Turkey

Blog

    Systemic Oppression as the Basis for Erdoğan's 'New Turkey'
  • The shotgun attack on the HDP office in the city of Izmir on 17 June, in which a 20-year-old woman Deniz Poyraz, the daughter of a party employee, was killed, is the latest in a series of attacks against Turkey’s biggest left-wing opposition party. It occurred in a very heated political climate fostered by the Turkish government.
    Growing crackdown on Turkey’s left-wing opposition
  • While the discontent of relevant sections of the Turkish population with current government policies is growing, Turkish government has escalated its campaign of repression against the left-wing opposition party HDP. At this point, the reaction of moderate Turkish civil society actors will be crucial.
    Solidarity with the Pro-Kurdish Protests in Turkey
  • Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 82 people, including a mayor, over pro-Kurdish protests sparked by Isis seizure of Kobane six years ago. The European Left (EL) forcefully condemns all the anti-democratic intimidations and arrests of the protesters and expresses the solidarity with HDP and other progressive activists in Turkey.
    EU Must Work to Stop Erdogan’s Attack Against Syrian Kurds
  • As Turkish troops prepare to invade the Kurdish autonomous areas in northeast Syria, Left MEP Özlem Demirel (DIE LINKE, Germany) appealed for urgent efforts to put a stop to the threat. “The European Union and the international community must condemn in the strongest terms this aggressive and...
    R-komplex
  • Recently, transform! europe could welcome R-komplex as new observer organization. Read about R-kompleX presenting itself.
    We Are In Minority Again
  • In the night of June 24, the sentence which my mother makes after every election we lose, ‘’we are in the minority again’’, echoed in my ears. My father, who was a fanatic supporter of Republican People Party (CHP), which is the main opposition party of Turkey currently, could not be able to recover...
    The End of Democracy in Turkey
  • Last night the purge of President Erdogan against our party has reached another peak: our Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdag, along with 11 further Members of Parliament of our party have been detained across Turkey last night. More arrests are to be expected. The goal of these measures is to shut down the third largest party in parliament.
    Worsening Situation in Turkey After The Failed Coup Attempt
  • After the failed military coup attempt on 15 July, with the political decision of President Erdoğan, Justice and Development Party (AKP) government immediately declared “state of emergency” for three months in order to fight with the coup plotters.
    Turkey: Elections under the shadow of violence
  • The elections held on November 1, 2015 resulted in a huge success for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its “former” leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The AKP increased its votes almost all over the country and gained parliamentary majority which it had lost at the June 7 elections.
    Turkey’s Election: Hope Began Its March
  • Turkey’s crucial parliamentary election concluded with an amazing outcome: Since the implementation of the very anti-democratic election threshold of 10%, The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a leftist and pro-Kurdish party, managed to pass it for the first time.
    Turkey’s Election: Will Hope Pass the Threshold?
  • With its progressive and realistic election programme and wide range of candidates, HDP represents a preferable political party for the workers, farmers, women, youth, LGTBI, different ethnic and/or religious groups. An election success of HDP will raise hopes of people for a change in current situation of the country also by bringing closer the Gezi resistance and the Kobanê resistance.
    To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate May Day in Istanbul
  • Once again, this year, in Istanbul, the government banned May Day demonstrations and the police attacked fiercely protestors with pepper gas and water cannons. 39,000 members of the police prevented workers and people from celebrating May Day at the central square of Istanbul, Taksim Square.
    The Art of Protest
  • Update from 24 June on the massive June Days mobilisation in Turkey and highlights of music produced in solidarity with the protests.
    Declaration by Women’s Coalition
  • We Are Calling Upon The Government: Immediately Stop Police Violence And The Aggressive, Threatening And Condenscending Attitude Against The People.
    EL Delegation to Taksim Square
  • Plunging into the maze of tents in Taksim Square and the Gezi Gardens, members of the ELP delegation (2 members of its Political Committee and two leading members of Syriza) we sought to pinpoint the many organisations and demands.
    Erdogan: End the crackdown now!
  • Since end of May police is cracking down protesters in Turkey, 5 people are dead, 5000 people are injured. What began as protest against the construction of a shopping mall at Gezi Park in Istanbul turned to a broad protest movement in whole Turkey against the authoritarian politics of the turkish government.