Özlem Albayrak All daily Yeni Şafak Columns

Özlem Albayrak

108 columns listing

Yet again Syrians are the target of racism

05 January 2019, Saturday

The article the previous day was to bid farewell to 2018 and today's article was supposed to ring in 2019. It did not happen, because, once again, we were left face-to-face with a deep dark example of racism. The target was Syrians again and the location of the incident was Taksim Square. Syrians who gathered at the square and accidentally made the mistake of celebrating New Year’s became the topic of the young year. The countless comments made on the video posted on social media, clearly contem

The op east of the Euphrates and the struggle for power

14 December 2018, Friday

President Erdoğan in his statement during the Turkish Defense Summit at the Beştepe Presidential Complex on Wednesday declared that an operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria will start in a few days.In his speech, which bore the traces of resent and also determination, he said, “The north of Syria is the south of Turkey. They are trying very hard to create a terror corridor there. We say that ‘they are terrorists,’ whereas our allies, especially the U.S., say that “they are not.” These a

Street protests

07 December 2018, Friday

The “yellow vest” protests/movement that started in France against fuel tax hikes reminded me of the uprising that started in January 2001 in the Philippines.The movement started in the country when a text message was sent to cell phones around midnight in the capital city Manila and its surroundings saying, “Go 2 EDSA, wear black.” EDSA is the largest street in Manila and its meeting point, short for Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue. Following the days after that night, the number of protestors wh

Bush Senior’s death and the problem of evil

05 December 2018, Wednesday

George Herber Walker Bush, who is known in Turkey as Father Bush, died last Friday at the age of 94. Bush was the 41st president of the United States between the years 1989 and 1993. After his death, Turkish users made comments like “May he burn in hell”, “One way ticket to hell”, and “The fire is calling you” on social media, because people think that Father Bush was as responsible as his son is for the current situation in the Middle East.This is true, meaning that the period when the U.S. ent

The children dying in Yemen

30 November 2018, Friday

Yesterday I saw a post on social media showing the details of a yacht party with models and alcohol thrown by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed who have been bombarding Yemen, thus causing the death of 85,000 children by starvation while killing a great deal more adults without differentiating between the women and elderly.Of course, it is not the first time we hear that even an average Arab has a luxurious life and that som

Why is the Khashoggi murder important?

19 October 2018, Friday

We have been living and breathing the details of the Jamal Khashoggi murder for days. The killing of the Washington Post writer, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a hardline critic of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at Saudi Arabia's Istanbul Consulate General, or rather his entering the consulate building and never leaving it, the Saudi administration's likely interest in this murder, U.S. President Donald Trump clearly stating that they will not be calling Al Saud to account f

Is this the end of the global world?

28 September 2018, Friday

U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly has been feverishly discussed for the last two days. Why wouldn't it be? Without hesitation, without thinking, without reconsidering, Trump said that they have given up on the values that the U.S. has built its reason for existence upon, meaning the globalization doctrine: “We reject the idea of globalism. Around the world, responsible nations must defend against threats to sovereignty…Moving on, we are only going to giv

Idlib and the chess game in the region

14 September 2018, Friday

The agenda has already changed, but I want to write about the Tehran Summit and the Idlib issue. To begin with, let’s recall what happened at the Tehran Summit, which was attended by the presidents of Turkey, Iran, and Russia to discuss the fate of Idlib - a city of 3 million mostly displaced Syrians surrounded by the Syrian regime.The summit was broadcast live, and it came to light that Turkey is the only country that concerns itself with the human factor in the region. It appears that the Idli

New system, new perspective

13 July 2018, Friday

Turkey has officially transitioned into a presidential governing system. Upon evaluation of electoral behaviors, one can't help thinking that it is perhaps the most appropriate system for the Turkish people; they have always voted for the leaders instead of political parties or their doctrines even though Turkey was invariably governed by the parliamentary system since the early days of the Republic. In the parliamentary system, however, the importance attached to leaders is not due tp the natu

The losers of the June 24 elections

29 June 2018, Friday

I had previously evaluated the winners of the June 24 elections and had noted that I would be writing about the losers today. Starting from election day, I am sure you have heard enough comments about politicians and parties what with the statements made, the articles written and the television discussions to date. However, I do not want to talk about them but some main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) voters, about that vast mass that is given hope each time and then left to disappoi