Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Op-Ed

Elephants fight, refugees suffer by RECEP KORKUT*

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The world in which we live, where millions of people are on the move, seems like it has been cursed with conflicts caused by identity battles and differences.

What about writing an alternative ‘what if’ history... by MEHMET ÖĞÜTÇÜ*

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Most people do not engage in the mental luxury of speculating upon what the world and their country would be like if history had gone a little differently, i.e., if history had taken a course different to that which it did.

Turkish army accreditation policy to create problems by METİN YIKAR

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Turkey hosted an international event, namely an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers.

MIL 101 How to stage a military coup by ALİ MURAT YEL*

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I do not know of any school or college in the world that has included a course teaching the planning and strategies of a military coup in their curricula.

After Emasya by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

EMASYA is an acronym that stands for security, public order and cooperation. This acronym is used to describe a protocol detailing how the military is to function as a police force during periods of social unrest.

Kashmir Solidarity Day by ABDULLAH AL-AHSAN

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

One of the founders of modern democracy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, once said, “Everything degenerates in the hands of men.”

Let Atatürk rest in peace by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I have a senior diplomat friend in Ankara. Unlike many other foreign diplomats, he has a good understanding of Turkey.

US 1933: An American response to a ‘domestic threat’ by MARK LIEBERMAN*

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The global economy in chaos... Millions of disenchanted unemployed march to the capital... Upon the scene appears a charismatic leader bearing a portfolio of radical proposals designed to transform the nation...

‘24,’ torture, the West we know by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Last year when we visited the Pentagon as Today’s Zaman columnists, the Pentagon’s support for “24,” amongst other things, attracted my attention.

Three critical term presidencies in Asia:Turkey-CICA, Kazakhstan-OSCE, Russia-CIS (II) by MUHARREM EKŞİ*

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Kazakhstan’s active participation in regional organizations in Asia, along with its possession of energy resources and a balanced, multidimensional foreign and energy policy, is consolidating its position on the international stage day-to-day.

Three critical term presidencies in Asia: Turkey-CICA, Kazakhstan-OSCE, Russia-CIS (1) by MUHARREM EKŞİ*

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

As of 2010, three major actors in Asia have taken over the term presidencies of three strategically important international and regional organizations.

Serbia and Croatia: Mutual allegations of genocide by HAJRUDIN SOMUN*

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Serbia and Croatia, two Balkan countries whose relations many look at as a key to regional peace and stability, entered 2010 with some more or less good news, but have also shown a lack of ability to get rid of their joint burden from the recent past.

Sledgehammer’s national socialism by Atilla Yayla*

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The most perfected, the most “awesome” and the cruelest-ever coup plan has been exposed. Despite the efforts of coup-loving journalists, politicians and civil servants to cover it up, it is certain that this plan is authentic and has been partially implemented.

The civilian coup against the CHP by MÜMTAZ’ERTÜRKÖNE

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The crisis Turkey is currently experiencing can, in the final analysis, be described as a political crisis. It has radically disrupted the structural balance in politics.

Council of Europe: time for Pan-European consolidation by MURAT DAOUDOV*

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

In the coming two years, three key decision making bodies of the Council of Europe (CoE) will be headed by “non-European Union” Europeans: the Norwegian secretary-general, the Turkish Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) president and the Committee of Ministers’ chairmanships consecutively assumed by Switzerland, Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine. What does this mean for Europe?

Duel or ambush in the fight against the deep state by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

In the West, there was a tradition of dueling. If you attacked someone’s honor, you could be invited to a fight -- a duel -- which would potentially kill either party.

[One million Turks to Jerusalem] What should the next step in Turkish-Israeli relations be? by MEHMET KALYONCU*

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

There seems to be no end in sight for the bumpy ride in Turkish-Israeli relations. A crisis between the two countries recently caused by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon’s attempt to humiliate Turkey’s ambassador to his country not only strained already bitter relations between Israel and Turkey but also signaled a major characteristic change in bilateral relations.

The serial killer’s wife, Alevis and confrontation by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Many years ago I read a story about a serial killer. A Siberian man had killed hundreds of people over the course of several years.

Banging the table with an invisible sledgehammer by Ali Murat Yel*

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

When I watched a speech delivered by the chief of General Staff to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Kazım Karabekir, a former general and war hero, the other day on TV, I decided I believed in the existence of the so-called Sledgehammer plan of the 1st Army since the chief of General Staff banged on the table in front of him every time he denied the accusations.

The TSK in politics and democracy under the sledgehammer by Özer Sencar & Ünal Bilir*

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Amidst debates on the “sledgehammer,” that according to the public was going to be used against the people and according to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was to be used against imaginary internal enemies, the Constitutional Court has unanimously decided to annul the law that allows military personnel to stand trial in civilian courts.