Word: istanbul
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...type of head scarf favored by strict Muslim women in Turkey typically measures just 1 m square. Yet that small quadrangle of cloth may bring down the nation's government and push its democratic institutions and secular traditions to crisis. On April 29, nearly a million Turkish citizens flooded Istanbul's trendiest downtown district in one of the largest demonstrations the ancient capital has ever seen. The cause of their ire: Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had named Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a politician with an Islamist past, to be the next President. More precisely, their outrage...
...while displaying an impressive combination of stable governance and economic vigor. Now its status as a role model is in doubt. "We thought we had developed the ability to democratically resolve our issues," says Hakan Altinay, director of the Open Society Institute, a pro-democracy group in Istanbul. "We can't say that now. A society that cannot reach a consensus on its own has a serious problem." Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, echoes his concern, warning that for Turkish democracy the stakes "could not be higher...
...Turkey is a Muslim country where the clout of conservative Muslim voters has been steadily growing, as demonstrated by the AKP's landslide sweep to power in the 2002 elections. Whereas the secular middle class can be found almost exclusively in coastal cities like Istanbul and Izmir, the AKP, led by the former semipro soccer player and Islamist Erdogan, has its roots in the conservative Central Anatolian heartland, as well as among millions of poorer migrants from those areas. Despite secularists' warnings, a poll conducted last year by a leading Istanbul think tank found that only 8.9% of the population...
...government argued forcefully that the military had no right to interfere. "There can be no question of my candidacy being withdrawn," said Gul. Such boldness would have been unthinkable a decade ago for fear of immediate military retribution. The same is true of Sunday's massive popular demonstration in Istanbul, which took aim not only at the AKP and fears of creeping Islamicization but also, notably, at the military and its undemocratic intervention of a few nights before. "Neither Shari'a nor a coup," chanted demonstrators. That decidedly rational, circumspect attitude toward the ideologues and opportunists now wreaking havoc offers...
...time, when Kuyt swept in to knock home a rebound, but was adjudged, curiously it seems, to have been offside. As the players gathered in midfield before the penalty kicks were taken, the Kop responded with a song recalled the 'pool's famous comeback vcitory over AC Milan in Istanbul two years ago; it exploded in cheers when Bolo Zenden netted the first spot kick. Then, Robben stepped up to reply, the hurricane of howling commenced and blew Robben and Chelsea away...