No country for (old-fashioned) opposition (Eliamep policy paper)

Policy Paper on the state of the opposition after the May elections. Turkey is facing the threat of having no viable opposition anymore, but a cosmetic one that serves to legitimize the government, but doesn’t have any real chances of winning important elections. If the opposition doesn’t act united in the municipal elections, which are scheduled for March 2024, the AKP will most likely win back cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Read More …

Dersimli Kemal for President?

Eliamep policy paper on the opposition’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and the position, debate and standing of Alevis in Turkey. As being both Alevi and Kurdish, Kilicdaroglu would be a first in Turkey, never had an Alevi such a high position withtin the state structure. After years of ever harsher polarization, his presidency could help to bridge divides, be they ethnic or confessional and bring the country closer to accepting Read More …

Turkey’s Kurds: Kingmakers in the upcoming elections? (Eliamep policy paper)

Policy paper (published 26 January 2023) written together with Evangelos Areteos, about both changes in Kurdish society, especially among the younger generations and the role the Kurdish vote will play in the upcoming elections in May 2023. Read the full paper pdf of the paper: https://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Policy-paper-124-Areteos-Guzeldere-.pdf Introduction Turkey’s Kurdish population is undergoing profound societal changes characterized primarily by the dynamics of secularization and modernization. The younger generations of Kurds, mainly Read More …

Democratic-values against authoritarianism? In the end it will be [again] the economy, stupid!

Eliamep policy brief (28 July 2022) summarising the main aspects of the the fourth episode of the ELIAMEP-MEDYASCOPE MEDIA SERIES (ELIMED), entitled “Value-based opposition against authoritarianism” (28 June 2022). The participants of the program, which I moderated, were Özge Mumcu Aybars, Sezin Öney and Osman Sert. Link to the pdf: https://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Policy-brief-167-ELIMED-final.pdf Summary Οpposition parties around the world (e.g., in Hungary, Poland, Brazil and Turkey) have started to form alliances against Read More …

ELIMED: Value-based opposition against authoritarianism

Together with Medyascope, we as Eliamep’s Turkey program, are co-organising a 7-part webinar series. The topic I moderated on 28 June 2022, the fourth webinar, concerned Turkey’s opposition, the Millet Alliance and to what extent this is a value-based and not ideological alliance for the upcoming both presidential and parliamentary elections. We however, also looked at Hungary, where the opposition tried a similar alliance against Victor Orban with a joint Read More …

Book chapter in Handbook of Regional Conflict Resolution Initiatives in the Global South

In the handbook, edited by Jerónimo Delgado-Caicedo, I wrote the chapter: “Turkey, From successful mediator to partisan actor – back to successful mediator?” The book was published in July 2022. Delgado-Caicedo, J. (Ed.). (2022). Handbook of Regional Conflict Resolution Initiatives in the Global South (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003287018 There is a 20% discount available to purchase the book (valid from mid-August onwards)

Eliamep-Webinar: the new German government, Turkey and its relations with the European Union

On 26 January 2022, we discussed what the new German government meant for Turkey, Germany-Turkey and EU-Turkey relations. The event can be fully watched on Eliamep’s youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB-qKx-ewVI The German government, formed following the 26 September 2021elections, is a tripartite coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. Beingthe second biggest party, the Greens hold the Foreign Ministry, whose headfor the first time is a woman, Annalena Baerbock. Read More …

Germany’s New Government Coalition: A Red, Yellow or Green Light for German-Turkish Relations?

Eliamep policy paper (#90, December 2021) on what the new German SPD/Greens/FDP government could mean for Turkey, German-Turkish and EU-Turkey relations. What are the positions stated in the coalition agreement, what has the new foreign minister Annalena Baerbock so far said about Turkey and how could the relations develop in the coming months/years? Direct link to the pdf: https://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Policy-paper-90-Guzeldere-final.pdf Introduction On 26 September 2021, the SPD won the national elections Read More …

Webinar: “Turkey and the Global South”

I will moderate an Eliamep-Webinar on 13 July 2021 on Turkey’s foreign policy towards the Global South. The Turkey Programmeof theHellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)is organizingan online roundtable discussionon: Turkey’s foreign policy has been diversifying since the 1990s with openings to all corners of the world. In this webinar, we want to discuss this foreign policy activismin the global South, its motivations, developments, challenges, success and failure Read More …