Howard Eissenstat
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Articles by Howard Eissenstat
We Study Repression in Turkey. Now We See It Here. Original
On Tuesday evening, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Fulbright scholar researching children’s digital-media consumption at Tufts University, was taken into ICE custody. Ozturk was handcuffed and forced into a vehicle while on her way to dinner after fasting for Ramadan. In a video, she asks, “Can I call the police?” only to be told, “We are the police.” Why was Rumeysa Ozturk seized like this?
Turkey’s Glee Over Trump’s Victory May Be Short-Lived
Members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inner circle could hardly hide their glee over the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Despite some notable breakthroughs in U.S.-Turkey relations during the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, key points of tension remain. Erdogan and his team are optimistic that with President-elect Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington will be an easier partner.
U.S.-Turkey Relations Under Trump May Not Be Smooth Sailing
Members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inner circle could hardly hide their glee over the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Despite some notable breakthroughs in U.S.-Turkey relations during the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, key points of tension remain. Erdogan and his team are optimistic that with President-elect Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington will be an easier partner.
A Newly Conciliatory Erdogan Hasn’t Given Up on ‘Noisy Diplomacy’
In a public appearance in late July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Turkey might be forced to intervene to stop Israel’s war in Gaza. “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them,” he added. The comments seem to mark the return of Erdogan’s “noisy diplomacy,” after a period of relative moderation since his reelection to the presidency last year.
A Weakened Erdogan Is Still Bad News for Turkey’s Democracy
Assuming his health holds out and that he does not pull a rabbit—in the form of a constitutional revision—out of his hat to award himself yet another term, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will remain in office until 2028. Nevertheless, his political position seems more tenuous today than perhaps at any time since he survived a coup attempt in 2016. Erdogan’s domestic weakness is not likely to result in any “moderation” of his policies, however.
Four Reasons The Opposition Overestimated its Chances
Turkish voters went to the ballot box again this past Sunday, and despite an economy in dire straits and the tragic corruption and mismanagement that likely led to tens of thousands of additional deaths in the early February earthquakes, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was reelected for another five-year term. Why, despite the initial optimism of the opposition, were they not able to dislodge him?
Turkey announced it would regulate warship access to the Black Sea. Does that change Russia’s strategy?
Ucrania, Rusia, Conflicto armado, Conflicto territorial, Over the weekend, following a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Ankara would implement the Montreux Convention. The decision made headlines around the world — but what does this mean, exactly?
Turkey announced it would regulate warship access to the Black Sea. Does that change Russia's strategy?
The Russian Navy's diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don sails thorough the Bosphorus strait, on its way to the Black Sea, past Istanbul, Turkey on Feb. 13. (Yoruk Isik/Reuters) Over the weekend, following a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that Ankara would implement the Montreux Convention. The decision made headlines around the world - but what does this mean, exactly?
Recep tayyip erdoğan: From “illiberal democracy” to electoral authoritarianism (born 1953)
Recep tayyip erdoğan: From “illiberal democracy” to electoral authoritarianism (born 1953) Dictators and Autocrats Securing Power across Global Politics, 2021 DownloadDownload PDF Full PDF PackageDownload Full PDF Package A short summary of this paper 6 Full PDFs related to this paper
Recep tayyip erdoğan
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in 2003 promising an era of liberalization and openness. Rather than governing with a broad coalition, however, he has opted to eke out narrow victories that ensure him continued political control without the burden of reaching out to the opposition. There are three basic components of this success.
Analysis | Five lessons from the latest elections in Turkey
The full repercussions of Sunday’s election may take years to fully understand, but some lessons are already clear. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling party's parliament members in Ankara on Tuesday, two days after Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the secular opposition Republican People's Party, won the election for mayor of Istanbul. (Burhan Ozbilici/AP) June 26 The weekend’s election results were a stunning rebuke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Dark Days in Istanbul
Taksim Square under police control today (Photo Courtesty: Ahmet Şık/ NarPhotos). I [miss] the days I used social media to connect with my high school friends. In #istanbul, it’s only used to ask “are you safe” these days So writes one of my friends in Istanbul today after a weekend of some of the most shocking police violence that Turkey has seen in years.
Take Action Today!
A man protects a woman as they face a police officer dispersing protesters who gathered near Taksim square in Istanbul as the police blocked access to the square during the one year anniversary of the Gezi park and Taksim square demonstrations (Photo Credit: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images). On the first anniversary of the Gezi Protests and their brutal suppression in Turkey, central Istanbul resembled nothing so much as a city under occupation.
