Turkey

07/10/2014
by Wilhelm Langthaler
YPG Syrian Kurdish militia
Since September 16, 2014, ISIS is attacking the town of Kobani which has been serving as the capital of the de-facto autonomous region self-administered by Syrian Kurds. Although their fierce resistance does matter and got a political impact, eventually they are doomed to fail for ISIS is disposing over far superior equipment. Turkey is idly standing by as the PYD/YPG is being defeated while US air strikes only symbolically target ISIS around Kobani -- different to their claims.
25/04/2014
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Turkey's current account
With close to 50% of the votes the AKP rightly can claim an impressive electoral success despite the alleged involvement of the prime minister and his entourage in corruption. This is yet another evidence for the deep Anatolian roots the AK party could sink during the last decade thanks also to the social and democratic gains – not to speak about the unbroken power of Sunni identity politics. Nevertheless, behind the increased cultural rigidity and authoritarian tendencies there is hidden a deep loss of hegemony especially among the educated middle classes. Conflicts are bound to exacerbate. Turkey has lost its attraction as a model to be followed.
23/06/2013
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Dersim uprising 1938: Alevis captured by Turkish soldiers to be deported
The article “Gezi park: between democracy and Kemalism, Chances and dangers for a social revolutionary left” closed with following proposition: “Based purely on the Alevite communal group revolution proved to be impossible.” Uncomprehending reactions invited me to offer a deeper explanation.
15/06/2013
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Hand sign second from left is the one of the Grey Wolves
The old left had failed facing the AKP challenge – because they read them erroneously as a linear prolongation of the military dictatorship. As the authoritarian and culturally repressive tendencies of Erdogan are coming to the fore, a new chance is being offered to social revolutionary democrats. But there is one condition: not to tap into the trap set by Kemalism which already had seemed moribund.
30/12/2011
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Among some anti-imperialist trends, we are facing a mindset whose sole criteria are geo-political. This method is inherited essentially from the Stalinist Soviet Union, which in its turn took it from the pre-1919 global ruling elites. To this mindset, the masses are nothing, only the rulers count.
30/12/2011
by Wilhelm Langthaler
We are facing a democratic popular revolution directed against the old imperial order. It was a spontaneous revolt without a prepared political leadership. It is not by accident that the strongest popular political force across the region, political Islam in all its variants, neither initiated nor lead the upheaval. It has been rather a general leftist sentiment that inspired the first line of combat.
30/12/2011
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Despite the undeniable historic anti-imperialist traits of the Baath regime (support for the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, block with Iran) these are by far outweighed by the anti-imperialist momentum represented by the popular uprising in the entire region.
20/10/2010
UK observer delegation
“The real problem with this is that the charge is essentially a political one, whereby normal political activities such as lobbying, meetings and rallies are deemed to be criminal because it is said to be in support of a banned organisation, the PKK…”
18/04/2010
Bild
The final trail of the Kurdish female politician Leyla Zana was ended on April 8, 2010. The Diyarbakir Court sentenced her to 3 years imprisonment for supporting the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK).
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