Portrait of the Week
77 articles
Portrait of the Week
Premium
THE REDISCOVERY OF HİKMET ÇETİN
In Turkish, there is a saying: “to rediscover America,” similar to reinventing the wheel in English. It means to re-examine something that is already known and established. It carries a negative connotation. To those who act in this way, people often ask mockingly:“Are you trying to rediscover America?”
Portrait of the Week
Premium
ALTAN ÖYMEN: FAREWELL TO THE MAN WITH TWO UMBRELLAS
Altan Öymen passed away this week at the age of 93. Throughout his long life, he always carried two umbrellas—journalism and politics. He journeyed nearly 75 years under both. One could have said “he wore two hats,” but “umbrella” suits Altan Öymen’s life better. A hat is for one person alone; an umbrella is something under which many can take shelter, from the sun and rain. That’s why Öymen chose not hats, but umbrellas. And under his umbrella, there was always room for more than just himself.
Portrait of the Week
Premium
A STORY OF POLITICAL ‘BROTHERHOOD’
Exactly 18 years ago — the summer of 2007. Then-Prime Minister Erdoğan raised Abdullah Gül’s hand in the air, and called him “my brother,” as he announced his candidacy for president. That summer, Gül was elected as Turkey’s 11th president — the first president to emerge from within the AKP. A new era was beginning, with the party’s two most powerful figures holding the posts of president and prime minister.
Portrait of the Week
WHILE ABDULLAH ÖCALAN IS STILL ALIVE
The pace of the Kurdish peace process, and the model it will follow have now become intertwined with Abdullah Öcalan's lifespan.
Portrait of the Week
CHP MAYORS: SOME IN JAIL, SOME JOINING THE AKP
Burcu Köksal, the CHP mayor of Afyonkarahisar, joined the AKP this week. With her addition, the number of mayors who have left the CHP and joined the ruling party since the 2024 elections has reached 17.
Portrait of the Week
AZİZ YILDIRIM ON THE ROAD BACK TO THE “FENERBAHÇE REPUBLIC”
Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş. The three clubs that come to mind when one speaks of football in Turkey. They are also known as the “Big Three.” In fact, all three are Istanbul clubs. But they have histories stretching back nearly 120 years. They are the teams with the most league titles.
Portrait of the Week
KILIÇDAROĞLU AND THE LEADERSHIP QUESTION IN THE CHP
After Atatürk’s death, İsmet İnönü was elected Turkey’s second president and the second person to lead the CHP. He ran the party for 34 years, from 1938 to 1972. When CHP members elected Bülent Ecevit as chair at the 1972 congress, İnönü left the party, most likely with deep resentment. When he died in 1973 at the age of 89, he was not even a member of the CHP.
Portrait of the Week
MÜJDAT GEZEN COULD DIE ON STAGE
'Trees die standing.' That is the title of a play that has been staged in our theaters for many years. Müjdat Gezen is 83 years old and has been a performer for more than 60 years. Not just on stage — also a film actor and television personality. He has spent most of his life, in a sense, broadcasting live. His life is, in fact, a summary of Turkey's most turbulent era.
Portrait of the Week
FROM THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT: HÜSAMETTİN CİNDORUK AND YALÇIN KÜÇÜK
As Hüsamettin Cindoruk and Yalçın Küçük passed away within days of each other, this is an attempt to sketch their portraits in a single piece. They were close in age. While they may have moved in different political lanes, they still shared firsthand experience of more than sixty years of this country’s political life.
Portrait of the Week
THE DEPARTURE OF YILMAZ ÖZDİL
'First the Bread Went Bad.' This was the first book by man of letters Oktay Akbal, a collection of stories about lives before and after World War II.
Portrait of the Week
DOES ERDOĞAN WANT A REGIME WITHOUT ELECTIONS?
Let us say it plainly at the outset: the answer is no. This is bigger than his wishes or reluctance. For more than a year, based on the operations against CHP municipalities, there has been a slew of analyses claiming that 'Erdoğan will not hold elections'. Similar analyses — citing earthquakes and wars as justification for him avoiding elections — also proved wrong before the 2023 elections and before.
Portrait of the Week
ADVENTURES IN TURKISH JOURNALISM: THE STORY OF ALİCAN AND İSMAİL
The poet Nazım Hikmet writes in his poem The Postman: “The news of humankind, of the world, of the homeland / The news of the tree, the wolf, the bird / At dawn or in the middle of the night / I carried to people in the middle of my heart...”