Tagged Turkey

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 100,000 people have been arrested and international or... Be More Curious...

A new cooperation for energy security: the U.S. strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean

Mariaeugenia Benato

19/05/2019

Business, Publications, Research Area

In April 2019, the U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio, Senior United States Senator, announced the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Secu... Be More Curious...

North Macedonia’s Unusual Waltz with Turkey – Will it frustrate the EU and NATO?

Pavel Vanev

30/04/2019

Publications, Western Balkans

The saga, surrounding the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), finally came to an end this February (2019) with a brand new North Macedonia label stamped over the old contested FYROM... Be More Curious...

Monday Talk with Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe

Astrid Viaud

15/04/2019

As part of our Monday Talks series supported by Science 14, we talked with Dunja Mijatović, Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe (CoE). Vocal Europe's Astrid Viaud conducted the interview with the Commissioner in Strasbourg at the CoE headq... 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... Be More Curious...

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

Mehmet Onur Cevik

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 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

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...

Kosovo and the EU: The Need for Visa Liberalisation is Growing

Alejandra Finotto

09/03/2019

Publications, Western Balkans

Just last year, Kosovo was celebrating its 10th anniversary of Independence, which it declared on February 2008 unilaterally from Serbia. Despite having a past marked by conflict, especially given the 1998 national-led uprisings in former Yugoslavia an... 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...

An independent Ukraine Orthodox Church: why now?

Vera Ventura

15/01/2019

Beyond Europe, Publications

In Ukraine, this year’s celebrations for the Orthodox Christmas on January 7 assumed a whole new meaning, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has now gained its religious independence - or autocephaly - fr... 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?

Mehmet Onur Cevik

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 EU and the Western Balkans 6: a difficult wedding

Sergio Caliva

07/11/2018

Publications, Western Balkans

The Balkan Region, and particularly the Western part closer to the EU, consisting of the so-called WB6 – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia – has always had a fundamental role within the international geopolitical... Be More Curious...

POLICY PAPER — Conflict in Cyprus: religion, ethnicity and natural gas pipelines

Xavier Palacios

24/10/2018

Publications

Religious and ethnic factors present in the Cypriot conflict have paved the wat for external actors to take part in this conflict, exposing the resolution of this conflict to the political interests of ... Be More Curious...

Monday Talk with Gabi Zimmer

Elisa Telesca

15/10/2018

As Part of our Monday Talks series, we have conducted an interview with Gabi Zimmer, Chair of Conferederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left, to discuss about Brexit, the upcomin... 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 response on both sides to the July 2016 coup, alt... 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. ... 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 recently. As a matter of fact, those schools have be... 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...

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

Mehmet Onur Cevik

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...

A New Era: Turkey’s 98-year parliamentary system ended

11/07/2018

Beyond Europe

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office on July 9, which officially closed a page in Turkey’s history and started the new government system. Erdogan had won out the 24 June elections by taking 52 percent of the votes and has been ele... Be More Curious...

Monday Talk with David McAllister on the Future of EU-Turkey Relations

Valeria Mingardi

02/07/2018

As part of our Monday Talks series, we have hosted David McAllister, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament to discuss the future of EU-Turkey relations following the Turkey's... 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...

Iran, Oil and the Destabilisation of the Middle East

Paul Monaghan

21/06/2018

Iran

Oil prices have increased sharply following President Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and to reimpose the "highest level" of economic sanctions on Iran, one of the world’s most important oil produ... 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...

The EU Remains Unprepared for the Next Migration Crisis

18/04/2018

Inside Europe

By removing internal border controls, countries party to the Schengen Agreement effectively abandoned a core element of state sovereignty in favor of freedom of movement. But they embarked on this federal project without building the necessary legal and instit... 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... 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...

Monday Talk with European Parliament’s Foreign Policy Chief on Western Balkans

12/03/2018

Western Balkans

Western Balkans has never been a simple place. Although, there is a continues determination by the European Union to see the countries in the Western Balkans as part of the European Union in the near future, yet nowadays, this region is especially turbulent wi... 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 fi... 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...

Monday Talk with Birgit Van Hout, UN Human Rights Representative for Europe

Julien Hoez

22/01/2018

In an interview with Vocal Europe, Birgit Van Hout, Regional Representative for Europe — UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), expresses her take on some of the critical challenges to the situation of human rights in Europe and within its immediate neighborhood.... Be More Curious...

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

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...

Justice and the Three Cs in Turkey

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 p... 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...

Turkish Media — The Regime’s Magic Bullet

29/11/2017

Beyond Europe

Magic bullets, hypodermic needles and the media. It’s an odd mix, but it can help to explain why at least some people simply believe whatever they are told. According to the magic bullet (or hypodermic need... Be More Curious...

668 Babies — Children in Turkey’s Prisons

27/11/2017