Latest Articles

Who lost Ergenekon
The view from Washington

March 7, 2010  •  Hurriyet Daily News

When the Ergenekon case started in 2007 based on allegations of a coup plot against the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government, Washington agreed: "this is serious stuff." Three years, two hundred arrests, hundreds of house raids and wiretaps and a 5,800-page indictment later, with no verdict in sight, Washington now asks with a skeptical eye: "What is all this about?"

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Turkey's Republic of Fear

March 4, 2010  •  The Wall Street Journal

Last week's arrests in Turkey of dozens of high-ranking military officers mark the country's latest step toward authoritarianism. Neither Europe nor the United States can afford to ignore Turkey's transformation.

Since coming to power in 2002, the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) and ultra-conservative Fethullah Gulen Movement have gained significant leverage over the police and media. Emulating Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the AKP has made selective use of the legal code to effectively silence the country's two largest independent media groups.

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Turkey's Turning Point

February 26, 2010  •  Newsweek

Turkey's Islamist ruling coalition faces the courts and military in a showdown for the nation's future. Will Turkey move closer to the liberal democracies or away from them?

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What's Really behind Turkey's Coup Arrests?

February 25, 2010  •  ForeignPolicy.com

For the last several decades, the Turkish military was untouchable; no one dared to criticize the military or its top generals, lest they risk getting burned. The Turkish Armed Forces were the ultimate protectors of founding father Kemal Ataturk's secular legacy, and no other force in the country could seriously threaten its supremacy. Not anymore.

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The Diyanet and Laïcité: New Turkish Exports to Europe

February 7, 2010  •  Hurriyet Daily News

European secularism, or laïcité, practiced in France and other European countries, is distinct from American secularism. While the United States is secular, providing for freedom of religion in education and politics, European societies are laïque, providing for freedom from religion in education and politics.

Secularism, however, is not a standardized concept and varies from country to country. Turkey presents an example of such secular variation within Europe. Today, as European countries struggle to delineate the boundaries between Islam, education and politics, Turkey's distinct brand of secularism is attracting a lot of attention. In fact, it is fast becoming Turkey's newest export to Europe.

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Soner Cagaptay's Book

Islam, Secularism, and Nationalism in Modern Turkey Who Is a Turk? by Soner Cagaptay Routledge, 2006. 256 pp. $180 January 13, 2006 Details and Reviews...