[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Turkey and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Turkey Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to turkey@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]

English

June 24 Elections

What happens when you keep the HDP out of the game James in Turkey writes that by keeping the HDP out of its alliance, the opposition may lose out in Southeastern provinces where votes are a toss-up between the HDP and the AKP; if the HDP fails to pass the 10% electoral threshold, all 79 seats in these provinces risk going to the AKP.

CHP presidential candidate İnce vows to be ‘everyone’s president’ The CHP has nominated Muharrem İnce, an ex-physics teacher, lawmaker, and the CHP's deputy group leader, as its presidential candidate.

Ignored by Turkish TV, pro-Kurdish party nominates jailed former head for presidency The HDP has nominated Selahattin Demirtaş as its presidential candidate. Despite being in prison, there are no legal barriers to him running, as he has not been convicted of any charges.

Reasons for the explosion of hope Emre Kongar writes the constant pressure against the opposition has generated a massive reaction, as well as a wave of exicitement surrounding the upcoming elections.

Turkey says T A M A M: 2 million tweets tell Erdoğan ‘enough’ The word "TAMAM" or "enough" was tweeted over 2 million times, topping Twitter's trending list for hours, after Erdoğan said in a speech that he would step down once the people say "enough".

Migration

Syrian refugees say Turkish border guards shooting at them Several Syrians have been killed or wounded by Turkish security forces when trying to cross the border. Some oberservers believe that the EU-Turkey migration deal has made Turkey reluctant to allow any more Syrians into the country.

Some 2,000 Turkish Jews apply for Portuguese citizenship 12,000 Sephardic Jews around the world have applied for Portuguese citizenship, thanks to the government's program that gives them citizenship as an apology for the oppression their ancestors suffered. The largest number of applications, 2,000, was sent by Turkish Jews.

Re-thinking EU-Turkey Deal: Asylum and Protection In an interview with Mehmet Enes Beşer, two migration experts evaluate the EU-Turkey deal; some key points are the fact that migrants readmitted to Turkey from Greece are seen as “irregulars in process of deportation” by the authorities, the fact that both countries are suspicious of NGOs working with refugees, and the fact that Turkey's designation as a safe third country was motivated by political desire rather than facts.

Domestic Politics

Urgent call for international action to prevent lifelong sentencing of Eren Keskin Eren Keskin, human rights lawyer and co-president of Turkey's Human Right's Association (IHD) is currenty facing 120 legal cases against her. The appeal process for six of them has been exhausted and impose heavy fines upon her, others carry long-term prison sentences.

Three Turkish revolutionary student leaders remembered on 46th anniversary of execution Three leaders of the radical leftist group THKO, Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan, were executed on May, 6 1972 for trying to overthrow the constitutional order. They hae become important symbols for the Turkish left, with NGOs, unions, and CHP representatives attending this year's commemorations in their honor.

Letter from detained Bosphorus University student Agah Suat Atay wrote a letter to his friends from prison, saying "Everything is forbidden to us at the dining table of intimidation; everything is permitted to us at the dining table of the sun among friends. This invitation is from us! Come, at the worst we will get a Bosphorus wing opened here, I promise you. See you very soon on the inside, on the outside or however and wherever.”

In Turkey's razing and redevelopment of battle-scarred Kurdish district, progress but also pain A photographic timeline of the changes in Diyarbakir's Sur district, spanning from the beginning of clashes in 2015, the expropriation of 80% of the district's properties in 2016, and the the beginning of "urban renewal" projects in 2017.

Eight injured after MHP supporters attack İYİ Party booth in Istanbul MHP supporters attacked an IYI party booth in Istanbul, stabbing four party members and beating four others, all of whom were taken to the hospital.

International Politics

Turkey: US decision on Iran deal to cause instability "Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on his Twitter account the multilateral agreement would remain in place thanks to the other countries' participation."

Turkey’s waning geostrategic value Citing the example of the US, France, and Germany bombing Syria by using stand-off missiles that did not need to secure overflight permission from Turkey, nor use the Incirlik base, Edward G. Stafford writes that the U.S need for bilateral military connections with Turkey may be in decline.

Turkey’s relations with Germany on the move The Istanbul Security Conference saw academics and politicians gathered to discuss the state of Turkish-German relations; many concluded that relations were better than a year ago and affirmed the countries' common interests, while saying more work was needed for a return to normal.

Frictions aside, bigger Erasmus set to benefit Turkey The doubling of the Erasmus student exchange program's funding will be beneficial to Turkey, which gets the highest number of project applications out of all the countries participating in the program.

