Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists

Jenkins is right, the emperor really has no clothes

BÜLENT KENEŞ b.kenes@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

I see it this way: Being a journalist in a foreign country, it seems, gives one the right to rid oneself of all journalistic qualifications and act like a lawyer, a prosecutor and even a judge in the face of the largest-ever investigation and trial in that country. I'm talking about Gareth Jenkins. You may know him as the Briton who has long worked in Turkey as a journalist.

[Silent Turkey-3] Nationalists

EKREM DUMANLI e.dumanli@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Many justifications may be found to defend a counter argument, but how Turks perceive the notion of “nationalism” (milliyetçilik) is different from the widely accepted definition of nationalism and from the popularly held idea of racism.

An opening for children, too?

NICOLE POPE n.pope@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Nov. 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Right of the Child. All around the world, children still suffer numerous forms of abuse, but I thought this anniversary was a good opportunity to look at the situation of children here in Turkey.

‘Fiction of fiction’ and ‘the deep state’

YAVUZ BAYDAR y.baydar@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Those who read the latest shocking story in daily Taraf yesterday would possibly not have been able to help smiling ironically.

Fait accompli strategy against non-Muslims

ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ o.cengiz@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Michel Foucault says you can understand a society from what it excludes. We generally tend to look at what a society includes, what they are willing to embrace. But Foucault draws our attention to a different angle.

Turkish modernization and laicism

ALİ BULAC a.bulac@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Most probably, for the first time man, in reliance with the thoughts of the Enlightenment and modernity that is based on its fundamental assumptions, has assumed the inherent right to interfere with religion.

Parent of a child with special needs

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Parents raising their children in another culture often feel overwhelmed with all the challenges. A few Turks have made comments to me, saying they think that resident foreigners have a superiority complex and try to transplant their own culture in the host country by their choices of where they live and how their children are educated.

Turkey’s new axis

ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN e.mahcupyan@todayszaman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Turkish-EU relations feed on a tradition of mutual uneasiness. The establishment’s adventures in this country are characterized by the events that led to the creation of a great distrust toward the West. Still, the real reason is the lack of sincerity in the attitudes of both sides toward each other.

Unarmed forces at work again

FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK f.zibak@todayszaman.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

On Wednesday lawyers registered at the İstanbul Bar Association held a demonstration in İstanbul’s Taksim Square to protest the alleged wiretapping of the telephones of some members of the judiciary despite statements from Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin dismissing the wiretapping allegations.