https://znetwork.org/category/place/middle-east/turkey/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:14:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/place/middle-east/turkey/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/post-modern-colonialism-the-scandalous-barter-of-the-sdf-and-hamas/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/post-modern-colonialism-the-scandalous-barter-of-the-sdf-and-hamas/#respond Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292651 On the blood-soaked map of the Middle East today, behind visible diplomatic crises and high-pitched rhetorical wars, one of the most pragmatic and shocking negotiations in history is being conducted. This bargain is a clandestine bridge built between the founding reflex of the Republic of Turkey, characterized by anti-Kurdish animosity, and the existential security doctrine [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/post-modern-colonialism-the-scandalous-barter-of-the-sdf-and-hamas/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurdish-freedom-struggle-is-facing-a-crucial-moment/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurdish-freedom-struggle-is-facing-a-crucial-moment/#respond Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:29:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292588 “Iencountered patriarchy and male dominance presiding over women and life, all in conjunction with the occupation of my homeland. We all knew that the state was the root cause,” says Peyman Viyan, the female coleader of PJAK, the most prominent Kurdish revolutionary group in Iran. I am reading her responses, which have been sent to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurdish-freedom-struggle-is-facing-a-crucial-moment/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-return-of-the-turk-identity-memory-and-the-politics-of-fear-in-montenegro/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-return-of-the-turk-identity-memory-and-the-politics-of-fear-in-montenegro/#respond Wed, 12 Nov 2025 17:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291145 In late October 2025, in the Zabjelo district of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, a serious stabbing incident triggered a wave of public unrest. A Montenegrin man was wounded after an altercation involving foreign nationals, initially reported to include Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens. Authorities later detained dozens of Turkish- and Azerbaijani-nationals and suspended the visa-free [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-return-of-the-turk-identity-memory-and-the-politics-of-fear-in-montenegro/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/take-it-from-turkish-workers-you-dont-want-a-strongman/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/take-it-from-turkish-workers-you-dont-want-a-strongman/#respond Sat, 07 Jun 2025 10:46:50 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284698 What has happened to workers in Turkey since the country voted to concentrate power in one man, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, should be a warning flashing red to workers elsewhere. “When democracy shrinks, it hurts workers—when one man has all the power,” said Arzu Çerkezoğlu, president of Turkey’s Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DISK). “Parliament [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/take-it-from-turkish-workers-you-dont-want-a-strongman/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-society-as-the-path-to-peacefully-solving-the-gordian-knot/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-society-as-the-path-to-peacefully-solving-the-gordian-knot/#respond Mon, 02 Jun 2025 13:31:09 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284473 “When it is necessary, when their existence is at stake, when they are faced with the loss of their freedom and their dignity, it is inevitable for the peoples to resist. No method other than resistance can lead to the preservation of their existence, their freedom, and their dignity. The resistance in Kurdistan was a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-society-as-the-path-to-peacefully-solving-the-gordian-knot/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-pkk-is-gone-having-fulfilled-its-historic-mission/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-pkk-is-gone-having-fulfilled-its-historic-mission/#respond Sun, 18 May 2025 12:14:41 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283887 “The PKK has fulfilled its historic mission” – with these words, and a final communique with the weight of a history-making turn, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party announced on Monday the dissolution of its organizational structure and the end of armed struggle. After over 40 years of conflict with the Turkish state, the party founded by [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-pkk-is-gone-having-fulfilled-its-historic-mission/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labors-role-in-the-fight-for-turkish-democracy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labors-role-in-the-fight-for-turkish-democracy/#respond Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282850 This is what we’ll do. We won’t work on March 27 and 28. Take sick leave, take a day off, turn off the switch, shut down your computer. Let your absence be felt — make yourself heard!” That was the call from Başaran Aksu, leader of Umut-Sen, a socialist organization supporting workers and independent unions [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labors-role-in-the-fight-for-turkish-democracy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tiktok-moderators-fight-against-trauma-and-for-a-union/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tiktok-moderators-fight-against-trauma-and-for-a-union/#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 14:35:37 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282303 