Turkey-US spat
THE crisis between the United States and Turkey, a NATO ally and traditional bulwark of American policy in the Middle East, is serious. While the relationship between them has often been fraught, the two countries have generally managed to keep difficulties within acceptable limits. No longer. Most of the blame lays at the feet of Turkey’s irascible President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has led a lurching foreign policy that has estranged all of Turkey’s traditional allies and most of its neighbors.
Trump's botched Turkey policy
The crisis between the United States and Turkey, a NATO ally and traditional bulwark of American policy in the Middle East, is serious. While the relationship between them has often been fraught, the two countries have generally managed to keep difficulties within acceptable limits. No longer. Most of the blame lays at the feet of Turkey’s irascible President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has led a lurching foreign policy that has estranged all of Turkey’s traditional allies and most of its neighbours.
Commentary: Trump’s botched Turkey policy
The crisis between the United States and Turkey, a NATO ally and traditional bulwark of American policy in the Middle East, is serious. While the relationship between them has often been fraught, the two countries have generally managed to keep difficulties within acceptable limits. No longer. Most of the blame lays at the feet of Turkey’s irascible President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has led a lurching foreign policy that has estranged all of Turkey’s traditional allies and most of its neighbors.
Analysis | Turkey’s president will win the country’s snap elections. Here’s why they still matter.
Monkey Cage Analysis Analysis Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an authoritarian ruler who maintains the facade of democratic legitimacy. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images) April 20, 2018 This week, Turkey’s president announced the country would hold snap elections on June 24.
Will mounting casualties weaken Erdoğan politically? No, and here’s why | Ahval
There are good reasons to question the wisdom of the Turkey’s Afrin campaign: it endangers the relationship with the United States, puts its troops at the mercy of the short-term political calculations of Damascus, Tehran, and Moscow, empowers Salafi-Jihadi movements whose long term goals and ambitions are at odds with those of the ruling AKP, and further embitters the roughly half of Turkey’s Kurds for whom Kurdish identity is central and armed groups have at least some emotional sway.
The Hard Truth About Turkey's Opposition
It has been over a year since the coup attempt in Turkey, yet the country is still in turmoil. The government has intensified its purge against anyone it suspects is associated with the cleric Fethullah Gulen, who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleges orchestrated the effort to oust him, even though Gulen has been living in the United States since 1999. In the process, Erdogan has also taken action against a wide range of other individuals with no clear ties to the Gulen Movement.
Commentary: One year after failed coup, Turkey lurches toward dictatorship
There is no overstating the trauma of the attempted coup that shook Turkey a year ago this Saturday. Turkey, which had believed the age of military coups was behind it, once again witnessed tanks on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. Before the night was through, nearly 300 were killed, more than a thousand were injured, Turkey’s parliament was bombed.
One year after failed coup, Turkey lurches toward dictatorship
There is no overstating the trauma of the attempted coup that shook Turkey a year ago this Saturday. Turkey, which had believed the age of military coups was behind it, once again witnessed tanks on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. Before the night was through, nearly 300 were killed, more than a thousand were injured, Turkey’s parliament was bombed.
The Massive Protest Putting Turkey’s Erdogan on the Defensive - War on the Rocks
At the moderate pace of about 12.5 miles per day, a new crisis is slowly unfolding in Turkey. For almost three weeks, the previously uninspiring leader of the country’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been walking from Ankara to Istanbul. As the “March for Justice,” which now includes thousands of supporters, wends its way toward Istanbul this week, it puts President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in one of the most precarious political positions of his 15 years in power.
Turkish President Erdogan arrives in D.C. tomorrow. Here’s what to watch for.
There is a lot on the line for both Turkey and the United States when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with President Trump this week. Both men are charismatic populists who believe in the power of personal relations. Both believe that international relations — including relations between longtime allies — are fundamentally transactional. But relations between the two allies have seldom been chillier, and Erdogan is unlikely to return to Ankara satisfied with the result.
Commentary: The real winners, and losers, in the Turkish referendum
Sunday’s narrow win for the “yes” campaign for constitutional change in Turkey was perhaps the worst possible result for the country. Turkish democracy, always more aspiration than reality, is now in tatters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an won the presidential system he had desired for so long, but in doing so betrayed weaknesses that will embolden his enemies.Neither the campaign nor the voting were free or fair.
