Turkey
Antiwar protests continue throughout Turkey
By our correspondent, April 8, 2003
Thousands gathered in squares and took to streets across Turkey over the weekend to protest the US-led war in Iraq. Some 20,000 people joined an antiwar demonstration Sunday in Istanbul organized by a...
Turkey: Protests against US army
By our reporter, April 2, 2003
On March 31, groups of villagers showered a passing US convoy with stones, breaking two windows. The 37-vehicle convoy was heading out of Mardin, carrying equipment used to upgrade Turkish bases in th...
Antiwar protests in Turkey
By our correspondent, March 29, 2003
On March 27, public workers held a protest at Ankara’s Kizilay square, displaying their attitudes concerning the budget and the US-led war against neighboring Iraq.
Turkey: AKP leader Erdogan wins by-election in Siirt
By Justus Leicht, March 15, 2003
The way is now free for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the Islamic AKP (Party of Justice and Development), to become Turkey’s president. On Sunday, March 9 he won a parliamentary seat in a ...
The Bush administration, Turkey and democracy
By Henry Michaels, March 7, 2003
Only last week, US President George W. Bush solemnly proclaimed that his administration’s impending assault on Iraq was driven by a “vision” of democracy and liberation for the entir...
Turkish parliament votes down US war plans
By Justus Leicht and Peter Schwarz, March 4, 2003
In a surprise vote last Saturday, the Turkish parliament denied permission for the stationing of US troops on Turkish territory as part of the preparation for a war against Iraq. A draft law allowing ...
Ankara lines up behind a war against Iraq
By Justus Leicht, February 14, 2003
On February 6 the Turkish parliament officially agreed to permit the use of military bases in Turkey by American military forces for a war against Iraq.
War plans against Iraq aggravate conflict over Cyprus
By Justus Leicht, January 24, 2003
During the past weeks, tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots have demonstrated for reunification with the Greek part of the island and for accession to the European Union (EU). These mass demonstratio...
Turkey prepares to line up behind US war vs. Iraq
By Justus Leicht and Peter Schwarz, January 9, 2003
Ninety years ago Leon Trotsky compared the political course of underdeveloped countries to a barge which has been taken in tow by a steamboat. “The captain of the steamship has to show initiativ...
Devastating defeat for established parties in Turkish elections
By Justus Leicht and Peter Schwarz, November 8, 2002
On November 3 voters delivered a devastating rebuff to all the parties that have dominated Turkish politics for the past two decades. None of the parties in the previous governing coalition cleared th...
What lies behind the political crisis in Turkey?
By Justus Leicht, July 20, 2002
Turkey’s current government is collapsing. The government, a coalition of the social democratic Democratic Left (DSP) of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, the neo-fascist Nationalist Movement Party...
US war plans intensify political crisis in Turkey
By Justus Leicht, April 12, 2002
In spite of all attempts to convince it otherwise, the Turkish government has so far expressed scepticism—at least on the surface—in regard to a military operation in Iraq to overthrow the...
