nationalism

Kyoto (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Viewers of Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Vladimir Putin may have been surprised by Putin’s lengthy reference to the historical founding of Russia. What does that have to do with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine one might ask. Yet, as any student of history, let alone a diplomat, […]

European Union

The Empire of Whiteness: Race in the European Perspective

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Hans Kundnani, Eurowhiteness: Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project. London: Hurst & Co., 2023. Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – What does it mean to be European? This is a complex but legitimate question. Still, one is unlikely to find an answer to the conundrum in the numerous billboards paid […]

Armenia

The Death of the Armenian Dream in Nagorno-Karabakh was Predictable but not Inevitable

Ronald Suny

By Ronald Suny, University of Michigan | – (The Conversation) – Thirty-five years ago, more than 100,000 Armenian protesters took to the streets to convince Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnically Armenian enclave stuck geographically in the neighboring republic of Soviet Azerbaijan – ought to be joined to Armenia. In recent days, […]

Democracy

How did Turkish President Erdoğan Survive the Strongest Challenge Yet?

Marc Martorell Junyent

Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the elections in Türkiye. Again. In power for two decades, first as prime minister and then as president, Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) secured a relatively comfortable victory over Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the runoff election held on May 28. Kılıçdaroğlu, the […]

Democracy

In a post-election Turkey, the country remains divided on political lines

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) -Showing up at a polling station, as one of the two presidential candidates, in a country-wide election with a pocket full of cash may not occur to leaders of democratic countries, but in Turkey, that is what the newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did on May 28. The incumbent […]

nationalism

Strong Showing for Erdogan sets up Turkish Run-Off Election for May 28

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org ) – The results from the May 14 general elections in Turkey were a surprise for some, a disappointment for others, and for those who rallied behind President Erdoğan and his coalition, a victory. These elections also showed how the main opposition coalition underestimated the societal split and the priorities […]

Islam

In centennial year, Turkish Voters will choose between Erdoğan’s Conservative path and the Founder’s Modernist Vision

The Conversation

By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – Turkey has two historic events on the horizon. On May 14, 2023, voters will go to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections, and in October, the country will celebrate the centennial of the Republic. In 1923, military leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the foundation […]

Featured

No, Mr. Smotrich, Palestinians are not New in History, and all Nationalisms are Modern, including the Israeli

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bezalel Smotrich in a speech in Paris over the weekend maintained that there are no Palestinians and that the whole notion of Palestine is no older than a century. This cliocide, a form of genocide involving wiping out the history of a people, has been a common narrative among Zionists […]

Modernism

New Identity: Religion, Nationalism and Foreign Policy in Turkey (Review)

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Filiz Çoban Oran, Religion, Nationalism and Foreign Policy: Discursive Construction of New Turkey’s Identity. London: I.B. Tauris, 2022. Tuebingen (Special to Informed Comment) – In 2009, US President Barack Obama advised Europe to welcome what was then called Turkey into its fold and benefit from the country’s “diversity of ethnicity, tradition and faith.” […]