Gülşen Doğan argues that Türkiye’s long crisis reveals a new way of governing that stretches liberal rules without fully abandoning them. Cities like Istanbul can keep democratic options alive even as national politics turns in a more authoritarian direction
Gender and sexual minorities are not just increasingly targeted by the state in Turkey – they are isolated by opposition groups that purport to champion democratic values. Ilker Kalin argues that the isolation of LGBTQ+ activists weakens democracy, and plays into the hands of repression
Ecem Nazlı Üçok explores how student protests in Turkey, Serbia, and Georgia reflect more than isolated unrest — they reveal a transnational wave of political mourning, democratic erosion, and Gen Z-led resistance. In the face of authoritarianism, students are not just reacting — they are reimagining the future
Homeland elections – particularly contentious ones – can trigger uprisings among expatriate populations. But as migrants organise protests from afar, home-country governments are increasingly developing ways to push back against them. İmren Borsuk explores how dissent travels among Turkey’s emigrants, and how the Turkish regime is responding across borders
In a world where ideological divides typically shape alliances, an unlikely partnership emerges between leftists and conservative Islamists, united in their opposition to war. This unexpected collaboration challenges conventional perceptions, writes Firuze Simay Sezgin, raising questions about the potential for dialogue and peace between seemingly irreconcilable worldviews.
The less democratic the political regime, the more asymmetrical gender relations become. Raquel Santos Fernandes terms this phenomenon ‘gendering de-democratisation’. Based on data from Turkey, she explains how the process increasingly excludes women, and limits their experiences of citizenship in politics, in the economy, and in their intimate lives
In a new edited book, Catherine Eschle argues that protest camps are important spaces of feminist struggle. Here, she asks: are protest camps a site of 21st century feminist democracy?
Human rights organisations in Turkey face a predicament. In using the law to confront human rights violations by the government, they then experience those violations themselves. Legal mobilisation against democratic backsliding has its limits, argues Gabriela García García
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