The Commentaries – Volume 1, 2021
The Commentaries – Volume 1, 2021
Contributor(s): Nikos Christofis (Editor), Joost Jongerden (Editor), Cengiz Gunes (Editor), Bahar Simsek Day (Editor)
Subject(s): Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Military policy, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Politics and Identity, Peace and Conflict Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Politics; students; Mediterranean; The Commentaries; MENA region; Turkey-EU relations; policy-makers; professionals; European Union Turkey Civic Commission; EUTCC
Summary/Abstract: The Commentaries is a journal that publishes analysis, evaluations and assessments of contemporary developments in Turkey, Turkey’s role in the MENA region, and Turkey-EU relations. It does so for a broad audience of scholars, policy-makers, professionals and students. The aim of the commentaries is to draw attention to current advances, discuss policies and practices, and to stimulate critical discussion and theoretical reflection. The Commentaries is an initiative of the European Union Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC). However, views expressed in The Commentaries do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the EUTCC (EU-Turkey Civic Commission) nor its members.
Submissions to The Commentaries are reviewed by the editorial board. Commentaries are published online. Print copies of The Commentaries are published on a yearly basis.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-1-80135-107-2
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-1-80135-106-5
- Page Count: 109
- Publication Year: 2021
- Language: English
“You sleep with the devil; you wake up in hell!”: On the new EU-Turkey Deal
“You sleep with the devil; you wake up in hell!”: On the new EU-Turkey Deal
(“You sleep with the devil; you wake up in hell!”: On the new EU-Turkey Deal)
- Author(s):Nikos Christofis
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
- Page Range:1-7
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:United Nations High Commissioner; Refugees; UNHCR; Amnesty International; challenge; Turkey; EU; Europe; organization; frontex; pushbacks; devil; escape;
- Summary/Abstract:Right from the start in 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Amnesty International challenged the legitimacy of the so-called refugee deal between Turkey and the EU. Toward the end of 2020, the EU concluded another agreement with Turkey as part of the €6 billion in funding covered by the refugee deal, in spite of Turkey’s deteriorating human rights record. Against a backdrop of Turkey’s weaponizing of refugees against Europe and Europe’s treatment of the refugee issue as a local problem, the European border and coast guard organization Frontex has been practicing illegal pushbacks. It is clear that once you toy with the devil, you cannot escape hell.
- Price: 4.50 €
Playing politics with the plight of refugees. How the EU went into Erdogan’s political receivership
Playing politics with the plight of refugees. How the EU went into Erdogan’s political receivership
(Playing politics with the plight of refugees. How the EU went into Erdogan’s political receivership)
- Author(s):Naif Bezwan, Janroj Yilmaz Keles
- Language:English
- Subject(s):EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
- Page Range:9-15
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:peak; refugee crisis; EU; agreement; Turkish; government; refugees; Turkey; implementation;anticipated; NGO; Europe; Erdogan regime; strategic; blackmail; humanitarian needs;
- Summary/Abstract:At the peak of the ‘refugee crisis’ in late 2015-early 2016, the EU reached an agreement with the Turkish government, known as the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey. It has served as a bone of contention between the EU and Turkey ever since its implementation. As anticipated by many experts, critical voices and NGOs in Turkey and Europe, the Facility has provided the Erdogan regime with a strategic tool to blackmail the EU without caring for the humanitarian needs.
- Price: 4.50 €
Merkel’s positive agenda has collapsed before it started
Merkel’s positive agenda has collapsed before it started
(Merkel’s positive agenda has collapsed before it started)
- Author(s):Cengiz Aktar
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Governance, Government/Political systems, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
- Page Range:17-21
- No. of Pages:5
- Keywords:Merkel; German; government; desperately; Turkish; dictatorial; regime; Turkish; democrats; EU; Erdoğan;
- Summary/Abstract:The German Government is desperately trying since years to appease the Turkish dictatorial regime to the expense of Turkish democrats but also EU’s core values. Alas, as always with similar regimes appeasement doesn’t work. Today the more the EU appeases the more Erdoğan abuses.
