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Insight Turkey > Issues | Protests and Politics - Summer 2013 / Volume 15, Number 3

Protests and Politics



Editor's Notes


Editor's Note | Summer 2013
Again, momentous events are taking place in Turkey and its neighborhood. A civil unrest hit Turkey for weeks in May and June over a government project aimed at rebuilding a replica of an old military barrack in Istanbul’s Gezi Park. It started as a protest to protect the park, but went far beyond the original purpose. The protestors attempted to draw a no-cross line for the government, which is increasingly perceived as intervening in individual choices and lifestyles. According to the government, the protests were specifically targeted at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and were part and parcel of a global conspiracy to topple their rule. The response of the government was not one of consolation but confrontation.


Commentaries


Gezi – Anatomy of a Public Square Movement
The Occupy Gezi movement has been a staging ground for the creativity of micro-practices, and it...

The Political Reverberations of the Gezi Protests
Although a lot has been said about the Gezi protests, analyses of the events consistently failed...

The Gezi Park Protests in Turkey: A Qualitative Field Research
Civil protests began on May 27, 2013, in opposition to modernization works planned for Gezi Park...

The Clash of ‘Nations’ in Turkey: Reflections on the Gezi Park Incident
This article argues that the devastating mass demonstrations triggered by a humble...

Gezi Park: Negotiating a New Left Identity
Unknown to most of the world only a month ago, Gezi Park –the epicenter of Turkey’s June 2013...

Rowhani’s Election: Promise of Change or More of the Same?
Rowhani’s victory in Iran’s 2013 presidential election is a clear protest vote against his...


Articles


Just Another BRIC in the Wall? A Comparison of Recent Brazilian and Turkish Economic Developments
This paper compares various macro-prudential and policy tools, set against various aspects of the...

Reality or Mirage?: BRICS and the Making of Multipolarity in the Global Political Economy
The international system embarked on a process of transformation to a more heterogeneous...

A Country on a Tightrope: The Economic Crisis and the End of an Era in Spanish Politics
This commentary tries to study the current socio-economic crisis in Spain and the end of the...

The Effect of New Turkish Foreign Policy on International Trade
Turkish foreign policy has changed substantially within the last decade. Even though its...

European Union and Turkey in the Post Arab Spring Era: Mapping Strategic Interests in the Turbulent Neighborhood
This article explores the strategic importance Turkey holds to the European Union and how Ankara...

How and Why the West Reacted to the Arab Spring: An Arab Perspective
For many decades, the Arab despots would serve the Western interests in the region in return for...

Deconstructing the Discourse of Models: The ‘Battle of Ideas’ over the Post-Revolutionary Middle East
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring, the so-called ‘Turkish model’ has become a key ingredient...

Re-Imagining the Ottoman Past in Turkish Politics: Past and Present
The article analyses the use of Ottoman past as a central theme in Turkish politics since the...


Review Article


Prisoners of Ourselves: Totalitarianism in Everyday Life & Turkey and the Dilemma of EU Accession & Towards a Social History of Modern Turkey: Essays in Theory and Practice
ALTHOUGH written from a variety of perspectives at different points in history, all three books reviewed here offer penetrating insights into Turkish politics past and present, as well as commenting on how they are interpreted both inside and outside the country.


Book Reviews


The Seljuqs: Politics, Society and Culture
After the passing of such researchers in Seljuq history as Osman Turan, İbrahim Kafesoğlu, Mehmet...

Rusya ve Polonya’da Din, Kimlik, Siyaset
Starting from 1980s different religions “went public” all around the world and reclaimed their...

Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century
Paul Mojzes is a well-informed and eminent historian of religion with a profound interest in the...

Modern Islamist Movements, History, Religion and Politics
This book is an easy to read textbook that is structured to present readers with an historical...

Obama and the Middle East: The End of America’s Moment?
Within Fawaz Gerges’ text, The End of America’s Moment?-Obama and the Middle East, the author...

Late Ottoman Society, The Intellectual Legacy
Studies on late Ottoman society continue to be inviting for historians in many aspects. This...

Against Massacre: Humanitarian Interventions in the Ottoman Empire 1815-1914
The concept of humanitarian intervention and international practice in the nineteenth and early...

Turkey and the European Union: Processes of Europeanization
Almost eight years on from the start of accession negotiations, the view of Turkey-European Union...

Regimes of Ethnicity and Nationhood in Germany, Russia, and Turkey
This is a path-breaking book that contributes to the literature on ethnicity and nationalism from...


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