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The Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East & Islamic Studies
CEMMIS.edu.gr
Dec 4 2011
Turkey Report 2
ErdoÄ?an's Apology for the Dersim Massacre
Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, apologized
recently on behalf of the Turkish Republic for the 1937?1939 Dersim
mass killings and stated that the CHP party, which ruled back then,
was responsible for the military operations in Dersim (now Tunceli),
an Alevi/Alawi populated city.
Turkey's main opposition CHP party leader, Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu,
criticized ErdoÄ?an's comment on Dersim killings at the Assembly Hall
of KozyataÄ?ı Cultural Center of Istanbul's municipality. The
leader of the CHP stated that the people of Dersim in eastern Turkey would
not allow their pain to be exploited for political reasons by the AKP. Kemal
kılıçdaroÄ?lu, an Alevi himself, paid special attention to this
point because he was born in Dersim. Other leftist parties, such as the
Workers' Party, criticized this debate as well. They argued that the Dersim
conflict was a battle between feudalism and the young Turkish
Republic. Hence, this apology means for them a step towards ethnic and
religious obscurantism.
However, DoÄ?u Ergil, a political scientist, told the
Hürriyet newspaper that an apology was not enough and that
ErdoÄ?an should address other dark pieces of Turkish history as
well. Thus, the debate should not be limited to the Dersim
killings. Turkey should also apologize for the 1915 Armenian killings
and the September 6?7 1955 Istanbul pogrom that resulted in a mass
exodus of minorities from the country. The liberals applauded this
apologize as a good starting point to review the single party period
and Markar Esanyan, a columnist, evaluated it as a chance for a new
era in Turkish historiography.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/24/178906.html
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist?263963?dersim?apology?as?a?milestone.htm l
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/126824/turkish?prime?minister?erdo%EF%A3%BFanapologizes?
for?dersim?killings.html
http://dunya48.free.fr/index.php/siyaset/7057?hasan?basri?ozbey?dersim?ozruemperyalistlerde n?
ve?ortacagdan?ozur?dilemektir.html
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=first?official?apology?for?killings?in?der sim?
2011?11?23
-----------------------------
Redeemable Military Service and Conscientious Objection
Military service is considered the most important public service that
can be fulfilled by a Turkish citizen. Traditionally, Turkish soldiers
are called `Mehmetcik' which means `the prophet of Islam' in an
interesting social norm. The changing sociopolitical balances have
forced governments to update the period of military service and offer
the option to soldiers to decrease their military obligations from a
full 12 months period to 21 days by paying a fee. The new bill that
stipulates the exemption from the 21 days basic military service by
paying an amount of money finally passed despite the strong
reservations of the Chief of the General Staff, Necdet Ozel.
According to researches, the majority of the Turkish society is
negative towards the new bill because it gives the chance to wealthy
people to overcome the trouble and dangers of a compulsory military
service while poor people cannot. Thus, the principle of equality does
not apply to the new law. However, both the conservative and the
liberal media supported the bill for different reasons. Conservative
media advocated the idea of establishing a `professional army' that
might be more effective in fighting terrorism instead of involving the
Turkish Armed Forces which have been burdened with cases such as
`Ergenekon' and `Balyoz'. A liberal columnist of the Star newspaper,
Ahmet Altan, brought up the issue of `conscientious objection'. Altan
stated that `conscientious objection' is part of the international law
and that the AKP government has a positive attitude towards it as
well. Finally, the nationalists rejected the new bill. Indeed,
according to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the core purpose of
the aforementioned reform is the destruction of the Turkish military
forces.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/component/content/article/127?ana?manset?haberlerien/
103814?erdogan?on?paid?military?service
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=erdogan?outlines?paid?military?servicecond itions?
2011?11?22
http://www.nationalturk.com/en/turkey?pm?erdogan?paid?military?service?will?be?in ?effectage?
limit?30?15086
http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/h_718292_Gundem?devlet?bahcelinin?bedellidekirahat sizligi.
html
-----------------------------
Tension between Turkey and Syria Increases
The situation in Syria gets increasingly complicated and Turkey could
not remain unaffected by its neighbors. The debates about the future
of the relations of these countries have multiplied from both the
Turkish media and the political parties.
During the last two weeks, the most pressing issue for Turkey's
foreign affairs was Syria's increasing support for the PKK. According
to the majority of Turkish newspapers, Syria provided the PKK with
three camps which are located close to eastern Turkey. In addition,
Damascus seems to use those 1000 armed PKK fighters against Syrian
rebels who are protected by Turkey. Therefore the military
capabilities of the PKK became much stronger this winter. The letters
between Abdullah Ocalan and his lawyers, which were seized during the
KCK operation, seem to prove the relationship between Syria and the
organization. Furthermore, the recent attack against Muslim pilgrims
from Turkey in Syria confirmed that their bilateral relations have
seen better days. Hence, according to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, it is not suggested to Turkish citizens to visit Syria.
