiz Aktar 11/04/2019 Publications, Turkey 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... Be More Curious...
Turkish Local Elections in the Shade of Endangered Media Trust and Economic Credibility Mehmet Onur Cevik 27/03/2019 Publications, Turkey 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 Turkey 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 Turkey. Europeans finally took note of the state... Be More Curious...
Interview with Cengiz Aktar on Turkish Civil Society and Opposition Stephanie Leysen 13/03/2019 Turkey 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... 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 Publications, Turkey 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 were hopeful on the accession proceedings and prai... 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 ... Be More Curious...
COMMENTARY — How effective is the European Court of Human Rights against the human rights violations in Turkey? Mehmet Onur Cevik 15/12/2018 Publications, Turkey 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 Publications, Turkey 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 neighbouring countries, mainly Turkey but also Lebanon an... Be More Curious...
POLICY PAPER — The revival of EU-Turkey relations: Erdoğan’s double strategy of rapprochement Ebubekir ISIK 25/11/2018 Publications, Turkey 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 Erdoğ... Be More Curious...
Time to Pay Attention to the Relationship with Turkey Geoffrey Van Orden 02/10/2018 Turkey 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 Turkey 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 years. Turkish citizens either living in these co... Be More Curious...
Dealing with Autocrats: A principled approach to Erdogan’s state visit to Germany Julius M. Rogenhofer 14/09/2018 Turkey 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... Be More Curious...
Is Abduction Becoming a Tool for Turkish Foreign Policy Under President Erdogan? Alessio Tardivo 01/09/2018 Turkey 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 Turkey 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 opposition snap out of this a circle of decay. Ther... Be More Curious...
Turkey’s Pledged Economic War: Pastor Brunson Effect or A Self-fulfilling Prophecy Zeynep Mentesoglu 13/08/2018 Turkey 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. ... Be More Curious...
Erdogan educating African youth: consequences for radicalization in Europe Clara Berthelot 08/08/2018 Turkey 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 Turkey 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 parliamentary elections (alongside its ultranationalist and ra... Be More Curious...
“I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose” Zeynep Mentesoglu 27/07/2018 Turkey 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 ... Be More Curious...
Between a rock and a hard place: how EU should deal with “Turkish issue” Mehmet Onur Cevik 22/07/2018 Turkey 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 Turkey 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, as parades of cars brandish the Turkish flag and... Be More Curious...
Turkey’s Snap Dual Elections Under a New Political Paradigm Mehmet Onur Cevik 22/06/2018 Turkey 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 democrac... Be More Curious...
Which factors may determine the outcomes of critical June 24 elections? Zeynep Mentesoglu 21/06/2018 Turkey 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? Zeynep Mentesoglu 15/06/2018 Turkey 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 new polemic between Turkey’s President Erdogan and A... Be More Curious...
Erdogan the merchant of Gaza Tionenji Lishomwa 13/06/2018 Turkey 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 b... Be More Curious...
Turkish Prosecutor Falsely Imprisoned in Horrid Conditions Leighann Spencer 24/05/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 President Erdogan that we want to see democratic values... Be More Curious...
Abduction of Turkish Dissidents Can Target Ordinary Europeans Ugur Tok 08/04/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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... Be More Curious...
Erdogan’s Parallel State in Kosovo Functions Despite Prime Minister Haradinaj Julien Hoez 30/03/2018 Turkey 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 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 Jean-Claude Juncker with Turkey’s President Recep... Be More Curious...
EP Shadow Rapporteur Describes ‘How to React to the Rule of Despotism in Turkey’ Renate Sommer 09/03/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 fi... Be More Curious...
Story of a Purged Judge, Turkey Leighann Spencer 16/02/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 year 2007, when the two protagonists of this stor... Be More Curious...
INTERVIEW — Former Turkish Navy Officer Recounts Unfair Dismissal, Detention and Torture Leighann Spencer 07/02/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 Turki... 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 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 relations between the two neighbors reached the point o... Be More Curious...
The Case of Ümit Horzum, Most Recent Victim in a String of Abductions in Post-Coup Turkey Leighann Spencer 11/01/2018 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 di... 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 exploitation at the hands of human traffickers and smuggler... Be More Curious...
Justice and the Three Cs in Turkey Vocal Europe 28/12/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 p... Be More Curious...
How the Corruption Investigations of 2013 Still Shape Turkey’s Bleak Future Mahmut Cengiz 22/12/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 capital of Israel will cross a “red line” and will cause... Be More Curious...
668 Babies — Children in Turkey’s Prisons Leighann Spencer 27/11/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey 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 ag... Be More Curious...
Tortured to Death in Turkey: The Case of Gökhan Açıkkollu Leighann Spencer 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 Leighann Spencer 14/11/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey Torture and ill-treatment, predominantly towards those accused of political crimes, is not a new phenomenon in Turkey. Several organisations have documented such abuses in the past. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Then a promi... Be More Curious...
The “mother” of Grey Wolves threatening Erdoğan’s rule Irene Christodoulaki 13/10/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey INless than a fortnight, a new political party will be launched in Turkey, trying to contest the absolute dominance of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his party in the country. The leading figure... Be More Curious...
Can the West Handle Erdogan’s Flip-flop Diplomacy on NATO? Vocal Europe 08/10/2017 Beyond Europe, Turkey Turkey, once a model for Muslim-majority countries, has been going through an authoritarian backslide since the last several years. This trend peaked following the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The post... Be More Curious...