Protesters Sue Turkey Over Attack by Erdogan’s Guards in DC Five American citizens are suing the Republic of Turkey for $310 million in damages after being beaten by Turkish security forces in Washington DC last year.

Turkish court keeps US pastor behind bars The court decided that Andrew Brunson will remain in prison during a hearing in which a secret witness accused him of trying to create a “Christian Kurdish state”. The trial will be adjourned until July 18th.

Culture and History

A Bluffer's Guide to Gezi: "what happened in the streets." Alin Taşçıyan reviews Michael Önder's film "Taksim Hold'em", which is about four friends who gather for a game of poker on the first night of the Gezi protests and which she decribes as a critique of "well educated, middle-class Turkish men with social democrat or liberal leanings".

Orthodox Christians gather in Turkey to remember St. John in ancient Ephesus Orthodox Christians from across the globe gathered at St. John Basilica in Izmir's Selçuk district, where the Apostle John is believed to have died.

Turkish

June 24 Elections

HDP, HÜDA PAR’la ittifak teklifini reddetti Five pro-Kurdish parties proposed an alliance to both the HDP and HÜDA-PAR, however, the HDP has refused to take part in any alliance with HÜDA-PAR, citing discomfort at the prospect within its base.

'HÜDA PAR'lılar SP listesinde yer alabilir' The Saadet Party's presidential candidate, Temel Karamollaoğlu, has said that some HÜDA-PAR candidates could place their names on the SP's list. He also stated that education in one's native language was a legitimate right, and expressed a desire to visit Salahattin Demirtaş in prison.

İttifakta neden HDP yok? Taha Akyol writes that, despite having originally had a place in the CHP's "zero-threshold" formula, the HDP was excluded due to its association with the PKK, and the fear that the AKP would use the inclusion of the HDP as a means of discrediting the whole alliance.

Bosna Hersek medyası ‘şaşkın’: Erdoğan’ın seçim konuşmasından kimse haberdar değil Bosnian media and politicians reacted with surprise at Erdoğan's announcement that he would hold a rally in their country, with some Bosnian politicians stating that they did not appreciate his coming without informing them.

Cumhurbaşkanı adaylığı için 100 bin imza süreci sona erdi İYİ Party President Meral Akşener, Saadet Party President Temel Karamollaoğlu, and Vatan Party President Doğu Perinçek have all obtained the necessary 100,000 signatures to participate in elections.

Migration

Bin altı yüz Suriyeli çocuk nerede? Unaccompanied Syrian children in Turkey are placed in government-run shelters, or in the care of conservative Islamic NGOs who are partnered with the state. These NGOs also take in children whose parents are alive, but unable to provide for them, and make frequent trips into Syria to gather up unaccompanied children and bring them back to Turkey. However, there is no effective way to keep track of children who escape, or are taken from, these shelters; as of 2017, 1,660 unaccompanied Syrian children were recorded missing in Turkey.

İçişleri Bakanı Soylu’dan mülteci açıklaması Reminding the European Union that the daily number of refugees crossing into Europe from Turkey has fell from 8,500 to 61, Turkey's Minister of the Interior stated, "We are doing you a favor. Acknowledge that favor."

Domestic Politics

İl il 6 Mayıs anmaları (2018) Overview of May 6 commemorations in various Turkish provinces.

Ayşe Öğretmen, 6 ay sonra yeniden cezaevine girecek Teacher Ayşe Çelik will be released from prison for 6 months, along with her infant daughter. She will have to return to prison at the end of October.

“Katliamın lokumu olmaz” dedikleri için tutuklanan Boğaziçili öğrencilere işkence Lawyers for the detained Boğazici students have said that some of them have been tortured in detention, citing verbal abuse, beatings, and being forced to undress, face the wall, and squat for extended periods of time.

Emniyet müdürünün intihar dosyası Bakan Soylu'ya uzandı The investigation into the suicide of Silivri police chief Hakan Çalışkan has extended to the Minister of the Interior, Süleyman Soylu. It is alleged that Çalışkan was pressured into illegally releasing a friend of Soylu's son from custody; after Istanbul's police chief learned of this, an investigation was opened against Çalışkan, who then committed suicide. The question is now whether or not Soylu had personally demanded his son's friend's release.

Bizarre

Üniversitenin bilgisayarlarıyla Bitcoin üretimi yaptılar It has been discovered that the reason for the slow processing time of Sakarya University's computer system was the fact that it had been used to produce Bitcoins for the past three months.