The ruling AKP as well as some conservatives and liberals considered
the possibility of imposing sanctions on Syria. Indeed, conservative
media such as `Zaman' as well as the AKP party went as far as to
discuss the possibility of a military intervention in order to
`protect Turkey and regional security'. However, Vice?Prime
Minister Bulent Arınc stated that armed struggle is not an
option and sanctions must be economic and political. Moreover, the
Workers' Party advocates that sanctions against Syria would lead to a
separation of Turkish society but the pro?Kurdish BDP has not made
any official statement yet.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news?263844?despite?turkeys?warnings?syria?provide scamp?
for?terrorist?pkk.html
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/0
6/22/feature?03
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=iran?iraq?syria?and?the?pkk?2011?08?25
-----------------------------
ErdoÄ?an: A Popular yet Controversial Prime Minister
The articles of Time magazine and The Economist about Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the most popular subjects during the last
two weeks.
The latest issue of the Time magazine provides details on Erdogan's
career as well as on the problems of the Turkish democratic
system. Special attention is given to the results of a poll carried
out by the Maryland University according to which Erdogan has been the
most admired leader among the Arabs. The Time argues that Erdogan's
high popularity is the result of his foreign policy. Indeed, the AKP
has chosen a much more aggressive and popular policy than the ''Zero
Problems with Neigbours'' one.
Moreover, the article discusses some growing problems in Turkey such
as the lack of freedom of the press. According to the Time magazine's
poll, Erdogan takes 22% of the votes and appears to be the fourth most
popular leader in the world but at the same time 65.000 voters rated
him as the least popular leader. This huge difference is a sign of
high polarization in Turkish political life.
The Economist focused on negative advances in the Turkish law system
and especially the 2911 law of the Turkish constitution. The magazine
mentions the rising number of imprisoned activists such as 500 college
students, anti?capitalists and anti?imperialists as well as
thousands of pro Kurdish party supporters and 76 journalists.
Columnists (e.g. Nuray Mert, Yılmaz Türker) and leftists
such as the Turkish Communist Party have also castigated Erdogan for
his policies. The liberals recognize AKP'S success in the economic
field and the foreign policy but find it hard to support the arrests
of students and journalists. Finally, the conservative media insist
that the students and journalists currently in prison pay for their
`terrorist activities' while the ruling AKP expresses its confidence
to the Turkish courts' judgment.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2078021,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093090,00.html
http://ataturksocietyuk.com/2011/11/18/from?the?time?magazine?article?erdogansmoment/
http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=107062 4&Categ
oryID=77"&HYPERLINK
-----------------------------
http://www.cemmis.edu.gr/images/turkey_report/turkey_report2.pdf
CEMMIS.edu.gr
Dec 4 2011
Turkey Report 2
ErdoÄ?an's Apology for the Dersim Massacre
Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, apologized
recently on behalf of the Turkish Republic for the 1937?1939 Dersim
mass killings and stated that the CHP party, which ruled back then,
was responsible for the military operations in Dersim (now Tunceli),
an Alevi/Alawi populated city.
Turkey's main opposition CHP party leader, Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu,
criticized ErdoÄ?an's comment on Dersim killings at the Assembly Hall
of KozyataÄ?ı Cultural Center of Istanbul's municipality. The
leader of the CHP stated that the people of Dersim in eastern Turkey would
not allow their pain to be exploited for political reasons by the AKP. Kemal
kılıçdaroÄ?lu, an Alevi himself, paid special attention to this
point because he was born in Dersim. Other leftist parties, such as the
Workers' Party, criticized this debate as well. They argued that the Dersim
conflict was a battle between feudalism and the young Turkish
Republic. Hence, this apology means for them a step towards ethnic and
religious obscurantism.
However, DoÄ?u Ergil, a political scientist, told the
Hürriyet newspaper that an apology was not enough and that
ErdoÄ?an should address other dark pieces of Turkish history as
well. Thus, the debate should not be limited to the Dersim
killings. Turkey should also apologize for the 1915 Armenian killings
and the September 6?7 1955 Istanbul pogrom that resulted in a mass
exodus of minorities from the country. The liberals applauded this
apologize as a good starting point to review the single party period
and Markar Esanyan, a columnist, evaluated it as a chance for a new
era in Turkish historiography.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/24/178906.html
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist?263963?dersim?apology?as?a?milestone.htm l
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/126824/turkish?prime?minister?erdo%EF%A3%BFanapologizes?
for?dersim?killings.html
http://dunya48.free.fr/index.php/siyaset/7057?hasan?basri?ozbey?dersim?ozruemperyalistlerde n?
ve?ortacagdan?ozur?dilemektir.html
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=first?official?apology?for?killings?in?der sim?
2011?11?23
-----------------------------
Redeemable Military Service and Conscientious Objection
Military service is considered the most important public service that
can be fulfilled by a Turkish citizen. Traditionally, Turkish soldiers
are called `Mehmetcik' which means `the prophet of Islam' in an
interesting social norm. The changing sociopolitical balances have
forced governments to update the period of military service and offer
the option to soldiers to decrease their military obligations from a
full 12 months period to 21 days by paying a fee. The new bill that
stipulates the exemption from the 21 days basic military service by
paying an amount of money finally passed despite the strong
reservations of the Chief of the General Staff, Necdet Ozel.
