15.10.2015
Turkey goes to the polls amid human rights fears

It’s election time in an unstable Turkey. The people in Turkey go to the polls on 1st November despite a series of violent attacks targeting the HDP. How can free and fair elections be expected to take place in a political climate where parties cannot campaign without fearing for their safety?

EN
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01.09.2015
The Children of Gezi: Defending the Northern Forests in Istanbul

What happened after the Gezi protests ended? Ever since the barricades were dismantled, the burnt out buses removed, and the world’s attention moved on to protests and unrest elsewhere, Istanbul seems to have become quiet.

EN
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04.11.2014
Tweets and streets: rare flowers of history

In the protest movements that have emerged since the financial crisis, from Occupy in the US to the Arab Spring, social media has gained new significance as a method of communication, both between activists and as a means of bringing the message to the rest of the world. The protests which took hold in Turkey last year were no exception – but how has the situation developed since then, and how have the authorities responded?

EN
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03.11.2014
The New Media in Turkey: a Cloned Pravda or Democratic Medium?

Has the rise of new media helped to strengthen democracy in Turkey, where press freedom has long been in a fragile state? Or have the new trends, technologies and channels been co-opted by authorities to use for their own ends, as an updated instrument of the party? Despite the potential of new media, the events following last year’s protests in Turkey do not give us cause for optimism in this regard.

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18.02.2014
Reawakening the Spirit of Gezi: Popular Resistance to Istanbul’s ‘Pharaonic’ Projects

Popular protest may have saved Gezi Park, but elsewhere in Turkey the destruction on the environment in pursuit of private profit continues. The Green Though Foundation organised a conference to discuss the challenges posed by these developments and what they say about politics in modern Turkey.

EN
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