Secular Turks may be in the minority, but they are vital to Turkey’s future

What a decade and a half of AKP experience has shown is that the problem with democracy in Turkey has deep social roots that go way beyond the political power struggles on the surface. Both an authoritarian political culture and conservative social values inhibit the emergence of a pluralist democracy. In the last decade, Muslim conservative elites have shown little interest in establishing a fully fledged democracy. This is not surprising: democracy is largely understood by most Turks to be just about elections.

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Everyone is wondering now what is behind the corruption investigation, and the first “suspect” to come to many minds is the Islamist Gülen movement. Tensions between this group and the AKP have been rising over the years, and boiled over recently due to the prep-school issue – a matter that has received wide media coverage.

The Gülen movement denies this but the vitriol flying between daily Zaman, which is close to Gülen, and Yeni Şafak, which is staunchly pro-AKP, is enough to give one a sense of the bitter struggle involved.

Panicky parents calmed over Feza Schools closure reports

The director assured the public that claims linking the institution to an alleged terror network were grossly untrue and a fabrication made with the intention of spoiling its image. “Our schools have no link with any terror group, we are a local registered charity organisation where every single sent obtained from schools fee is used for the redevelopment of the schools,” he added.

Emotional farewell for Turkish teachers

The students, who have been groomed and educated by the Turkish teachers at the PakTurk schools, seem down in the dumps since word about their mentors’ departure got round. The teachers are scheduled to leave Pakistan in the coming week following the government’s deadline.

AK Party gov’t spokesman confirms National Intelligence Organization profiling of faith-based movements

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government spokesman confirmed that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) profiled some movements and groups, but rejected allegations that the government had taken action against those groups upon MİT profiling. AK Party government spokesperson Hüseyin Çelik raised the issue of government profiling of a large number of individuals who […]

‘Consider your husband dead, start a new life,’ prosecutor tells detainee’s wife

Cumhuriyet daily columnist Aydın Engin wrote on Wednesday that the wife of a detainee sent him a letter claiming that a prosecutor told her to consider her husband dead since he can never be freed.