James Traub writes in Foreign Policy that Turkey’s democracy remains “unresolved” eight years Erdogan came to power. The AKP’s commitment to the rule of law and minority rights is doubted by some secular Turks, who also fear that the country is becoming more conservative (the country’s Higher Education Board’s recent decision to stop teachers from expelling women wearing headscarves from classrooms may suggest otherwise, however). The recent constitutional referendum, moreover, ...

On Monday, September 13th, POMED hosted an event entitled “Is Turkey Becoming Less Democratic?” The event was moderated by Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow and Resident Scholar at Third Way and the Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. The discussion featured three panelists: Gonul Tol, Executive Director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East ...

Gonul Tol, Director of Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute, wrote at Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel yesterday that the Kurdish issue in Turkey “is primarily an issue of democracy and should therefore be resolved through democratic means.” The PKK has become an actor in national politics, not solely an insurgent group – as such, matters of equality, minority rights, and rule of law must be approached through democratic ...

In a group of Kurdish villages in the Qandil mountains in Iraq, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is the only active body that maintains security in the region. Namo Abdolla writes in The New York Times, "It is a place without a government, and without disorder. It is, perhaps, in many ways, an ideal example of what philosophical anarchists wish to see in a larger community." The ...

Becky Lee Katz at the LA Times Babylon & Beyond blog reports that a 15 year-old Kurdish girl, Berivan Sayaca, who attended a demonstration while visiting her aunt, has been convicted as a terrorist and sentenced to a seven-year, nine-month jail time. Turkish authorities allege that the demonstration was held by the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and they accuse Sayaca of throwing stones at the police. Supporters of Sayaca deny ...

Reuters reports that the Turkish government announced it will continue as planned with reforms expanding Kurdish rights despite a court ruling that banned (see previous post) the Democratic Society Party (DTP). According to Interior Minister Besir Atalay, "the Kurdish initiative will continue with determination, the necessary regulations will be accelerated."Nonetheless, Christian Science Monitor wonders whether the ban on the DTP and subsequent violent protests will undermine reform efforts.  According to Dilek Kurban of the Turkish ...

The Washington Post has written an editorial criticizing Turkish PM Recep Erdogan  for backsliding on his commitment to democratic principles.  Despite the fact that Erdogan is pushing through Kurdish reforms, the dimming prospects of Turkey joining the E.U. has led Turkey to adopt an unwanted stance on Israel and a coziness with Iran, Syria and Sudan, as well as cracking down on Turkish media.  The editorial concludes that Erdogan must stop "coddling ...

Reuters is reporting that Turkey has laid out a reform plan to expand Kurdish rights, including the creation of an independent body to investigate cases of torture and allowing Kurds to campaign and broadcast in Kurdish.  The main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), walked out of parliament in response to the legislation, which aims to disarm the Kurdish PKK.  According to the New York Times this new plan comes ...

Agence France Presse is reporting that thousands of Kurds rallied in Diyarbakir as 34 members, including eight Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels, of a “peace group” arrived from Iraq to show support for Ankara’s plans to end the 25-year Kurdish conflict. The group surrendered to police and were taken into custody for questioning immediately after crossing the border. According to the article,  "Turkish officials have said the group’s members were welcome ...

The Washington Institute's Soner Cagaptay questions whether Turkey should grant group rights to the Kurds as part of the "democratic opening process" recently spearheaded by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Instead, he argues Turkey should deal with the Kurdish issue by focusing on the individual rights of all Turkish citizens to "help make Turkey a more liberal country."

Middle East Progress focuses on the Turkey’s impending constitutional crisis. Ian Lesser warns that the likely court decision in Turkey may have dire consequences. “Turkey’s E.U. candidacy may be irreparably damaged, nationalist tendencies reinforced, and relations with the United States, already troubled, could be further compromised.” The Economist calls the situation “a tragedy in the making,” and suggests that “the fallout at home would be serious, even if the AKP were ...

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Samantha Rollinger at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies ask, "Should the U.S. take steps to address Turkish concerns about the PKK, and thus make future interventions less necessary?" At the end of April the Turkish military made numerous strikes on the Kurdish group just over the border, furthering strain on the Turkish-Iraqi- American alliance triangle. The authors cite Svante Cornell of Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. ...

Hiwa Osman in the Daily Star declares that the best solution to moderating the PKK is not an offensive one, citing the recent incursion by Turkish military as a failure. He also notes problems the PKK, the militant Kurdish population in Turkey, poses for their Iraqi brethren politically. "The Kurds appreciate the importance of long-term strategic ties with Turkey," and believe that "PKK issue is an irritating factor ...

An editorial in The International Herald Tribune analyzes the current attempts to ban the AKP, arguing that "a high court decision to nullify the popular will by dissolving a legitimately elected party would cast a pall over Turkish democracy and make it harder than it already is for Turkey to gain membership in the European Union." In a discussion on the interplay between Turkey, Iraq, and the PKK, Bitterlemons International presents ...

At Bitterlemmons, Mustafa Kibaroglu discusses the US relationship both with Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, writing that "US policy in Iraq appears much more sensitive to meeting the demands of the Kurdish authority than those of its long-time NATO ally." He notes that this has deteriorated American-Turkish relations. According to Kibaroglu, Turks are increasingly concerned over the border threat of the PKK while Kurds remain a critical ally of the United ...

The larger meaning of a terrorist car bombing that killed five people and wounded 68 last Thursday in southeastern Turkey is discussed in an editorial in the International Herald Tribune today. The article implores the lethal blast to be seen against "the backdrop of a domestic struggle over the political and cultural identity of Turkey." It also indicates that a reprisal of the dirty war that the Turkish military conducted against the PKK in ...

After Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq chasing the PKK, Juan Cole discusses the implications for Iraqi stability of the US giving intelligence aid for the strike. He guesses that that this provision of intel from Iraq went by way of Baghdad and may destabilize the shaky parliamentary balance if the Kurdish PMs turn against al-Maliki. Michael Rubin, in the Wall Street Journal (subscription only), argues that the current US strategy--urging ...

Many articles discuss the possibility of a Turkish invasion into northern Iraq and the possible ramifications. An opinion article in the New York Times argues that Washington needs to walk Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds back from the brink to avoid a disastrous regional war. An article by Ralph Peters, in USA Today, argues that the PKK threat is weak and both success and failure of the Turkish ...