My views on the future of Europe were published in International Herald Tribune / Dunya in English and Turkish. Europe: Dream of power or power of the dream? Kader Sevinç* When I was growing as a child in Turkey, Europe was omni-present in school text books, on the TV, in the media and the daily [...]

Turkey-EU Timeline 01-09-1959, Turkey applies for associate membership in the European Economic Community (EEC).  01-09-1963, Association agreement (“Ankara Agreement”) is signed by Ismet Inönü.  14-04-1987, Turkey’s membership application tothe European Economic Community (EEC), 01-01-1995 Turkey-EU Association Council finalises agreement creating a customs union. 01-12-1997, Luxembourg Council summit declares Turkey eligible to become EU member. 01-03-2001, [...]

        “Have peace in your heart, sooner or later hope will blossom” On the day of the military coup of 12 September 1980 in Turkey, my mom and dad had completed all the preparations to for their wedding, but they had to postpone it for another week due to the coup.  My [...]

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) introduced a bill to establish a parliamentary inquiry commission aimed at preventing crimes particularly directed against women. Led by Istanbul deputy Mahmut Tanal, the CHP deputies presented their proposal to the Parliament Speaker’s Office on April 19, for inquiry into cases of sexual abuse, rape and killings targeting women, which [...]

Children’s Day in Turkey The 23rd of April is the 93st anniversary of the Turkish parliament and a day that the founder of Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, dedicated to children. Turkey was the first country to have a day to celebrate the Children of the nation. ______________________________________________ Some facts from the UNESCO’s “Education for All” [...]

@Mavidagli All eyes on #Silivri #Turkey…April 8 Turkish people gathering at the infamous jail to protest the Turkish Misjustice System! @Mavidagli The judgement day is here. Is there justice in #Turkey? How long can you keep journalists in jail without trial? #Silivri 8 Nisan _Nora_Y: The violence of the police force in Silivri against peaceful democracy [...]

The key for the solution for Cyprus: a Greek-Turkish compromise If the UN Annan plan had been accepted, United States of Cyprus would probably be one of the most prosperous countries of the EU right now. The Annan Plan (developed by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and supported by the European Union) provided the [...]

By Victoria Jones On March 8, 2013 Kader Sevinç spoke at an event sponsored by the University of Maryland’s Turkish Student Association. Kader Sevinç is the CHP’s representative to the EU. She is also a presidency council member of the Party of European Socialists, an umbrella party for European social democrats. She provided an overview of [...]

Aylin Nazlıaka, a deputy from the main opposition party (CHP), referring to this prevailing attitude, stated in her parliamentary speech that: “the Prime Minister should stop standing guard over women’s vaginas”. Her statement is very familiar to those who are accustomed to the activist genre of feminism in Turkey and elsewhere. She was calling upon the Prime [...]

CHP Leader Kılıçdaroğlu’s assessment of the current condition of absence of the rule of law in Turkey: 1. CHP is opposed to the institution of martial law and its ramifications in the form of State Security Courts (DGM) and Specially Authorized Courts. Such courts belong to extraordinary periods. They do not deliver justice; they obey [...]

Süleyman Çelebi, CHP İstanbul deputy, Member of Health, Family and Social Affairs Commission I would like to provide you with a summary of CHP’s appeal to Constitutional Court for cancellation and stay of execution of the relevant articles and provisions of the Law on Trade Unions and Collective Agreements (Law 6356). Süleyman Çelebi CHP Deputy [...]

Kader Sevinc, the CHP’s representative to the EU, told SETimes Brussels “has long been failing to act with strategic vision on Turkey, losing its power of influencing positively Turkey’s democratic reforms and social development.” As a result, added Sevinc, the Turkish government “has become increasingly authoritarian, exercising pressure on the media, academia, civil society and the [...]

Turkey’s EU bid faces opportunities and challenges in 2013 Kader Sevinc, the CHP’s representative to the EU, said the Turkish government needed to take more responsibility for its own shortcomings on democracy and human rights. “Starting with the EU’s annual progress report on Turkey, all the international reports confirm the AKP government’s radical anti-democratic practices [...]

The Turkish pianist   By Robert Ellis Once again international attention has been focused on the freedom of expression in Turkey. In the wake of the high-profile cases against Nobel prizewinner Orhan Pamuk and novelist Elif Şafak, the turn has now come to concert pianist Fazıl Say, who is accused of violating Article 216 of the Turkish [...]

  On 18 December Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the separation of powers as the government’s main obstacle, saying it was preventing them from introducing “further services.” “Even during our own governing tenure, we are having some troubles. Unfortunately, the errors within the system are the causes of those troubles. Since the system was [...]

I was interviewed by Goran Kotur from Slobodna Dalmacija, a Croatian daily newspaper about Turkey’s  accession to the EU and Croatian model for the EU negotiations. Kader Sevinç: “Croatian model is a multi-party model overcoming deep political fractures over the EU membership target. Unfortunately, Turkey’s AKP government is not even sharing the negotiation positions with the [...]

    *** For high resolution pictures of the meeting: www.turkishcoffeebriefings.org  *** Within the framework of the European Parliament Young Leaders Seminar, which was organized for the fifth time under the auspices of the President of the European Parliament this year, a Turkish Coffee Briefing was held in Brussels. A new Turkish Coffee Briefing was focused [...]

I just signed the following petition addressed to: The Prime Minister of Turkey Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan. —————- Stop Turkey’s proposed Death Camps for stray animals! Dear Mr Prime Minister We have been shocked and outraged by your governments proposed changes to Turkey’s very comprehensive and ground breaking Animal Rights law 5199. We believe that [...]

“In a time when Europe and the world have been facing immense challenges, the EU’s policy on Turkey needs to be visionary and in convergence with European values and common interests.” _____________________________________________   The European Commission’s annual report on Turkey, published on Wednesday (10 October), calls for a resumption of negotiations with the EU candidate that are [...]

CHP has been defending a comprehensive agenda of democratic reforms for Turkish people’s rights, and freedoms as well as regulatory reforms in view of EU membership. The EU Commission highlights significant deficits of the actual Turkish government and very rightly emphasizes the irrational blockage  by some EU member states of Turkey’s EU accession process. In [...]