Istanbul Gazette News
The English Voice of Turkish News
Cameron Joins the Gaza Flotilla
How to respond to the increasingly Islamist streak of Turkey's Islamist government is one of the West's bigger security challenges. David Cameron's solution during this week's Turkey visit seemed straight from his Foreign Office's old Mideast handbook: Shower uncritical praise on your hosts and trash Israel. More…
U.S. alienating ally, Turkey, with our Iraq politics
On July 4, Vice President Joe Biden made his 17th visit to Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003. His main objective was to cajole the political parties, especially the Arab parties of Nuri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi, to form a government because there has not been one in Iraq since the March 7 elections. The U.S. is eager to have a government in place as it draws down its troops. More…
Where Islamists and anti-Islamists come together
I should have known better. I should have seen that criticizing the arguments of Mr. Burak Bekdil, my column neighbor, could come back to me as an ad hominem attack. It happened before, it happened again. This time, I just got more of it: My true “jihadist” face has been revealed, as my delusional belief in Jewish conspiracies. What does a man want more?
More…
I wish ‘Erdoğan Pasha’ would start thinking the unthinkable
Interior Minister Beşir Atalay made an exclusive statement to the daily Hürriyet. “The democratic initiative is in progress. Perhaps we have made mistakes on the matter of perception. But most of the time high expectations can be delusive. These things take time. You have to be patient and work hard. Efforts continue, both inside and outside,” he said. More…
View point: Why Obama is talking Turkey
In Istanbul for a conference, I picked up a copy of the oldest English language newspaper, The Hurriyet Daily, only to find a very familiar Jakarta face: Barack Obama. No, he wasn’t in Turkey, but he sure was talking turkey!
More…
Turkey Lost Turkey
The Islamist AKP used the EU accession process to gain Western legitimacy but never really had a vision to join.
More…
How to respond to the increasingly Islamist streak of Turkey's Islamist government is one of the West's bigger security challenges. David Cameron's solution during this week's Turkey visit seemed straight from his Foreign Office's old Mideast handbook: Shower uncritical praise on your hosts and trash Israel. More…
U.S. alienating ally, Turkey, with our Iraq politics
On July 4, Vice President Joe Biden made his 17th visit to Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003. His main objective was to cajole the political parties, especially the Arab parties of Nuri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi, to form a government because there has not been one in Iraq since the March 7 elections. The U.S. is eager to have a government in place as it draws down its troops. More…
Where Islamists and anti-Islamists come together
I should have known better. I should have seen that criticizing the arguments of Mr. Burak Bekdil, my column neighbor, could come back to me as an ad hominem attack. It happened before, it happened again. This time, I just got more of it: My true “jihadist” face has been revealed, as my delusional belief in Jewish conspiracies. What does a man want more?
More…
I wish ‘Erdoğan Pasha’ would start thinking the unthinkable
Interior Minister Beşir Atalay made an exclusive statement to the daily Hürriyet. “The democratic initiative is in progress. Perhaps we have made mistakes on the matter of perception. But most of the time high expectations can be delusive. These things take time. You have to be patient and work hard. Efforts continue, both inside and outside,” he said. More…
View point: Why Obama is talking Turkey
In Istanbul for a conference, I picked up a copy of the oldest English language newspaper, The Hurriyet Daily, only to find a very familiar Jakarta face: Barack Obama. No, he wasn’t in Turkey, but he sure was talking turkey!
More…
Turkey Lost Turkey
The Islamist AKP used the EU accession process to gain Western legitimacy but never really had a vision to join.
More…