Alternatif

Turkey’s agenda is changing at an incredible speed. This change makes itself felt in every area of society. Social, legal and political changes happen in many fields; from economy to culture and internal politics, from environmental issues to external politics.

The media in particular plays a significant role in helping to understand the society of Turkey and to grasp the reflections of this change on various political and social areas. Therefore is a gap of profound analysis and information supporting readers inside and outside of Turkey in drawing their own conclusions. Understanding the transformation of Turkey requires more diverse analyses of a higher quality for the reader inside and outside of Turkey. Aiming to fill this gap, the Turkey Representation of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) has decided to publish the quarterly, “Alternatif – Political Analysis and Commentary from Turkey”, in both Turkish and English.

Starting with the November issue, Perspectives which we have been publishing since 2012, has got a new name: Alternatif. This quarterly periodical strives to be a source of reference for civil society, decision makers, opinion leaders in- and outside of Turkey. Each magazine will present feature articles, articles on ecology, democratization, culture, international politics and news from hbs. Each issue also contains a short biography in an attempt to present the impact of the developments in Turkey from a human perspective.

We very much hope that Alternatif does not only provide political analysis and commentary on Turkey but also contributes to a fruitful and lively debate on issues of importance for a peaceful, democratic and sustainable future of Turkey. With round table discussions that we will organize on the topic of the feature articles, we would also like to discuss intensively with you.

On behalf of the “Alternatif”-Team of the
Turkey Representation of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Yours

Kristain Brakel
Director

Previous issues of Alternatif and the preceding Perspectives

Alternatif - Issue 1

Starting with this issue, our Perspectives will be published as Alternatif, and online. With the dossier "Before the flood: Paris" the first issue of Alternatif features articles and interviews on the reasons and results of climate change, international as well as national climate policies, and draws the attention to the upcoming COP21 Summit in Paris. As usual, you will find articles about the important developments and issues of the pre-election agenda of Turkey - such as the violence of power, the peace process, refugee crisis and food security- under the categories Democracy, Ecology, Foreign Policy and Culture. We hope that you will find this first issue of Alternatif as interesting as you hopefully found the previous issues of Perspectives. We are always happy to listen to your feedback.

Alternatif - Issue 2

The second issue of Alternatif is out. Knowing that the refugee crisis will continue to be on top of the Turkish agenda, we gave it wide coverage: Feature articles seek answers to the situation in Turkey with a special focus on the current paradigm shift following the EU-Turkey summit on refugees in December 2015. From an alternetif perspective, we tried to look to the foreign policy agenda of the country with Jens Siegert's article on the recent tension between Russia and Turkey, and to domestic politics alike through the interview with Bekir Ağırdır about the November 1 election results and the "surreal state of mind" of the Turkish society. On the culture pages, we hosted Emin Alper and his recent film Abluka (Fenzy) which portrays the "bitter irony of reality". All articles can be reached here

Alternatif - Issue 3

The 3rd issue of Alternatif- Political Analysis and Commantary from Turkey is out. In this issue we brought together articles that elaborate on the question whether Turkey is at crossroads, with regard to the latest state of the Kurdish issue and the recent developments in the Middle East. Contributors of this issue have not only written about the reasons and dynamics of the escalating political and social violence, but reminded us about a peace perspective and a vision for solution. While interviews with Tarhan Erdem and Nurcan Baysal focus on the situation in Turkey, Hamit Bozarslan enables us to comprehend the "Big Picture". Ruşen Çakır wrote about the latest bomb attacks, and Ali Kenanoğlu made a contribution about the problems of Alevis in Turkey and his recommendations for solutions. We hope you will enjoy reading this issue and are always happy to have your comments and opinions.  

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