Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The decision to prosecute scores of academics for signing a January 2016 petition criticizing the Turkish government’s actions in southeastern Turkey seriously violates the right to free speech and academic freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges are also a misuse of terrorism laws. The trials of academics start… »

In Turkey, more than 40 academics and university workers were arrested at two Istanbul universities on Monday, amid Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s widening crackdown. Among those arrested on charges of alleged terrorist links was professor of political science Koray Caliskan. This is Koray Caliskan speaking on Democracy Now! last… »

Coup In The Mad Sultan’s Palace An article published in March on the American Enterprise Institute’s website titled Could there be a coup in Turkey?, considered the possibility of a military coup transpiring in Turkey. Its author, David Rubin, explains Turkey’s predicament: The situation in Turkey is bad and… »

Like most viewers, I watching the events in Turkey unfold on television from Friday July 15 and the snatches of scenes not really telling the full story but giving an idea of what was taking place, especially with the word military coup getting aired. Quite disturbing. Not particularly aware of… »

In the latest attack on free speech in Turkey, three academics who signed a peace petition in January 2016 have been jailed by an Istanbul court on suspicion of “making terrorist propaganda,” Human Rights Watch said today. The three were jailed on March 15, 2016, pending the completion of a… »

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been clamping down methodically on the media in Turkey for years, first as prime minister and now as president. The persecution of journalists across the political spectrum is growing in ferocity and includes arrests, threats and intimidation – all actions unworthy of a democracy. His victims… »

Prominent US scholar Noam Chomsky has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having double standards on terrorism after Erdoğan accused him of ignorance and sympathizing with terrorists. Hours after a bombing attack in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul that killed 11 people on Tuesday, Erdogan directed a series of… »

The Turkish election board confirmed that snap elections, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for earlier this week, will be held on November 1. Erdogan called for a new election after an inconclusive vote in June, and the collapse of coalition-building efforts. He said last week that the election was… »