Heinrich Böll Stiftung brings Green Economy and Commons issue up for discussion. We will start by trying to answer the question of “what the commons are” and search for the solutions to the problem of sharing and governing our commons in all spheres; from cultural and environmental values to food, from water to air and knowledge. We will discuss the role of commons in the Green Economy as well.

Ünal Akkemik Belgrade Forest, to the north of Istanbul’s European coast, covers approximately 5300 hectares with mostly broadleaf trees. Recent archaeological excavations in Yenikapı confirm that...

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Representation together with the Development Center Association and Traces of Seed Association is invits you to the conference between 16-17 November 2012, based on the book “Alternative and New Approaches to Rural Development” published by the Development Center Association in Turkish and Kurdish in 2011. During the two-day conference, the main topics will be “Food Sovereignty”, “Peasantry” and “Rural Development and Gender”. The first day will consist of panels addressing these topics followed by workshops on the second day of the conference.

 Heinrich Böll Stiftung, opens transportation policies of the cities up for discussion in the Green Economy Conference which will be the third of the series. Public transport but what kind? Which one is more environment friendly; metrobus, metro or buses? Are the bicycle roads part of the green fantasies for big cities or are they -sine qua non- absolutely necessary? Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, Yalova Municipality and the slow cities in Turkey will present their projects. These presentations will be followed by discussions together with the experts. We look forward to seeing you at the 3rd Green Economy Conference in Istanbul.

For those who think AKP is the biggest enemy to women as a religious and reactionary party, which has not changed in the last 10 years, this development is amenable to being perceived as the government unmasking their “true face”. The political result of such an analysis is a steady enmity against the AKP. It is true that there are many factors to nourish this enmity. However, we are faced with a party in power that managed to raise its share of the votes with every election in a way unprecedented in the history of the Republic and, probably, it deserves more than the adjective “representative of the most reactionary, the most bigoted sections of society”.

Perspectives wanted the following: “An analysis on the Freedom of Speech Barometer and the number of detained within the last three months under the anti-terrorism code and the reasons for detention“. I can only answer the second part of the question in one way: “How can I know why?” I also think only the Ministry of Justice can accurately answer this question as the data are not accessible to the public. Never be blinded by the rather good “Law on the Right to Information”, enacted upon pressure by the EU.

You may wonder who the Sarikecilis are: Sarikecilis are a glorious clan of the Oghuzes, who live in tents woven with goat hair, who herd and live with goats, who do not have a regular place to live either in the summer nor in the winter, who spend winter months around Mersin and the summers around the mid-Taurus Mountains, who love their mountains, forests, rivers, who protect their habitats, who love their country, and who have been maintaining a culture they brought from Central Asia to Anatolia one thousand years ago.

The haphazard modernization project that encountered three military coups, settled into a completely different course in the 2000’s. A new page was turned together with the AKP government. Many undebatable issues become openly debatable, liberalization found a political equivalent, representation of different segments comes into question, and most importantly, military tutelage is perceived as a risk factor for society and culture. AKP kicked off its mission by contributing to democratization in Turkey. Accordingly, this meant a period of economic stability through which public wealth would multiply.

For the third time since the end of the Cold War, the “Turkish model” was offered to countries undergoing change as the solution best adapted to Western interests. That Turkey warmed up to this potential outside its role as a “model”, that Erdogan, a devout leader, should, on his North African tour, state his preference for the secular state created favorable repercussions in the West. The AKP government of Turkey also established close links with Islamist parties poised to take power, helping them organize and generate practical outcomes.

The Turkey Representation of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung has been supporting graduate students with a scholarship program since 2008 with the aim of supporting progress in rural development and energy and helping young people put together long-term policies in these areas as the decision makers of the future. We provide scholarships for a maximum of three semesters starting with the second or third semester to graduate students who have chosen rural development or alternative energy as the core topic of their research and who want to write their master on these topics.