According to researches, the majority of the Turkish society is
negative towards the new bill because it gives the chance to wealthy
people to overcome the trouble and dangers of a compulsory military
service while poor people cannot. Thus, the principle of equality does
not apply to the new law. However, both the conservative and the
liberal media supported the bill for different reasons. Conservative
media advocated the idea of establishing a `professional army' that
might be more effective in fighting terrorism instead of involving the
Turkish Armed Forces which have been burdened with cases such as
`Ergenekon' and `Balyoz'. A liberal columnist of the Star newspaper,
Ahmet Altan, brought up the issue of `conscientious objection'. Altan
stated that `conscientious objection' is part of the international law
and that the AKP government has a positive attitude towards it as
well. Finally, the nationalists rejected the new bill. Indeed,
according to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the core purpose of
the aforementioned reform is the destruction of the Turkish military
forces.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/component/content/article/127?ana?manset?haberlerien/
103814?erdogan?on?paid?military?service
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=erdogan?outlines?paid?military?servicecond itions?
2011?11?22
http://www.nationalturk.com/en/turkey?pm?erdogan?paid?military?service?will?be?in ?effectage?
limit?30?15086
http://www.samanyoluhaber.com/h_718292_Gundem?devlet?bahcelinin?bedellidekirahat sizligi.
html
-----------------------------
Tension between Turkey and Syria Increases
The situation in Syria gets increasingly complicated and Turkey could
not remain unaffected by its neighbors. The debates about the future
of the relations of these countries have multiplied from both the
Turkish media and the political parties.
During the last two weeks, the most pressing issue for Turkey's
foreign affairs was Syria's increasing support for the PKK. According
to the majority of Turkish newspapers, Syria provided the PKK with
three camps which are located close to eastern Turkey. In addition,
Damascus seems to use those 1000 armed PKK fighters against Syrian
rebels who are protected by Turkey. Therefore the military
capabilities of the PKK became much stronger this winter. The letters
between Abdullah Ocalan and his lawyers, which were seized during the
KCK operation, seem to prove the relationship between Syria and the
organization. Furthermore, the recent attack against Muslim pilgrims
from Turkey in Syria confirmed that their bilateral relations have
seen better days. Hence, according to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, it is not suggested to Turkish citizens to visit Syria.
The ruling AKP as well as some conservatives and liberals considered
the possibility of imposing sanctions on Syria. Indeed, conservative
media such as `Zaman' as well as the AKP party went as far as to
discuss the possibility of a military intervention in order to
`protect Turkey and regional security'. However, Vice?Prime
Minister Bulent Arınc stated that armed struggle is not an
option and sanctions must be economic and political. Moreover, the
Workers' Party advocates that sanctions against Syria would lead to a
separation of Turkish society but the pro?Kurdish BDP has not made
any official statement yet.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news?263844?despite?turkeys?warnings?syria?provide scamp?
for?terrorist?pkk.html
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/0
6/22/feature?03
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=iran?iraq?syria?and?the?pkk?2011?08?25
-----------------------------
ErdoÄ?an: A Popular yet Controversial Prime Minister
The articles of Time magazine and The Economist about Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the most popular subjects during the last
two weeks.
The latest issue of the Time magazine provides details on Erdogan's
career as well as on the problems of the Turkish democratic
system. Special attention is given to the results of a poll carried
out by the Maryland University according to which Erdogan has been the
most admired leader among the Arabs. The Time argues that Erdogan's
high popularity is the result of his foreign policy. Indeed, the AKP
has chosen a much more aggressive and popular policy than the ''Zero
Problems with Neigbours'' one.
Moreover, the article discusses some growing problems in Turkey such
as the lack of freedom of the press. According to the Time magazine's
poll, Erdogan takes 22% of the votes and appears to be the fourth most
popular leader in the world but at the same time 65.000 voters rated
him as the least popular leader. This huge difference is a sign of
high polarization in Turkish political life.
The Economist focused on negative advances in the Turkish law system
and especially the 2911 law of the Turkish constitution. The magazine
mentions the rising number of imprisoned activists such as 500 college
students, anti?capitalists and anti?imperialists as well as
thousands of pro Kurdish party supporters and 76 journalists.
Columnists (e.g. Nuray Mert, Yılmaz Türker) and leftists
such as the Turkish Communist Party have also castigated Erdogan for
his policies. The liberals recognize AKP'S success in the economic
field and the foreign policy but find it hard to support the arrests
of students and journalists. Finally, the conservative media insist
that the students and journalists currently in prison pay for their
`terrorist activities' while the ruling AKP expresses its confidence
to the Turkish courts' judgment.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2078021,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093090,00.html
http://ataturksocietyuk.com/2011/11/18/from?the?time?magazine?article?erdogansmoment/
http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=107062 4&Categ
oryID=77"&HYPERLINK
-----------------------------
http://www.cemmis.edu.gr/images/turkey_report/turkey_report2.pdf