- Price: 4.50 €
Watershed moment in US-Turkey relations
Watershed moment in US-Turkey relations
(Watershed moment in US-Turkey relations)
- Author(s):David L. Phillips
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Governance, International relations/trade
- Page Range:23-30
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:President; Joe Biden; Armenians; Armenian; Genocide; US; Turkey relations; Tayyip Erdogan; international; NATO; meeting; ethnic; religious; minorities; republic;
- Summary/Abstract:President Joe Biden recognized atrocities committed against Armenians as the Armenian Genocide in his statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (24 April 2021). The statement represents a watershed moment in US-Turkey relations. President Tayyip Erdogan can address US and international concerns prior to the Biden-Erdogan summit on the margin of June’s NATO meeting, or he can double down and intensify repression against Turkey’s ethnic and religious minorities. Erdogan’s course will define international relations prior to the centennial of the founding of the Turkish republic in 2023.
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Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part I)
Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part I)
(Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part I))
- Author(s):Michael M. Gunter
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
- Page Range:31-38
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Turkey; Syrian; Kurds; United States; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; NATO;
- Summary/Abstract:This wide-ranging survey of the Kurds in Syria will evaluate the mid-term fall-out of the suddenly announced US withdrawal on October 7, 2019. It concludes that 1. The US dishonorably deserted its Syrian Kurdish ally, 2. Alienated future allies who would no longer trust it, 3. Allowed some of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) prisoners incarcerated by YPG guards to escape and potentially revive the genocidal jihadist organization, 4. Rewarded Turkish aggression, 5. Handed the murderous, but badly taxed Assad regime new life, 6. Facilitated Iran’s drive to the Mediterranean and potential threat to Israel, and, maybe most of all, 7. Empowered Russia as the ultimate arbitrator of the Syrian imbroglio to the detriment of the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part II)
Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part II)
(Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds (Part II))
- Author(s):Michael M. Gunter
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Government/Political systems, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
- Page Range:39-47
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Turkey; Syrian; Kurds; Syria; Trump; Obama;
- Summary/Abstract:This Commentary survey’s Turkey's interaction with Syria's surprisingly influential Kurds and explores the Turkish-US confrontation over the US support of the Syrian Kurds against ISIS. It concludes that the Biden administration will likely continue to implement the limited, but effective role his predecessors Trump and Obama had carried out, but that the ultimate fate of Syria and its embattled Kurds remains unclear.
- Price: 4.50 €
Minorities in Turkey I: Law and Reform
Minorities in Turkey I: Law and Reform
(Minorities in Turkey I: Law and Reform)
- Author(s):Baskın Oran
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Ethnic Minorities Studies
- Page Range:49-56
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Minorities; Turkey; law; reform;
- Summary/Abstract:Here I uncover the relationship between the term “Turk” (an ethno-religious term that, in some usages covertly, in some overtly, avers that Turkey is the land of ethnic Turks, and that only Muslims are considered Turk), and the concepts of race and religion. A critical period for the advancement of human rights and minority rights in Turkey occurred in the early 2000s, when the parliament adopted a series of reform packages in order to harmonize the country’s laws with those of the European Union (EU). I propose to examine a case of these most radical democratic reforms carried out since the establishment of the republic, in order to understand how these reforms have been put into practice. I also trace the deviation from these reforms after 2005, by examining the subsequent laws and practices that undo or undermine them, and discuss their implications, particularly for Kurds in case of the deterioration under the state of emergency (Olağanüstü Hal, or OHAL), declared in response to the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
- Price: 4.50 €
Minorities in Turkey II: Ideology and Discrimination
Minorities in Turkey II: Ideology and Discrimination
(Minorities in Turkey II: Ideology and Discrimination)
- Author(s):Baskın Oran
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Ethnic Minorities Studies
- Page Range:57-64
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Minorities; Turkey; ideology; discrimination; mentality; philosophy;
- Summary/Abstract:This article focuses on the ideological roots of the repressive and discriminatory mentality/philosophy that has shaped democracy and minority policies in Turkey. My aim is to analyze the consequences of this mentality, with an emphasis on hate speech and discrimination. To this end, I summarize the consequences of the issues and policies discussed in the previous article, and discuss their future implications for both the state and the people of Turkey. I conclude that it is necessary to refer to citizens not through the ethno-religious term Turk, and still less as Muslims, but through the thoroughly territorial term Türkiyeli (of Turkey), and to do all that is necessary to ensure such a transformation in mentality.