TikTok, the social media giant that keeps billions scrolling, relies on a vast, largely invisible workforce. Behind the joy and entertainment are workers—content moderators, engineers, outsourced staff—facing long hours, psychological strain, low pay, and a lack of rights. TikTok workers from Turkey to Colombia are pushing back against this exploitation. TikTok outsources much of its [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tiktok-moderators-fight-against-trauma-and-for-a-union/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-unlikely-resistance-in-turkey/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-unlikely-resistance-in-turkey/#respond Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:46:51 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1281817 Something unexpected is happening in Turkey. A centrist party, which has been shifting ever further to the right over the last three decades, is being forced to act as a center-left party. Its leader, Özgür Özel, is taking the stage to make activist-like calls for boycotts, using what sounds like leftist language. As a prominent [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-unlikely-resistance-in-turkey/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-turkey-a-mass-movement-builds-against-erdogans-power-grab/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-turkey-a-mass-movement-builds-against-erdogans-power-grab/#respond Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:18:34 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1281598 Uraz Aydin answers questions from Antoine Larrache about the mobilization currently building in Turkey after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, who is seen as Erdogan’s main rival in the race for the next presidential election. Can you tell us about the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul? On the morning of March 19, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-turkey-a-mass-movement-builds-against-erdogans-power-grab/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abdullah-ocalans-isolation-may-be-coming-to-an-end/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abdullah-ocalans-isolation-may-be-coming-to-an-end/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2025 18:40:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1279338 After dinner with the Kurdish family with whom we are staying, we sit down in front of the TV. The host flicks through the many Turkish channels. Most show the same heated discussions. The so-called experts on screen are all obsessed with one subject today: Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Kurds, and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/abdullah-ocalans-isolation-may-be-coming-to-an-end/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-talk-there-was-a-ceasefire-in-practice-we-witnessed-nothing-like-this-ypj-commander-in-chief-rohilat-afrin/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-talk-there-was-a-ceasefire-in-practice-we-witnessed-nothing-like-this-ypj-commander-in-chief-rohilat-afrin/#respond Sun, 12 Jan 2025 15:47:18 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1278310 As all eyes were on the Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led forces sweeping across Syria with Assad crumbling, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an attack on North and East Syria (NES), seizing Shehba and Manbij from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Now, Turkey is threatening an invasion into the Kurdish city of Kobane. The [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-talk-there-was-a-ceasefire-in-practice-we-witnessed-nothing-like-this-ypj-commander-in-chief-rohilat-afrin/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/kurds-under-threat-in-syria-as-turkey-launches-attacks-and-kills-journalists-after-assad-regime-falls/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/kurds-under-threat-in-syria-as-turkey-launches-attacks-and-kills-journalists-after-assad-regime-falls/#respond Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:29 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1277574 As foreign powers look to shape Syria’s political landscape after the toppling of the Assad regime, the country’s Kurdish population is in the spotlight. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to threaten the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/kurds-under-threat-in-syria-as-turkey-launches-attacks-and-kills-journalists-after-assad-regime-falls/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-carving-up-of-syria/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-carving-up-of-syria/#respond Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:59:51 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1277247 The sudden fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been met with both celebration and trepidation; relief and joy for the end of a torturous regime but anxiety over what the future holds, as Israel bombs Syria to annex more land, Turkeye’s Erdogan applauds the collapse of a rival power and the US government loots [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-carving-up-of-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-syria-a-war-of-two-lines-either-women-life-freedom-or-men-state-violence/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-syria-a-war-of-two-lines-either-women-life-freedom-or-men-state-violence/#respond Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:02:58 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277156 The hostility of Turkey and its gangs against women reveals the two-line war in Syria. People’s leader Abdullah Ocalan, predicted for the 21st century: “Either Socialism or Barbarism”. We can interpret this as “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) or “Men, State, Violence”. Hegemonic forces have used the ongoing third world war, whose