For two decades, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has sat atop Ankara’s political hierarchy, setting priorities from increasing civilian oversight of the military to expanding access to healthcare and housing. But one area where AKP has failed to deliver is in the arts. While party chair and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that “a nation...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s disdain for social media is no secret. He blocks Twitter regularly in order to prevent the spread of information he doesn’t like. He has openly railed against Facebook and YouTube, accusing them of misrepresenting Turkish family values. And after the Gezi Park protests of 2013 he vowed to control social media....
When the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence came into being in 2011, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proudly declared that his country was the first member of the Council of Europe to sign it. But it has proved to be an empty boast. Violence against women is not only rife in Turkey but the government...