Elcin Poyrazlar

Istanbul, London

Contributor at Freelance

Journalist - Novelist *Noir. 🌈 she/her @POLITICOEurope

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Articles

Turkey lurches toward outright autocracy as Erdoğan’s main rival is jailed

1 month ago | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

Turkey took a sharp turn toward full autocracy on Sunday when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was jailed amid a major crackdown on the opposition. İmamoğlu, a highly popular secularist who was widely seen as the most likely next president to succeed the Islamist Erdoğan, responded with an impassioned call for mass demonstrations to save democracy in the NATO heavyweight of 86 million.
Erdoğan’s main rival arrested in major clampdown on Turkish opposition

1 month ago | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has launched a huge crackdown to strengthen his grip on power by detaining his most serious political rival, raiding the homes of 106 opponents and banning protests for four days. The initial shock of the Islamist president’s dramatic strike in the NATO heavyweight of 85 million people hauled the lira down nearly 13 percent against the dollar to a new all-time low, although it later clawed back some losses.
Erdoğan’s biggest rival faces block to presidential candidacy

1 month ago | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

The decision was taken by İstanbul University’s board of directors and has escalated a recent political dispute over the opposition politician’s academic credentials. Turkish law requires that presidential candidates hold a higher education degree. The ruling revoked the diplomas of 38 individuals, including İmamoğlu, citing “nullity” and “clear error” as the reasons for cancellation.
Turkey’s Erdoğan tries to sink popular rival in flood of court battles

1 month ago | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu can be forgiven for losing count of the dozens of often bewildering court cases and investigations that the authorities have leveled against him. That’s the price you pay when you emerge as the main rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkiye: The Threat Of The Neo-Ottoman Caliphate To Regional Security

2 months ago | saxafimedia.com | Adil Rasheed |Huseyin Hayatsever |Elcin Poyrazlar |Nosmot Gbadamosi

SummaryTurkiye is swiftly expanding its influence in a rapidly imploding Islamic world, as its ‘neo-Ottoman’ president is whipping up a new wave of Islamism across continents. The country is even intervening in South Asia now, by forging defence deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Turkiye: The Threat of the Neo-Ottoman Caliphate to Regional Security

Jan 23, 2025 | idsa.in | Huseyin Hayatsever |Elcin Poyrazlar |Nosmot Gbadamosi |Abdirahman Hussein

SummaryTurkiye is swiftly expanding its influence in a rapidly imploding Islamic world, as its ‘neo-Ottoman’ president is whipping up a new wave of Islamism across continents. The country is even intervening in South Asia now, by forging defence deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Memories of Distant Mountains by Orhan Pamuk review - journal of a private dreamworld

Dec 31, 2024 | theguardian.com | Elcin Poyrazlar

At the age of 22, Orhan Pamuk dropped out of architecture school to become a writer. His mother used to open his door in the middle of the night to check on him, and would find him smoking and working. “Are you writing?” she would ask. “At least don’t smoke that much.”This anecdote, which appeared in Other Colours, an earlier collection of essays, shows him as an aspiring young man whose position as one of the most distinguished authors of our age was yet to be secured.
Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish rebel leader is back - thanks to his nemesis

Oct 24, 2024 | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

A political earthquake is shaking Turkish politics. After a lifetime of denouncing separatist militants, on Tuesday, the country’s most prominent nationalist politician issued a surprise invite to a jailed Kurdish leader to address parliament.
How Gülen’s feud with Erdoğan shaped today’s Turkey

Oct 22, 2024 | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

One Sunday morning in 2008, I woke up to learn I had supposedly plotted with then-U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney to overthrow the Turkish government. A standard off-the-record conversation I’d had with one of Cheney’s staff, in my capacity as a journalist in Washington, had apparently raised suspicions with some Turkish prosecutors. My phones were tapped, and the story — a baseless accusation soon to be part of a court indictment — was splashed across the papers.
Outrage over murders of women forces Turkey’s Erdoğan to harden laws

Oct 10, 2024 | politico.eu | Elcin Poyrazlar

A series of horrific killings of women has sparked national outrage in Turkey, forcing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to pledge to harden the country’s criminal law. Violence against women is a widespread crime in Turkey — with almost 300 women murdered so far this year — but protesters have long felt the ruling Islamist AK Party does not view women’s safety as a political priority.