Thursday in a reasoned opinion that it had fined the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for undermining Turkey’s secular principles instead of shutting it down because of the party’s efforts to gain Turkey membership in the European Union and to improve women’s rights… Nihat Ergün, chairman of the AK Party’s parliamentary group, said [...]
Photo from Today’s Zaman The Constitutional Court rapporteur who had previously recommended the top court not reverse a law adopted in Parliament that would have allowed wearing Islamic headscarves on university campuses has been fired from his job at an Ankara law school. Constitutional Court rapporteur Osman Can has been fired from his teaching job [...]
From the Financial Times (click here for full article) A row over corruption allegations is emerging as the new frontline in political battles between the Turkish government and its secularist opponents and could damage the ruling Justice and Development party’s (AKP) carefully cultivated reputation for clean politics. Last month a German court convicted three men [...]
Though the Third National Program declared last Monday by government spokesperson and State Minister Cemil Cicek raised hopes among the pro-EU intellectuals of Turkey, many are skeptical about the program’s prospects…. [JW: The Third National Program is a long list of reforms required to meet EU requirements in many sectors, ranging from sewage collection to [...]
THE CLOSURE CASE APPEARS TO HAVE INCREASED AKP’S VOTES Speakers:Deniz Baykal, leader of the secularist opposition Republican People’s party (with a hat). Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, chief prosecutor of the Constitutional Court (in red collar) Baykal: “For the love of God, why don’t you open a closure case against us? After all, we’re arguing with the military.” [...]
Excerpts from The Economist: (for full article, click here) When Turkey’s constitutional court stepped back from a threat to ban the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party last month, businesspeople had more reasons than most to raise a cheer. The treasury’s borrowing rates promptly fell and the main stockmarket index rose by about 2%. Standard [...]
Ilker Basbug Photo from Today’s Zaman Turkey’s Supreme Military Council (YAS) met to decide this year’s shuffle of military commanders. Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug will take the place of Gen. Yasar Buyukanit as the new chief of general staff. Once President Abdullah Gül approves the decisions, they will become effective August 30. Naval [...]
Today’s Zaman has published a useful brief history of the case against the AKP, beginning with the founding of the AKP: click here
Now that the court case against the AKP is finished, it’s nice to have something else to worry about. Skyrocketing gas prices have pushed up the price of donkeys, as farmers are abandoning their tractors for these reliable beasts that run on locally grown “biofuel”. Last year’s donkey price of 700-800 YTL has gone up [...]