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Özdemir, Cilay
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Turkey as a bridge between West and East
Turkish-born columnist Cilay Özdemir argues in the daily Trouw that Turkey should join the EU: "The advantage of Turkey is that it's the sole country that can form a bridge between the West and the East. It's no secret that the country has a poor reputation as far as human rights and freedoms go. And Turkey rightly takes international criticism seriously on this front. In recent years the country has greatly improved its human rights record, especially for minorities. There's still a lot more to do. ... [But] Turkey serves as a model in the region. For decades the Arab populations have heard from their corrupt regimes that Islam and democracy are not compatible. This dogma has been far less easy to swallow since the Islamic AKP took office in Turkey. A large part of the democratic development in Turkey has taken place thanks to the AKP."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Europe, » Turkey
The reaction of the powerless
The daily Trouw compares the shoe attack on Bush with the enthusiasm of the Iraqis at the beginning of the war: "Back then they could not have imagined that the country would be pushed to the edge of an abyss, that nothing would come of the promised reconstruction, that the violence [of the war] would cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives and force millions of Iraqis to flee. It is just a matter of time before Iraq breaks apart. The war in Iraq has not made the world safer, as Bush and his allies had promised. On the contrary: it has only served to increase the numbers of those who support militant and terrorist organisations. This is the legacy that President Bush has bequeathed to Iraq. The Iraqi journalist ... could do nothing but use his shoes to express his deep contempt in the name of millions of Iraqis. It is an act of the powerless."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Middle East
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