Selim Koru

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The Hagia Sophia. Credit Tolga Bozoglu/EPA, via Shutterstock

Europa,

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Friday issued a decree ordering the Hagia Sophia, a majestic 65,000-square-foot stone structure from the sixth century in Istanbul, to be opened for Muslim prayers. The same day, a top Turkish court had revoked the 1934 decree by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, which had turned it into a museum.

The Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral and converted into a mosque, and then a museum. It has for centuries been the object of fierce civilizational rivalry between the Ottoman and Orthodox worlds.

The reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque was an old dream of Turkey’s Islamists.…  Seguir leyendo »

Ekrem Imamoglu won the repeat election for mayor of Istanbul by pulling together strands of the opposition. Credit Onur Gunay/Imamoglu Media team, via Associated Press

Europa,

Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition candidate in the Istanbul mayoral election, on Sunday defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s choice and the Justice and Development Party by winning 54 percent of the votes, 806,000 more than his opponent. It was the biggest defeat of the governing party in close to two decades.

Mr. Imamoglu won Istanbul by reorienting Turkey toward a politics that might enable democratic coexistence. He achieved his victory by recognizing that dispossession can generate political power, something all populists understand. What sets him apart is that he has managed to do this by alleviating polarization, not deepening it.

Turkey held municipal elections in March amid an economic recession, and Mr.…  Seguir leyendo »

Supporters of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, shout anti-government slogans while protesting against the rerun of the Istanbul mayoral election on Monday. Credit Yasin Akgul/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Europa,

Ekrem Imamoglu, the 48-year-old politician who defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party in Istanbul’s recent mayoral election, is known for his gentle ways.

But on Monday night, Mr. Imamoglu was furious. A large crowd gathered to hear him in his home district, Beylikduzu. His shirt sleeves rolled up, he jabbed his index finger into the air as he spoke. “There are those who want to take the dignity of our Republic, this country, this city, under their feet!” he shouted. “But we, 82 million people, will not let a handful of people extinguish these values!”

That day, the Supreme Election Council, Turkey’s top electoral body, had canceled the results of the election that Mr.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

I am a 30-year-old Turkish man, and for my entire adult life there has been a ritual to elections: There’s a bitterly fought campaign, the polling day arrives, people vote, ballots are counted and Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins.

He stands on the balcony of his Justice and Development Party’s headquarters in Ankara and gives a victory speech to a cheering crowd. If you are part of that crowd, you feel as if you have become a little more important in the world. If you aren’t, you feel as if you have become a little less relevant. This sequence of events has repeated itself for 17 years.…  Seguir leyendo »