By Arzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) – Turkish Twitter-sphere was full of memes and jokes after the country’s new Minister of Treasure and Finance, Nureddin Nebati, exclaimed in a TV interview that the economy was about the “twinkle” in his eyes. The twinkle was the minister’s response to a question on economic indicators as the country […]
Libya 10 Years after Gaddafi: Anger, Protests over Delay to Much-Awaited Presidential Vote and Political Gridlock
By Dahlia Kholaif | – (Globalvoices.org) – Protesters in the eastern city of Tobruk demand that elections be held no later than January 24, and that those who delayed the vote be held accountable. A screenshot from video on Twitter of the protests on December 24. Hundreds of Libyans have taken to the streets and […]
Is the Return of Dictatorship in Tunisia the end of the Arab Spring Youth Movements?
By Yosr Jouini | – ( Globalvoices.org) – On July 25, 2021, Tunisian President-elect Kais Said announced the dismissal of the prime minister, a freeze of the elected parliament, and his rule by decree. While Tunisia has been lauded as the only Arab Spring country to succeed in its democratic transition, this latest announcement fuelled […]
In Turkey women faced rubber bullets, tear gas from police as they marched to end gender-based violence
By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Hundreds of women took the streets in Istanbul to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25. However, protestors were met with police violence, including tear gas and rubber bullets, as they tried to break through barricades to march on a […]
Turkish Online Censorship Ramps up, Targeting Sites Critical of the Government or the President
By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Written in 1953, the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about a future where books are burned in an oppressive society. A new report titled Fahrenheit 5651: The Scorching Effect of Censorship, uses the well-known book to explain how a series of amendments made to […]
After Unprecedented Wildfires, Turkey finally ratifies the Paris Climate Accord, sets 2053 to Eliminate Carbon Emissions
Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( Globalvoices.org) – More than five years after signing it, Turkey has become the final G20 member state to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change. On October 7, the Turkish parliament approved the bill unanimously. The decision comes ahead of the 2021 United Nations […]
In Turkey, 30 people face investigation over social media posts that ‘insulted the president’
By Arzu Geybullayeva ” – ( Globalvoices.org) – Turkish social media users have taken their concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s health to Twitter. But when the hashtag #ölmüş, a Turkish word for “is said to be dead” started trending on November 3, it only took a few hours for the General Directorate of Security […]
After Thirty Years, are Turkey and Armenia really Ready to Normalize Relations?
By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( GlobalVoices.org) – Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during the first Karabakh war in a show of solidarity with its long-time ally Azerbaijan. Almost three decades later, Turkey is considering reopening that border in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s victory in the second Karabakh war in 2020. During […]
‘Sindyanna of Galilee’: Extending the olive branch between Arabs and Israelis
By Coco Cresswell | – ( Globalvoices.org) – In 1996 Hadas Lahav, a Jewish Israeli social activist, had a vision: a future of Arab-Israeli coexistence. That same year, through co-founding Sindyanna of Galilee, a female-led social enterprise producing olive oil and other local products, she began to put this dream into practice. Sindyana of Galilee […]