center is [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-syria-a-war-of-two-lines-either-women-life-freedom-or-men-state-violence/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-turkish-role-in-assads-downfall/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-turkish-role-in-assads-downfall/#respond Sat, 14 Dec 2024 15:28:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277079 After tenaciously holding on to power for more than a decade of war, the government of Bashar al-Assad crumbled in two weeks of limited fighting. Overwhelmed by a surprise blitzkrieg assault, the Syrian army seemed to melt away in the face of a surprisingly well-armed and well-organized coalition of disparate “rebel” forces that rapidly conquered Aleppo, Hama, and finally Damascus, sending [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-turkish-role-in-assads-downfall/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/jeffrey-sachs-on-the-fall-of-syria-and-need-for-peace-in-palestine-and-ukraine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/jeffrey-sachs-on-the-fall-of-syria-and-need-for-peace-in-palestine-and-ukraine/#respond Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:43:23 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276952 In this episode of The Source, we interview world-renowned economist, UN advisor, and best-selling author Jeffrey D. Sachs about the latest developments in Syria. Specifically, we explore the geopolitics behind the recent events in Syria and the role of the United States. We also assess the significance of the recent meeting in Paris between US [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/jeffrey-sachs-on-the-fall-of-syria-and-need-for-peace-in-palestine-and-ukraine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fall-of-assad-what-it-means-for-the-middle-east/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fall-of-assad-what-it-means-for-the-middle-east/#respond Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:43:10 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276955 The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a 55-year dynasty begun by his father, dramatically shifts the pieces on the chessboard of the Middle East. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is armed and backed by Turkey and was once allied with Al Qaeda. It is sanctioned as [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fall-of-assad-what-it-means-for-the-middle-east/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-sectarian-risk-turkiyes-syrian-mission/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-sectarian-risk-turkiyes-syrian-mission/#respond Mon, 09 Dec 2024 18:34:18 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276865 Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan must be delighted about what is unfolding in Syria, though it is a feeling bound to be tempered by swiftly changing circumstances.  Iran’s Shia proxies have been weakened by relentless Israeli targeting and bombing.  Russia’s eyes and resources are turned towards war in Ukraine.  With reports that Syrian rebel groups are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-sectarian-risk-turkiyes-syrian-mission/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-kurds-survive-in-the-new-syria/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-kurds-survive-in-the-new-syria/#respond Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:40:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276867 The twenty-first century’s worst humanitarian and military crisis has reached a historic turning point. This weekend, Syrians rejoiced after Bashar al-Assad was finally toppled in a shock reversal spearheaded by al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The region’s Kurds joined the celebrations, flooding into formerly Assadist-held areas and tearing down statues of the hated dictator. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-kurds-survive-in-the-new-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-civil-war-heats-back-up-u-s-troops-are-still-deployed-in-syria/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-civil-war-heats-back-up-u-s-troops-are-still-deployed-in-syria/#respond Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:46:15 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276745 A rebel blitzkrieg against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in northwestern Syria reignited that nation’s dormant civil war last week, when a coalition of militant groups united behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — a former Al Qaeda affiliate known as the Al Nusra Front that the U.S. considers a terrorist group — and captured Syria’s largest city, Aleppo. The rebel army, which [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-civil-war-heats-back-up-u-s-troops-are-still-deployed-in-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/imperialist-geostrategy-driving-the-resurgence-of-the-proxy-war-in-syria/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/imperialist-geostrategy-driving-the-resurgence-of-the-proxy-war-in-syria/#respond Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:45:59 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1276739 Veteran journalist and geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar unpacks the geopolitical strategy of the foreign powers instigating the resurgence of violence in Syria.]