Word: berkan
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...debate is not just black and white. Many liberal academics and commentators support lifting the ban on the grounds that a democracy cannot dictate the clothing choices of an 18-year-old. Ismet Berkan, editor of the left-leaning daily Radikal newspaper, holds that view, but with reservations. "A lot of people have very valid fears about the government's intentions," he says. "And the government does nothing to address those...
...constitutional court decides to overturn the change, Turkey heads into choppy political waters. Most worrying is the divisiveness this political debate has stirred up on the streets. "There is the beginning of an 'us' and a 'them' at a social level which isn't pleasant," says Berkan. "It's not a problem yet, but I hope it doesn't become...
...Washington, echoes his concern, warning that for Turkish democracy the stakes "could not be higher. We're heading into a highly polarizing and divisive campaign in which the outcome is unclear and at the end of which the military may be faced with the same problem as before." Ismet Berkan, editor of the mainstream daily Radikal, puts it more bluntly: "I think the threat of a military coup is still very real. Why not? The boundaries of rational behavior have long since been overstepped...
...hometown, Trabzon, on the Black Sea Coast. "Those who created nationalist sentiment in Turkey have fed such a monster that there are many youngsters on the streets who do not find the ... state nationalist enough and are ready to take the law into their own hands," wrote Ismet Berkan in his daily column in Radikal, one of Turkey's main dailies...
...also frayed over uncertainties about post-war Iraq. Observers note that the country's best-seller lists currently include Adolf Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf and Metal Storm, a fictional debut by two local authors in which the U.S. invades Turkey. "This is just the beginning," warns Berkan. "I expect this wave of nationalism to grow." - By Pelin Turgut Hard Times UNITED NATIONS Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed reforms to the global body, including enlarging the Security Council and establishing new rules for authorizing military force. The broadly welcomed proposals were overshadowed by further criticism over management of the Iraqi...