Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan renewed his commitment to the “Terror-Free Turkey” process even as signs emerged of internal division within the government over whether the PKK is disarming and the PKK accused Turkey of stalling.
The Terror-Free Turkey process, widely dubbed as frozen or stalled, has been revived by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest remarks. Erdoğan said the process, now entering its 18th month, has reached a critical juncture requiring much more delicate management: “There is a positive atmosphere. What needs to be done is clear. The process is proceeding as it should.”
The question of whether Turkey's Kurdish peace process — officially dubbed 'Terror-free Turkey' — has hit a deadlock is being asked more frequently, as tensions between the ruling AKP and DEM Party escalate over who bears responsibility for the lack of progress.
The breaking news pointed to an ISIS attack on Israel’s Istanbul Consulate on April 7, but the circumstances surrounding the attack remain hazy.
“The plot of the terror act is amateurish, the implementation is professional,” a terrorism expert told me about the attack that took place in Istanbul on April 7.
The excessive use of anti-terror laws came under renewed criticism in Geneva as five United Nations special rapporteurs issued a joint statement urging Turkey to stop criminalizing human rights defenders and lawyers.
With the “Terror-Free Turkey” process on one hand and the row over operations targeting CHP-run municipalities on the other, it’s easy to forget that the country’s main problem is deepening poverty and social decay.
İbrahim Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), described the goal of a Terror-Free Turkey as a comprehensive, multi-layered and multi-phase transformation.
Amid renewed clashes between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led militia in Aleppo, the Turkish Defense Ministry said that the Turkish army would support the operation if Damascus requested assistance.
The political parties represented in the parliamentary commission — tasked with supervising the Terror-Free Turkey initiative — have started submitting their reports to the speaker of Parliament. But both the governing bloc and the opposition appear far from agreeing on a common “solution law.”
A key lawmaker, Mustafa Şen, from Turkey's ruling AKP suggested that the government should discontinue the practice of appointing state trustees to replace elected mayors. 'The terrorist organization has concluded its activity. Therefore, if a trustee was appointed to a municipality for that reason, we believe the practice should now be ended,' Şen stated.
Turkish democracy is the casualty of Europe’s rediscovery of Turkey’s strategic value. To better understand the context of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara next week, one has to go back to the end of the Cold War. Whereas European countries have benefited from the peace dividend, the contrary happened for Turkey in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain. After enjoying the relative stability of the bipolar order of the Cold War era, Turkey found itself in the midst of several conflict zones. While most European countries downsized their defense budgets, Turkey had no such luxury. The fight against separatist terrorism, the turbulence created by the Gulf War, and regional conflicts like the ones in the Caucasus dictated the maintenance of a big and well-equipped army.