Articles written by Patrick Wrigley
Turkey's Alevis Struggle for Religious and Secular Acceptance
By Patrick Wrigley,
on ,
World Politics Review
ISTANBUL, Turkey --This past July, President Abdullah Gul of Turkey spoke to an assembled crowd of Shiite Turks, known as Alevis. The speech, calling for unity and acceptance of minorities, came less than a month after Gul's Justice and Development Party was spared closure by the constitutional court for anti-secular activity, a decision hailed as the start of a more inclusive atmosphere in the country. Three months later, a massive demonstration of Alevis in Ankara shows that the vision of a multi-ethnic, multiconfessional Turkey is in tatters. more
Turkey's Ergenekon Case Raises Kurdish Hopes and Fears
By Patrick Wrigley,
on ,
World Politics Review
A high-profile trial of a shadowy Turkish ultra-nationalist
organization dubbed Ergenekon has the daily papers
abuzz with talk of the ongoing struggle between
secularists and Islamists. But the most frequent victims of extra-judicial
killings and political disappearances, the Kurds, have often been overlooked. For the Kurdish community, Ergenekon has offered both hope that the
disappearances and killings of the 1990s will be accounted for, as well as concern that the case will be used for political purposes.
more
The New Prospectors: Arab Countries Look Overseas for Food Security
Persian Gulf states whose coffers have been bloated by the sustained rise
in oil prices are increasingly recognizing that every silver lining has
a cloud. The price of oil has been their savior, but it is now having
some unwanted side effects, among them food inflation. The rulers in the Persian Gulf are recognizing this and looking at other ways of ensuring food security. Rather than rely on the vagaries of the market and unstable import sources, countries across the region are seeking to buy up the means of production itself.
more
Courts Become a Battleground in Fight Over Identity of the Turkish State
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- While the recent ban on the headscarf in Turkish universities and the case against the ruling AKP for anti-secular activity grab headlines, they are just the most prominent battles in the war between Turkish secularists and Islamists, who are taking to the courts in an effort to define the values and identity of the modern state. From the banning of Web sites to the closure of the oldest gay rights organization in Turkey, the litigious bug has infected the whole country. more