The Gezi resistance and the great financial crisis: what’s in common?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
13 June 2013
During a long period of stability, major elements of instability might pile up slowly. Is there anything common between the underlying reasons for the global financial crisis, and the Gezi Park resistance and the peaceful demonstrations in support of it? I have to admit that at first glance the question seems rather “odd” and irrelevant.
[More]
Erdoğan and the changing character of demonstrations
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
13 June 2013
So far the Justice and Development Partly (AKP) government has won all the political struggles against its traditional rivals. However, a new breed of opponents, limited in number, proved to be a challenge over the last couple of weeks.Erdoğan and his bureaucrats were not able to accurately assess the phenomenon in its infancy. This was a new movement, its form unfamiliar, its strategies unprecedented. Yet the government saw this as an ordinary law enforcement issue and left its management to the police.On the contrary, this was a political issue and the protestors had a mosaic structure. Those who directly participated or indirectly supported the movement were not a homogenous group. They had no formal structure, no leader, no organization with traditional features and no open
[More]
Who is this interest-rate-lobby?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
11 June 2013
I was just about to give up when I got a flash: instead of asking who would most benefit from high interest rate, I turned to the powers that push up Turkey’s riskiness. On Sunday I decided to write about the “interest rate lobby” debate. Then I backed; I thought that people would ask why I felt such urge and suddenly I would find myself in deep trouble. But friends from the Radikal called me and asked if I could write a commentary explaining what this interest rate lobby was. How about that! I said yes as this was their only request in years. Anyways, here it is.
[More]
Gezi as a sit-in with a library
Güven Sak, PhD
11 June 2013
Roundtable politics have equal and participatory individuals and dialog. About ten years ago, Turkey’s exports were $30 billion; now they are $135 billion, 90 percent of which were made up of industrial products. Thirty years ago, exports were around $3 billion, 90 percent of which were agricultural products. In the early 1980s, Turkey decided that it had to open up its economy to the world in order to enrich itself. It took three decades ago the steps Egypt refrains from today. That’s why both Egypt and Turkey are where they are today. Thanks to those policy reforms, Turkey has completed its economic and social transformation, which since 2002 has enabled a political transformation via the ballot box. These transformations have taken place thanks to the widening set of economic capabiliti
[More]
Possible economic consequences of the Gezi Park resistance (2)
Fatih Özatay, PhD
08 June 2013
Political risk perception concerning Turkey will increase; with ups and downs but always here with us. Last Thursday I tried to discuss the possible long-term consequences of the Gezi resistance for Turkey’s economy. The resistance might help freedoms blossom and change the way of doing politics in Turkey. In other words, the resistance has the chance to trigger the shift from an imperfect to a mature and libertarian democracy. In that case, there is hope for a higher level of welfare, a more equitable income distribution and a cleaner environment. I hope things will evolve in this direction.
[More]
Turkey’s part-time protesters
Güven Sak, PhD
08 June 2013
The massive protests in Turkey over the last ten days have been using social media extensively. In about 24 hours starting from 4 p.m. last Friday, the number of tweets sent was about 2 million, 88 percent of which were in Turkish. Ninety percent of them came from inside the country. This number was at about 30 percent in the case of the Egyptian Revolution. About 50 percent of tweets originated from Istanbul, close to the site of protesting. So says a report of the New York University’s Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) Laboratory. Extensive social media use is characteristic of all latter day protests around the globe from Occupy Wall Street to the Tahrir Square. Taksim Square was no exception. There is nothing unusual so far. Modern day protests lead to extensive social m
[More]
Yuppies in the streets, how about politics?
Güven Sak, PhD
07 June 2013
Turkey needs a new way of doing politics and a new story. The old ones are just over The demonstrations in Taksim to protest the construction at/profit attempt on Gezi Park have not yet ended but are spreading. As they spread, the core of the issue becomes blurrier. That’s why we’d better take a few snapshots to elaborate on. First things first: we have to admit that there’s a serious social fact from which important lessons can be learned. Everyone is trying to identify its meaning. There are two groups of initial reactions: on the one hand is the archaic conspiracy reaction that ascribes anything it does not understand to abstract and incomprehensible outer forces. On the other hand is the effort to understand the events as a social fact. I think the second is healthy, but not the first.
[More]
Possible economic consequences of the Gezi Park resistance (1)
Fatih Özatay, PhD
06 June 2013
The Gezi resistance might help Turkey overcome the impediments to a mature democracy. What are the possible economic consequences for Turkey of the Gezi Park resistance that started upon environmentalist sentiments and turned into the demand for freedom and democracy following the violent oppression of a democratic right? It’s a tall order. It should be addressed from two different dimensions: short-term and long-term. It is easier to comment on the long-term consequences. I will embark on that today.
[More]
Government, demonstrations and the future of talks with the PKK
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
06 June 2013
Demonstrations in Istanbul spread to other cities. They will probably continue for a while. Everyone is discussing their causes and consequences. The government’s disregarding of a large section of the society and the excessive force used by the police against the demonstrators are subject to harsh criticism. Prime Minister Erdoğan is both claiming that his policy is right and he won’t retreat and also trying to lower the tension through his deputy Bülent Arınç.Mind you, Turkey was busy with something completely different a few weeks ago. The agenda was government-Öcalan talks and the “peace process.” The PKK announced that the withdrawal of their armed militants began and the question was which political steps the government would take.As always, Turkey’s agenda quickly change
[More]
Decentralization is now the hottest item on the agenda
Güven Sak, PhD
04 June 2013
Deliberative democracy is the best prescription for all types of discontent. Turkey needs further dialogue and more tools for deliberative democracy. Do you remember that photo from the groundbreaking ceremony for the third bridge over the Bosporus, the one that depicts the moment of groundbreaking? I recalled that one while I was trying to make sense of the protests that have started in Gezi Park, Istanbul, and have diffused throughout Turkey. Do you recall the photo? It depicted a significant crowd. It had the President, Parliament Speaker, Prime Minister and several ministers together with their spouses. Did you notice who was missing? Kadir Topbaş, the Metropolitan Municipality Mayor of Istanbul. Among all those people, he could not find a place for himself. At the most important gathe
[More]
