As epic clashes between antigovernment protesters and riot police turned downtown Istanbul into a battle zone last weekend, …
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Erdo-gone? After Taksim, Turkish Leader’s Political Future May Hang in the Balance
By Sunday night, most of the businesses on Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul’s biggest pedestrian street, seemed to have had their front teeth knocked in. ATM screens glared and winked stupidly from behind broken glass monitors. …
Turkey’s Massive Military Trial Opens Old Wounds and New Anxieties
Claims of procedural and evidentiary anomalies in a huge trial of coup plotters raise criticism of the Erdogan administration. Is the Prime Minister trying too hard to bury the military — and Turkish secularism?
French Draft Law On Armenian Genocide Rocks Franco-Turkish Relations
Anyone who hoped that calm and harmony might somehow prevail after the passage of a French bill criminalizing denial of the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was mightily disappointed Monday night. Adoption of that …
Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past
Our interview with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published earlier this week on Global Spin, dwelled mostly on the growing shadow cast by the charismatic premier across the face of Mideast geo-politics. One question edited out of the earlier transcript raised the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose dominion once …
Israel and Turkey: It’s Hard to Fight with Your Hands in Each Other’s Pockets
One of the pleasures of covering Florida politics in Washington used to be Sam Gibbons, D-Tampa, the only Democrat reliably elected to the House from the Gulf Coast, and a dedicated teller of war stories. Gibbons parachuted into Normandy with the 101st Airborne and what followed would inspire certain quality entertainments from …
Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan Faces Many Challenges in Third Term
TIME editor Rana Foroohar examines the political and economic climate that gave Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third term as prime minister. Known as both a populist and a firm economic leader, Erdogan has achieved nearly unprecedented success in Turkey’s complex political environment. But although he has thus far handled an expanding …
Turkey’s Vote Is a Win for Democracy
Pelin Turgut examines for TIME the new political environment in the wake of Turkey’s elections on Sunday. Critics decry Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s perceived authoritarian leadership style, but his ruling Justice and Development Party, a pro-business and moderately Islamist party, won Sunday’s elections with 50% of the vote, …
