Turkey

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in recent days has brought new dimensions of  human suffering and political crisis. Afghans are fearful of encountering hostile environments in their neighbouring countries and, in the case of Pakistan, possible security threats for ethnic and religious minorities. 

Turkish President Erdogan, usually a friend of many and often harsh words, needed almost a week before he took a stand on the Taliban takeover in Kabul.

In the age of Tinder, a so-called friend with benefits is defined not so much by the friendship between the partners, but by the fact that they get all the benefits of a romantic relationship without having to be in one. But the relationship between Ankara and Washington, which has cooled off considerably in recent years, has evolved into a partnership in which both sides regularly and openly express doubt as to whether it even is a partnership and whether there are any benefits to it at all.

Turkey and multilateral institutions alike, including the European Union, were already struggling with political and economic crises in the years before the pandemic multiplied the sense of catastrophe. As they seek to pull themselves out of the depths of Covid-19, it is time to set aside the divisions that have long stalled progress for all of them, and seek recovery in cooperation and mutual benefit.

In the middle of the night on March 20, 2021, a presidential decree was published in the Official Gazette, announcing Turkey would withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.

The Human Rights Action Plan revealed by Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes bold claims of progress in human rights, freedom of expression, freedom the press and judicial independence. Here an analysis of what the action plan promise us

The EU’s positive agenda in its Turkey policy is based on wrong assumptions where Europe’s strategic interests lie.

Cânân Arın from Istanbul, Turkey, is the tenth recipient of the Anne Klein Women's Award, which honours women who courageously and persistently stand up for human rights, equal rights and sexual self-determination. The lawyer will receive the award in 2021 for her tireless commitment to non-violence, equality and legal security for women and girls. For over 40 years, she has campaigned for women's rights and self-determination. In 1990, Arın was one of the founders of the Mor Çatı (Purple Roof) association and of the first independent women's shelter in Turkey, which was founded in 1995.

Joint statement by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Goethe Institute, the European Cultural Foundation and the Mercator Foundation to members of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the German Bundestag.