Members of European Parliament call on Turkey to end the public advertising ban on Evrensel

10 Members of the European Parliament called on Turkey’s Public Advertising Agency to lift the indefinite ban on Evrensel. In a letter addressed to Rıdvan Duran, the general director of the Public Advertising Agency (BİK), the authority in Turkey responsible for the distribution of state advertising, ten members of the European Parliament called for the […]

We have lost our columnist, architect Cengiz Bektaş

Cengiz Bektaş, one of Turkey’s leading architects who for long years wrote articles in our newspaper, has lost his life. We have lost our newspaper’s columnist, architect and poet Cengiz Bektaş. Holder of the Aga Khan and Mimar Sinan Grand Awards, Bektaş had been undergoing treatment for diabetes-related heart failure in an intensive care unit […]

SPOT Conference 2020 – What’s the latest?

The Turkish state’s attacks on human rights, workers rights and democracy is relentless, and President Erdogan’s war politics is fuelling further tension and instability, not just in Turkey but across the region. It is in this context that we have pulled our sleeves up and are finalising preparations for SPOT’s 4 th Annual Conference, which […]

Who is making money out of the war in Syria?

As President Erdoğan’s Idlib obduracy and AUAV strikes continue, the ruling media is making “national pride from national arms” propaganda, and son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar is making money, too. Object of the power holders’ relentless obduracy, Idlib remains high on the agenda. Compared to before, it has become tougher to air the voice of truth among […]

The Erdoğan administration’s jihadist impasse and Kurdish quandary

With it now apparent that the Erdoğan administration’s aims are no longer feasible, one could describe the way it has become bogged down thanks to its obdurateness over its Syria policy as its “jihadist impasse and Kurdish quandary.” There is no let-up in either the Erdoğan administration’s obdurateness over Idlib or the deaths of soldiers […]

It has come to this: Refugees as instruments of war

Turkey is pushing refugees over the border and Greece is pushing them back. What we are watching is a Turkish-Greek jointly produced film of shame. The refugees are like a ping-pong ball toing and froing across the tennis table. The right-wing government in Greece is pitiless towards refugees. Be they old, children or handicapped, the […]

Idlib message from Selahattin Demirtaş

Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş has made a statement following the death of 33 soldiers in Idlib. Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, detained for more than three years in Edirne Prison, has sent a message regarding the 34 soldiers who were killed in the air raid staged by the Syrian army in the Syrian town […]

Is a government to promise “martyrdom” to its citizens?

Erdoğan appears to have reached the stage of holding “martyrs” in a tighter embrace and saying, “God willing, the mound of martyrs will not remain empty” in accentuating the religious-ideological grounds for his policy. Speaking at a foundation-laying ceremony for the tram line in Izmir’s Kınık sub-province, for the second time in the past two […]

İlhan Uzgel and Kerim Has’s assessment: Idlib doggedness full of risk

Prof. Dr. İlhan Uzgel and Russia expert Kerim Has assessed the latest developments in Syria and Idlib for Evrensel. The Idlib tension continues to mount. The Ministry of National Defence announced the deaths of two soldiers and the wounding of another five soldiers in İdlib. At around the same time, the Anadolu Agency intimated that […]

The on-stage rifle is starting to go off in Idlib!

The picture painted in Idlib conjures up the words spoken by Russian playwright Chekhov to emphasise the connection of the stage set: “If in the first act there is a rifle hanging on the wall, it absolutely must go off at the end of the play.” Each day fresh news of conflict and death comes […]

IPI: BirGün’s announcement ban lifted, Evrensel’s to be lifted too

The International Press Institute (IPI) has announced that the announcement ban given to BirGün has been lifted by the Press Notices Institute and appealed for the same ban issued to Evrensel to be lifted at once. The International Press Institute (IPI) has announced that the announcement ban given to BirGün has been lifted by the […]