Elcin Poyrazlar

After 14 years abroad I am now back in my home country. Most of the time I feel that I am a stranger to the "New Turkey." And it becomes stranger and stranger. It took me almost a year to adapt (no doubt there are moments of struggle still) to...

Politics is a dirty business. In most countries, politicians dig up dirt on their rivals in order to come out top. I know there is nothing new in that. The political game is a tough struggle in which predators hungry for power try to destroy the rest.

But Turkey is...

Amid the upheaval of the Arab revolutions, states both near and far are competing for influence in the region. One country that sees its chance is Iran, long opposed to the old Arab order. Another is Turkey, perhaps Tehran's ultimate rival in the region. But the last few weeks have...

While the Middle East is swaying gracefully under the wind of change, Turkey is slowly suffocating without free media.

Every day, bit by bit, slowly but surely, freedom of the press is being axed in my country. One day we learn that a big media holding group like Dogan Group...

Now that the Mubarak era has come to an end in Egypt, western political experts will continue their race to guess which possible model Egypt might follow for its political future. Is it Iran, is it Pakistan or is it Turkey?

Looking at the limited choice above, western experts seem...

In the last days of 2010 US-Turkish relations managed to escape yet another crisis. Backed by the Armenian diaspora, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to hold a vote on a controversial resolution that depicts the deaths of Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire as "genocide".

Turkey is...

Washington and Ankara insist: the bilateral relationship between the US and Turkey is strong, even unshakable.

But, behind the spin, there is growing concern in the US capital as to whether Turkey is breaking away from the West, falling under the spell of Iran and becoming at...

We, the citizens of the Turkish Republic, are repeatedly told that democracy is coming to the country. So why, for almost half of the Turkish population, does it feel exactly the opposite?

On September 12th the Turkish government won a referendum on a package of constitutional changes with 58 percent...

Now that Pastor Terry Jones seems to have given up his crazed plan to burn the Quran, it's time to ask: what was all the fuss about?

Jones, the pastor of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, could hardly have expected to become a worldwide celebrity. After...

Women's rights activists all around the world should have spoken out forcefully, revolted gracefully and protested collectively when they heard the Turkish prime minister's comments about gender equality.

Meeting a group of representatives from women's organizations in July, Tayyip Erdogan said he did not believe in...

Once upon a time in a far away land there were beatings, arrests, extra judicial executions, murder and oppression. The story went on and on and the whole world kept quiet.

This land is called East Turkestan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. But beware!...

Turkey's 'No' vote on UN sanctions on Iran is yet another clue about the ruling AKP party's real agenda. Some people like to portray Turkey as a more independent actor on the world stage and an emerging regional power. Yet the truth is that the AKP government is simply unveiling...

There's something particularly unsavory about the "sex scandal" that hit Turkey in recent days - but not because of the sex.

Just this week the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, Deniz Baykal who had led the Republican People's Party (CHP) since 1992, resigned over a "sex tape." In his...

While the US is increasing pressure on Turkey to support sanctions on Iran, Ankara has spelled out its reluctance to satisfy Washington.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been outspoken about his rejection of the US administration's recent sanction drive on Iran.

Famous for his explosive temper, Erdogan...

It's tough to be a Turkish citizen -- especially if you are a woman. The patriarchal, traditionalist and discriminatory attitude of the Turkish government towards its citizens is a great burden on basic individual rights. This approach, which could be summarized as "The stricter we are, the better they behave,"...

I am a journalist. According to some people in the Turkish government, my job description should include submitting to everything, even gracefully allowing politicians to spit at me and my like. I should not revolt, I should not criticize and I should not complain. Like an increasing number of journalists,...