“Turkey did not hold back, waiting for stability before it invested in Somalia.  Where others chose to plan their investments in safer places, Turkey put its people on the ground for the development of Somalia. Somalia is achieving significant developments, such as taking control of several areas that were in the grip of Al-Shabab. If it had not been for Turkey's generous support, along with the rest of the international community, we wouldn't have achieved such progress.” 

The 10th development plan (2014-2018), devised and approved by the former Justice and Democracy Party (AKP) government in June 2013, states the goal of development as the creation of a social environment that enables individuals to lead a free, healthy, and safe life, and ensures the happiness, prosperity and dignity of citizens (State Planning Organization, 2013). It also posits that participation, inclusion, transparency and accountability should be the founding principles of the development process.

In response to the economic and ecological crises which are becoming more and more frequent, more serious questions have emerged about hegemonic notions of development, which are based on the assumption that economic growth, namely the increase in commodity production, may continue forever.

The conference entitled Conscience and Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: New Research on Survivors organized by Hrant Dink Foundation was held at Cezayir Restaurant Meeting Hall on March 14, 2014.

I came to Turkey in January 2004. It was like a spring of reform back then. Then talks for accession to the EU started in 2005. This energized the society. It might have been naïve, but we thought that there would be progress in terms of democracy and that crucial steps would be taken in the next ten to 20 years.

There are significant similarities and continuities between the Unionists and Abdülhamid. It is true that the Unionists passed through a short liberal period and believed in the possibility of a merger of all these elements under a democratic or parliamentarian regime for the sake of the survival of the Ottoman Empire. But it did not last long. I do not mean to say that it was very likely to have happened but an alternative order was possible in 1908. Interview...

The Religious Culture and Morality lesson should be either transformed into a fully-fledged program of the study of religion or mechanisms of exemption should be established to defend individuals discrimination. If Turkey adopts the first option, Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools published by the OSCE in 2007 may offer guidance.

The path dependency of Turkey has increased and the alternatives have diminished. Furthermore, the foreign policy has lost its strategical quality, depth and maneuverability in the turbulence created by the ideological and domestically biased political decisions, which are compounded due to the Syrian issue. It seems that after all these interventions, Turkey has become a passive rather than an active player, although it continues to be a party to the discussions thanks to its geopolitical importance.

After the restructuring of the agricultural production in Turkey in accordance with the basin-based agriculture model, which is best documented in the “Turkey Agricultural Basin Production and Support Model,” all agricultural lands in Turkey were divided into thirty basins. Even though tobacco had been traditionally produced in twenty three basins, the Production and Support Model did not entail tobacco farming, and therefore tobacco farmers were deprived of state supports, including supports for crude petroleum and fertilizers. The only state support provided to tobacco farmers was land analysis expertise.

Energy investments, especially nuclear energy investments, are not based on needs but political decisions. No one asks the populace what they think during the decision-making phase or in implementation process. Governments in Turkey know that if they did, the answer would probably be not one they would want to hear.