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Human Rights Jeopardized in Turkey: Governmental and Judicial Intentions to Erode Due Process and the Right to a Fair Trial
Human Rights Jeopardized in Turkey: Governmental
and Judicial Intentions to Erode Due Process and the
Right to a Fair Trial
(Human Rights Jeopardized in Turkey: Governmental
and Judicial Intentions to Erode Due Process and the
Right to a Fair Trial)
- Author(s):Hakan Aydın
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
- Page Range:65-73
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Human; Rights Jeopardized; Turkey; governmental; Judicial; Intentions; erode due process; Right to a Fair Trial;
- Summary/Abstract:Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations have drawn attention to abusive persecutions, the erosion of the right to a fair trial and torture during detention in Turkey. The government has ignored or sidestepped the European Convention on Human Rights’ (ECHR) decisions pertaining to pre-trial detentions and fair trials by adding new grounds to indictments and continuing pre-trial detentions.
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Authoritarianism from Above and Below: Exclusive Nationalism and the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict
Authoritarianism from Above and Below: Exclusive
Nationalism and the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict
(Authoritarianism from Above and Below: Exclusive
Nationalism and the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict)
- Author(s):Harun ERCAN
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Nationalism Studies, Politics and Identity, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Page Range:75-83
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Authoritarianism; nationalism; Turkish; Kurdish; People’s Democratic Party; HDP;
- Summary/Abstract:The persistence of the Kurdish conflict in the Middle East has created deadly outcomes for Turkey’s democratization process and facilitated the emergence of an authoritarian coalition promoting exclusive nationalism from above. While consolidation of the authoritarian rule in Turkey occurred in parallel to the rise of exclusive nationalism and regional militarism, the electoral authoritarian regime is currently facing multiple challenges. As the economic recession deepens, a new wave of ethnonationalism targeting the Kurds and immigrants is in the making, but this time from below. The possibility of democratic change in the future seems to depend on to what extent main opposition parties will be able to distance themselves from exclusive nationalism and build a pro-democracy alliance including the People’s Democratic Party (HDP).
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What Will Happen to the Kurds If the US Withdraws from Syria and Iraq?
What Will Happen to the Kurds If the US Withdraws
from Syria and Iraq?
(What Will Happen to the Kurds If the US Withdraws
from Syria and Iraq?)
- Author(s):Arzu Yılmaz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Military policy, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Page Range:85-96
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Kurds; US; withdraws; Syria; Iraq;
- Summary/Abstract:The future of the Kurds in Iraq and Syria after a US withdrawal has already begun to take shape. The containment of Kurdish political and military cross-border mobility has been achieved to some extent by paving the way for Turkey’s military operations; it is now contingent on the recomposition of a desired ‘favorable balance of power” to fill the power vacuum in the Middle East. With an aggressive Turkish stance in the region, however, neither this containment policy nor the efforts made toward the maintenance of the “favorable balance of power” can be successful.
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On the Collateral Impact of Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn: Re-securitization of the Kurdish Issue and the Kurds’ Struggle for Minority Recognition and Self -Determination
On the Collateral Impact of Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn: Re-securitization of the Kurdish Issue and the Kurds’ Struggle for Minority Recognition and Self -Determination
(On the Collateral Impact of Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn: Re-securitization of the Kurdish Issue and the Kurds’ Struggle for Minority Recognition and Self-Determination)
- Author(s):Emre Turkut
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Security and defense, Ethnic Minorities Studies
- Page Range:97-104
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Collateral; Impact; Turkey; authoritarian; re-securitization; Kurdish Issue; minority; recognition; self-determination;
- Summary/Abstract:Since the collapse of the peace process in 2015, the Turkish Government has sought to turn every move towards Kurdish rights into an existential threat – a process led to the re-securitization of the Kurdish question. Ever since the descent of Turkey into an authoritarian polity has begun in the aftermath of the June 2015 elections, the Kurdish minority has suffered a brutal crackdown marked by high of political imprisonment and greater restrictions on freedom of assembly and association and on electoral aspects of self-determination. This commentary will take a closer look at the dire consequences of the collateral impact of Turkey’s authoritarian turn on the Kurdish political movement from the perspectives of minority rights and selfdetermination.
- Price: 4.50 €