The Optimal Target in the Opposite Camp: Metin Gürcan
The arrest of former soldier and security expert Metin Gürcan on espionage charges raised the question of who is chosen as a target in polarised politics, and why.
Format
Commentary
- Articles
- 89
The Land of Peace That Produces Its Own Enemies
We are a society that can stay estranged from relatives for years. The author asks how the same grudge is reflected in the state’s foreign policy and domestic politics, and how the “land of peace” produces its own enemies.
The World Is Built on Migration
Almost every era begins or ends with a migration. The author asks why people who have lost hope leave their countries and what brain drain costs a country.
Germany Is Jealous of Us!
Armin Laschet, nicknamed “Turkish Armin”, was the favourite in Germany’s 2021 election but lost through small mistakes. The author comments ironically on the lessons the German election holds for Türkiye.
A Brand-New Profession: Political Trader
Has ASELSAN been sold, will military land be sold? The author criticises “political trading” in a political order where even the state’s most vital institutions can become the subject of bargaining.
Specialist Sergeants
Fifty-six specialist sergeants serving in Libya were dismissed for filing a collective complaint of mobbing with CİMER. Through the battalion commander’s words, the author questions the notions of hierarchy and honour in the army.
Is Metin Gürcan a Spy? Who Is Next?
Espionage is one of the easiest crimes to allege and the hardest to prove. Starting from Metin Gürcan’s arrest, the author questions the political use of espionage charges.
The Self-Coup, Part 3
The fire that broke out in the Reichstag building on 27 February 1933 opened Hitler’s path to absolute power. The third part of the self-coup series tells the most famous example in history.
The Self-Coup, Part 2: The First Example in History, King Cleomenes III of Sparta
King Cleomenes III of Sparta moved against the institutions of his own state to make his power absolute. The second part of the self-coup series tells the first known example in history.
The Self-Coup, Part 1
Young men who harm themselves to avoid military service, people who burn their property to collect insurance… Can states take a similar path? The first part of the self-coup series.
Tapes Taken Down from the Shelves and the Betrayal of Friends
From an adviser who uses cocaine to a police officer dealing drugs, one scandal after another is coming out. The author argues that these revelations stem not from investigative journalism but from the powerful’s “nothing will happen to me” attitude.
Concrete Law
Cement holds a building together; law holds a society together. A commentary on law as the mortar that keeps society together when conscience, morality or religion alone are not enough.
The People Said HDP, but the PKK Has the Guns
After the trench operations, the government’s answer to the Kurdish question was TOKİ housing and trustees. The author comments on the impasse in which, although the people chose the HDP at the ballot box, the PKK’s guns remained decisive.
Trench Operations: Let He Who Is Without Sin Throw the First Stone!
Like the Irish soldiers written off in the Siege of Jadotville, the soldiers in the trench operations paid the price for political mistakes. The author asks where the responsibility lies.
Collective Consciousness (4) The Value System and Faulty Coding
Love of the homeland is more than attending martyrs' funerals or competing over crowd size at rallies. The fourth part of the Collective Consciousness series looks at how values are wrongly coded into minds.