POMED Report - “Erdoğan as Autocrat: A Very Turkish Tragedy”
To read this report as a PDF, click here. In just over a decade, the Republic of Turkey has gone from a period of promising political liberalization to fast-approaching one man rule under President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. The party he leads, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 promising a more tolerant, inclusive Turkey. Its “political brand” was stability, economic prosperity, and good governance. After early progress, today this brand is discredited.
Don't let Turkey's Erdoğan cement repressive power with referendum
On April 16, Turkey will vote in a referendum that will shape the country’s future for decades to come. A yes vote in the referendum would cement the rule of Turkey’s charismatic and pugnacious president, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, allowing him unprecedented new powers. The stakes could hardly be higher, but the campaign has not been a free or fair one.
Commentary: Coup or not, Erdogan is still the likely winner in Turkey
By Howard Eissenstat, Commentary Corrupt, egomaniacal and repressive, there is not much to recommend Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule -- save the inescapable fact that he is the democratically elected head of state. And that he is a politician who shines brightest in a fight. Erdoğan is not going to give up. He has millions of supporters who will give their lives for him. He has the support of all the opposition parties. And, because he’s won three elections – he is in the right.
How you can take action
Turkey has suffered from a series of horrendous attacks in recent months. The security challenges it faces are very real. Unfortunately, the rhetoric coming out of Ankara suggests that, under the umbrella of fighting terrorism, the most basic civil liberties are to be targeted.
In Turkey, Journalists Once Again Targeted
In Turkey, the crackdown on independent journalism continues. Mehmet Baransu remains in jail, apparently a victim of the government’s crackdown on the Gulen Movement. Other journalists in Turkey have been charged under Turkey’s dangerously vague anti-terror statutes. Meanwhile, a pattern of media outlets sacking voices deemed critical of the government continues, with the newspaper, Milliyet, firing seven journalists this past month.
Mass-graves and State Silence in Turkey
In the nineties, at the height of the war between the Turkish military and the Kurdish nationalist Kurdish Worker’s Party, or PKK, it was clear that the Turkish security forces were engaged in torture and extra-judicial killings as a means of ending Kurdish separatism. Thousands were “disappeared” and reports by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations were typically met with stonewalling from the Turkish government.
Turkey's dreadful response to the Soma Mining Disaster
Relatives of a miner mourn beside his grave following the Soma mining disaster, on May 17, 2014 in Soma, Turkey (Photo Credit: Halit Onur Sandal/Getty Images). Last week’s mining disaster in Turkey represented more than simply an industrial accident, but raised very real human rights concerns. The government’s response in the last week, however, have only heightened these concerns.
3 Reasons Amnesty is Concerned About Turkey's Mining Disaster
Relatives of the victims of the coal mine fire in Turkey check lists of the dead miners. An explosion and fire followed an electrical fault killed at least 232 miners and injured many others (Photo Credit: Cem Oksuz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images). The mining disaster in Soma, a small town in Western Turkey, is, by any standards, a shocking tragedy. Amnesty International, in a statement issued today, makes clear, however, that this tragedy could have been averted.
What's Behind Turkey's Crackdown on the May 1 Protests?
Turkish riot police use water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters during a May Day demonstration on May 1, (Photo Credit: Burak Kara/Getty Images). A History of Protest For decades, May Day celebrations in Turkey have been an important litmus test of the government’s tolerance for freedom of expression and assembly.
5 Things You Need To Know About the Gezi Protests
At least eight thousand injured, at least five confirmed deaths (with strong evidence linking at least three of these deaths to police abuse), many thousands detained. As this powerful video produced by Amnesty International shows, the human cost of the Turkish government’s decision to suppress peaceful protests this past summer was immense.
Urgent Action Needed in Turkey to Stop Police Violence
Since May 31, more than 4,000 protesters have been injured as Turkish police continue to use excessive force in an attempt to disperse them. Amnesty International has seen a growing body of evidence of police brutality, including extensive use of teargas and water cannons against nonviolent protesters. Video footage taken at the scene of demonstrations has shown police officers kicking visibly defenseless protesters and even beating them with batons.
Protests in Turkey: Three Steps You Can Take Now to Halt Police Repression!
Police reportedly used tear gas on May 28 to disperse a group protesting the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul. This was just one of many recent instances where Turkish police have used excessive force to repress peaceful protests (Photo Credit: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images). Images of Turkish police employing shockingly excessive measures against peaceful demonstrators has once again highlighted Turkey’s willingness to stifle dissent as well as the impunity of its security forces.
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