The younger generation is seeing their political awakening in a highly divided Turkey and being forced to take sides in a system where democracy and its institutions are the battleground.
President Erdoğan’s ego might not only harm the AKP in the long run, but also squander the Islamo-pragmatic political culture it was able to construct in the past 13 years.
“You are not only Turkish, Kurdish; not solely Armenian, Arab, Circassian, Georgian or Bosniak… Alevi, Sunni, Syriac, or Yazidi… Jewish, Hebrew, or Christian. You are all of them.”
As has been seen clearly during this campaign period, the harsh rhetoric used by the AK Party and the HDP regarding one another has brought the negotiations to the edge of a total freeze.
They demanded greater rights and fair treatment from Oyak-Renault and Türk Metal, but they argued that their movement had nothing to do with politics.
While there is undoubtedly a power struggle going on between the government and the Gülen movement, this struggle raises far more important issues for the rule of law in Turkey.
Kilicdaroglu not only promised to address the problems of the country’s 17 million poor, but tied the reforms to a timeline, not at all common in Turkish politics.
Turkey is gearing up for pivotal elections on 7 June. At their heart is a complex interplay between presidential ambitions, party fissures, and Kurdish aspirations.
The resolution of the Kurdish question is closely linked to both truth and justice for past crimes, but also to ending ongoing state violence against Kurds.
The pent up fury and grief released by Özgecan Aslan’s attempted rape and gruesome murder reveal deep fault lines and simmering sources of disaffection in Turkish society.
Can Turkey's government eschew gender equality, demonise the country's dynamic women's movement, and still prevent gender-based violence? Can a party that rejects gender equality be a force for democratisation?