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/imperialist-geostrategy-driving-the-resurgence-of-the-proxy-war-in-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/connecting-the-dots-behind-the-chaos-in-syria/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/connecting-the-dots-behind-the-chaos-in-syria/#respond Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:01:56 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1276701 Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis joins for the first half of the stream to reveal the truth about Israel’s agreement to a ceasefire and the condition of Hezbollah following the weeks of ground war with the IDF. Syrian journalist Kevork Almassian joins in the second half of the program to break down the ongoing situation on [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/connecting-the-dots-behind-the-chaos-in-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/turkey-is-looking-to-forge-its-own-brics-path-between-east-and-west/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/turkey-is-looking-to-forge-its-own-brics-path-between-east-and-west/#respond Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:57:27 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272521 Turkey tends to march to its own drum in international affairs. Take the United Nations vote on Dec. 14, 2022, when the body’s General Assembly approved a resolution in favor of a New International Economic Order. Some 123 member states – largely the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America – voted in favor; only 50 [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/turkey-is-looking-to-forge-its-own-brics-path-between-east-and-west/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-jailed-socialist-in-turkey-calls-for-solidarity-with-gaza/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-jailed-socialist-in-turkey-calls-for-solidarity-with-gaza/#respond Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:00:39 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1268182 I am writing these words to you from my cell in a maximum security “No. 2 F-type” prison in a remote district of Ankara. The sun is beating down on our courtyard. My mind is on the four corners of the globe, with our friends and comrades whose hearts beat together with ours. We, the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-jailed-socialist-in-turkey-calls-for-solidarity-with-gaza/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-at-stake-in-palestine-radical-new-stage-in-ruling-class-modalities-of-control/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-at-stake-in-palestine-radical-new-stage-in-ruling-class-modalities-of-control/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 16:23:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1266845 The following is the English version of an interview that the Turkish online newspaper Artı Gerçek, conducted with William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Artı Gerçek: As you know, the genocide perpetrated by Israel in the war after October 7 has caused intense reactions all over the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-at-stake-in-palestine-radical-new-stage-in-ruling-class-modalities-of-control/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/unremitting-turkish-attacks-leave-rojava-in-peril-and-in-need-of-solidarity/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/unremitting-turkish-attacks-leave-rojava-in-peril-and-in-need-of-solidarity/#respond Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1262237 The future of this experiment is on the line as much of its civilian infrastructure has been destroyed since October. Alongside all the heartbreaking tragedies in the Middle East, a radical alternative is under threat in the region. In northeast Syria, not long ago the scene of this century’s most horrible bloodshed, millions of people [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/unremitting-turkish-attacks-leave-rojava-in-peril-and-in-need-of-solidarity/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/erdogan-is-no-friend-of-palestine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/erdogan-is-no-friend-of-palestine/#respond Tue, 02 Jan 2024 17:47:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1260135 Amid the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stands out among world leaders for his bold remarks, including labeling Israel a terrorist state and demanding that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu be tried as a war criminal. For Palestinians, a Turkish shift away from Israel would be a significant development, considering Turkey’s stature as one of the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/erdogan-is-no-friend-of-palestine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/new-fascism-and-the-question-of-socialist-strategy-reflections-on-the-turkish-case/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/new-fascism-and-the-question-of-socialist-strategy-reflections-on-the-turkish-case/#respond Sun, 19 Nov 2023 15:41:55 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1257759 After the re-election of Recep Erdogan as President in the Turkish general elections held in May 2023, serious disappointment and despair prevailed among a significant part of the Turkish left. There were three reasons for this. First, unlike previous elections, this election was perceived as a referendum that would determine the destiny of the political regime. Second, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/new-fascism-and-the-question-of-socialist-strategy-reflections-on-the-turkish-case/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uk-police-targeted-me-because-i-told-the-truth-about-turkeys-attacks-on-the-kurds/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uk-police-targeted-me-because-i-told-the-truth-about-turkeys-attacks-on-the-kurds/#respond Fri, 06 Oct 2023 15:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1255367 The UK has one of the most draconian detention powers of any country in Europe. British police are able to question anyone at the country’s borders, without the right to silence or any formal charge, while forcing them to hand over their phone and laptop passwords – or face criminal prosecution as a result. While [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/uk-police-targeted-me-because-i-told-the-truth-about-turkeys-attacks-on-the-kurds/feed/ 0