Portrait of the Week
77 articles
Portrait of the Week
ÜMİT KOCASAKAL: SINGING THE OLD SONG
Who is back? Ümit Kocasakal. He won the election for president of the Istanbul Bar Association on Oct. 25, returning to the post he held from 2010 to 2016. And which slogan did he bring back with him? “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal.” He and his supporters chanted it together after his victory.
Portrait of the Week
THE NAME OF SARIGÜL: FAMILY IN PRISON, WHILE IMMUNITY KEEPS HIM OUT
We’ve borrowed our headline “The Name of Sarıgül” from “The Name of the Rose,” the best-selling novel by Italian writer Umberto Eco.
Portrait of the Week
HALK TV’S FATE, ITS EMPLOYEES AND ITS OWNER
Halk TV has been seized. Its broadcasts have been suspended. In effect, this means shutting the channel down. You might ask: “Why seize a television channel like this? We no longer live in the era of a single broadcaster. People can watch whichever channel they want. If they don’t like it, they can switch it off.” But is it really that simple? No.
Portrait of the Week
CEMİL TUGAY’S SWITCH TO THE AKP AND THE SPOUSAL FACTOR
Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay’s decision to join the AKP caused a major stir, bitter disappointment, and protests. After all, Izmir has long been regarded as a stronghold of left-wing politics. In fact, the city can be analyzed as “a city with center-right leanings that consistently votes for left-wing social democrats because of its opposition to the AKP.”
Portrait of the Week
MONEY, SECOND-GENERATION AKP POLITICIANS, AND FATMA BETÜL SAYAN KAYA
Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya is a politician who has figured prominently in the latest investment fund scandal. She and her husband made staggering sums from funds in a very short time.
Portrait of the Week
BİNALİ YILDIRIM AND NEW YORK TEARS
Binali Yıldırım. The last prime minister before the country shifted to the Turkish-model presidential system. Last seen in New York, at the UN General Assembly as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the chamber.
Portrait of the Week
ZÜLFÜ LİVANELİ'S WISE DECISION
Zülfü Livaneli made a clear decision this week. The musician and novelist put an end to the playing of his celebrated composition at opposition rallies protesting the operations that have targeted Ekrem İmamoğlu — and subsequently numerous other mayors and municipal officials — since March 19, 2025.
Portrait of the Week
IZMIR: A CITY WITH NO PARTY, AND CEMİL TUGAY
Cemil Tugay has been mayor of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality since 2024. When he resigned from the CHP, he said he would join the new party Özgür Özel was forming. Özel said similar things. But around the same time, reports surfaced that Tugay’s communications with Özel were breaking down.
Portrait of the Week
MELİH GÖKÇEK SUMMONED TO TESTIFY: IF ANKARA HAD A VOICE, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?
When the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office summoned the city’s former mayor, Melih Gökçek, to testify over his family members' assets and accounts in Germany, the first reaction was silence.
Portrait of the Week
OSMAN KAVALA’S UNENDING TORMENT
Osman Kavala will turn 70 next year. He has been in prison for nine years. During those nine years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled three times that his detention and conviction violated his rights and called for his “immediate release.” Most recently, just three days ago, the ECHR once again called on Turkey to “release him.”
Portrait of the Week
İYİ PARTY’S NEW COURSE UNDER MÜSAVAT DERVİŞOĞLU
The İYİ Party was the only party to vote as a bloc against the framework law on the Kurdish peace process. Its instincts on the nationalist right are already well known. But before turning to the party, it is worth dwelling for a moment on its chair. Let us begin with his name: Müsavat.
Portrait of the Week
NOT A FILM, ALL TOO REAL: ERDAL BEŞİKÇİOĞLU ARRESTED TOO
Erdal Beşikçioğlu, mayor of Etimesgut, a satellite town of the capital, has been arrested. The charge against him is much the same as those leveled at other CHP mayors: 'Forming a criminal organization for the purpose of corruption.'