Turkey: Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008
Turkey To coincide with Turkey's status as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008, Eurozine publishes articles from "Varlik" magazine's 75-year anniversary anthology. The texts display many of the concerns that continue to occupy Turkish writers today. Also: Turkey in the Eurozine archives. [ more ]
75 years Varlik
Being recognized abroad
75 years Varlik In an article published in 1966, the Turkish poet and journalist Attila Ilhan argued that Turkish literature was far from having gained real recognition abroad. Is the situation substantially different now, despite the Frankfurt accolade? [ more ]
Understanding the West
75 years Varlik In a text first published in Varlik in 1954, the Turkish writer Selahattin Batu sees westernization as both a destructive and progressive force. Striking is how such ambivalence continues in today's discourse. [ more ]
Politics
Privileged partnership, less democracy?
politics If the enticement of full EU membership is removed, can the EU achieve its goals for Turkey? This question is made all the more pressing by a renewed perception in Arab countries of "Ottoman" Turkey's belonging in the global Muslim community, writes Claus Leggewie. [ more ]
Headscarves, generals, and Turkish democracy
politics The Turkish government's move to lift the ban on headscarves in universities is part of an ongoing discussion on a new constitution that has the potential to decide the country's future. It could dramatically increase Turkey's chances of becoming a member of the EU. [ more ]
neighbourhoods
Neighbourhoods
Opening address at the 18th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
neighbourhoods For Orhan Pamuk, "neighbourhood" implies openness to neighbouring cultures but also provincial mistrust. Cultural journals' role, he says, should be to encourage non-conformity. [ more ]
The neighbour and the state
Understanding the cultural history of neighbourly conflict in Turkey
neighbourhoods Any discussion of conflict between Turkey and its neighbours must take into account the social organization of the Ottoman period, writes Etyen Mahçupyan. [ more ]
Turkey and Europe
Turkey and Europe: Neighbours from afar
Turkey and Europe Maurice Blanchot's theory of the "infinite distance" inherent in friendship can be a parameter for understanding Turkey's relationship with the EU and the West, argues Hasan Bülent Kahraman [ more ]
The "Siedlung" and the "Mahalle"
Turkey and Europe The two-way development of the modern residential neighbourhood in Turkey and Germany demonstrates the shortcomings of a polarized discussion of Turkey and Europe, writes Esra Akcan. [ more ]
Biting my tongue
Turkey and Europe With the Turkish accession process underway, the task of patriotic Turks is to ingratiate their nation to Europe. This means playing down cultural differences when presenting Turkey to the outside and stifling controversy at home. [ more ]
The Armenian question
The Armenian genocide: Issues of responsibility and democracy
An interview with Susan Neiman and Andreas Huyssen
Armenia Intellectuals in Turkey advocating a public debate about the "Armenian issue" have been marginalized, penalized, and in the case of Hrant Dink, assassinated. Yet in any politics of memory in Turkey must be guided by the public sphere, argue Susan Neiman and Andreas Huyssen. [ more ]
Why they killed Hrant Dink
Armenia Following the protests at the murder of Hrant Dink, observers hoped that prime minister Tayyip Erdogan would be forced to take action. That nothing happened ought to be no surprise, writes Maureen Freely. [ more ]
Oh balmy breath...
A tribute to Hrant Dink
Armenia Murdered journalist Hrant Dink contaminated the pure categories of Armenian and Turk, Christian and Muslim. But how can we make sense of Dink's murder without falling prey to instrumental reasoning that claims that Turkish democracy has also been shot dead? [ more ]
We left a deep invisible mark behind us
armenia "What are we applauding? We are applauding Hrant, his resistance, resistances, our union, that unexpected solidarity..." Novelist Asli Erdogan describes her feelings of love and loss while marching in protest against Hrant Dink's murder. [ more ]











