Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
After the completion of the Parliamentary Commission report on the Kurdish peace process, legal steps are expected to accelerate after the Ramadan holiday, which ends on March 22 and overlaps with Newroz, the spring festival seen as a symbol of Kurdish identity.
Turkey has withdrawn civilian administrative units from the Operation Olive Branch zone in northern Syria after seven years of activity, according to a statement by Şanlıurfa Governor Hasan Şıldak. The announcement prompted questions regarding the withdrawal of Turkish armed forces from the area.
Gendarmes arrested CHP’s Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan March 2, just as the party was bracing for the trial on corruption allegations concerning the Istanbul Municipality.
Tanıl Bora, who quietly reads, translates, and writes books, suddenly became a target last week after Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu announced that they were reading his book “Cereyanlar” (Currents of Thought).
On Feb. 23, four separate courts in Istanbul and Ankara heard cases involving the CHP congress, corruption claims by businessperson and confessor Aziz İhsan Aktaş, accusations about its provincial chair, and the trial of a party bus driver.
Turkey and Armenia appear closer to normalization, with the launch of direct flights by Turkish Airlines and plans to open border gates. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he expects tangible progress “within a short period” on reopening long-closed land borders and increasing flights between Istanbul and Yerevan.
Last week, Berlin experienced what felt like a Turkish procession. At the Berlinale — the Berlin International Film Festival, the home of the Golden Bear — two films from Turkey won the major prizes. The Golden Bear went to İlker Çatak with “Yellow Letters,” while Emin Alper got the Jury Grand Prize for “Salvation.”
The parliamentary commission established to prepare a roadmap for resolving the Kurdish issue, in line with the PKK’s decision to dissolve, has completed its six-and-a-half months of work. Attention has now shifted to how the ruling parties will time the legislative steps. The report falls short of defining the Kurdish issue or calling for education in Kurdish, but instead stresses the brotherhood between Turks and Kurds. Now questions remain about the timing of the legislative process. The first legislative steps are expected toward the summer rather than Newroz, and it is unclear whether all the legislative steps addressed in the report will be completed this year.
Turkey has once again been drawn into a debate over secularism after Education Minister Yusuf Tekin issued a circular instructing schools to organize Ramadan-themed activities, including the preparation of a “Ramadan checklist” for students.
As the first hearing in the main “corruption and bribery” case against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his colleagues approaches — along with the anniversary of his detention — CHP Chair Özgür Özel said there are preparations to delay the proceedings by another three months.
The “process report” that charts the roadmap for Parliament toward solving the Kurdish question has been finalized. The document did not push the limits of the AKP and MHP too far; it received a cautious “hopeful” endorsement from the CHP on the grounds that accepted democratic demands “must not remain mere words on paper”; the DEM Party deemed it “better than nothing” despite its shortcomings; and the Yeni Yol group welcomed with a familiar “not enough, but yes.”
The CHP emphasizes moving away from personalized, leader-to-leader foreign policy toward one grounded in formal institutions, rules, transparency, and oversight.