💡 SPOTLIGHT

Why Turkey's strongman rule doesn't slip into pure dictatorship

Turkey has more than a century of democracy and elections, and a bonafide opposition, which stands out from recent Russian and Iranian votes. We see it again in the victory in Sunday's victory for Istanbul Mayor of the opposition party. Still, the increasingly authoritarian Turkish regime risks sliding toward a point of new return with its assault on rights and freedoms, writes Ali Yaycıoğlu in Turkish independent weekly newspaper Oksijen.

Will Turkey become Russia? No it won’t. Just like it didn’t become Iran back in the day.

There is no fertile ground in Turkey for authoritarian regimes to flourish upon, as was again confirmed by Sunday's municipal elections where Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party was roundly defeated. There is neither a historically powerful and autonomous religious hierarchy as there is in Iran nor a government oligarchy that has infiltrated the country as deep as it gets in Russia.

Let’s take the historical thought experiment even further: Turkey didn’t experience a revolution the way that Russia or Iran did. The revolution which founded the Republic of Turkey had a much softer relationship with the country’s past. Modern Turkey rejected its Ottoman past only partially.

Yes, Turkey is unlike Russia or Iran from a historical perspective. But in other terms, Turkey is not a country as harsh as Russia or Iran. Our society is not built on certain emotions like those experienced by the Russian and Iranian people.

But above all else, it's the democratic experience of more than 100 years, the history of holding elections and the relationship between legitimate rule and the will of the people are realities that cannot be belittled.

Russia recently had elections and reelected the “independent” candidate Vladimir Putin for presidency with 87% of the vote! Nikolai Kharitonov, the candidate of the Communist party and his closest opponent, received barely 4%. This election, in other words, was a scripted scam. [...]

— Read the full article by Ali Yaycıoğlu for Oksijen, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• At least seven foreign aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike. The food aid organization World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, reported Tuesday that the victims included citizens from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, as well as a “dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada” and Palestinians. Israel said it was investigating the incident. Meanwhile, Iran has vowed to retaliate after it accused Israel of bombing the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus, killing eight people, including two Iranian generals. A recent piece in Beirut-based Daraj looks at the key question in the region of Iran’s intentions in Lebanon, translated and adapted from Arabic by Worldcrunch.

• A 12-year-old was killed in a shooting at a school in Finland. A suspect, also 12, fled but was later arrested, police said Tuesday. Children had just returned to classes in Vantaa, north of the Finnish capital Helsinki, after the long Easter weekend.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. The talks in Paris will be dedicated to maintaining military support for Ukraine, and seeking a resolution to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The visit will mark Blinken’s first trip to France in nearly two years. Read more about Macron’s tough new line on Russia here.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo has appointed its first-ever female prime minister. Former planning minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka will take over from Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, following President Felix Tshisekedi’s sweeping re-election last December. Elsewhere in African politics, Bassirou Diomaye Faye will be sworn in as Senegal’s youngest president Tuesday after winning the March 24 election.

• Norway is set to increase its number of conscripted soldiers. The government announced Tuesday its objective to reach 13,500 conscripts by 2036 from the present 9,000. The Scandinavian NATO member’s move follows neighboring Denmark’s decision to extend conscription to women and increase the time of service from four months to 11 months. 

• Florida’s new six-week abortion ban is set to take effect. The state’s Supreme Court approved the measure, but also pushed forward an initiative to allow voters to have their say on the issue in a November ballot. Read more about what’s driving abortion rights around the world.

• German soccer authorities will redesign the country’s soccer jerseys amid a Nazi symbol controversy. The German Football Association said it will change the number “4” after social media users pointed out the resemblance between a 44 jersey and the logo of the SS (Schutzstaffel) Nazi paramilitary units.

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Lima-based daily Expreso’s front page highlights the repercussions of the recent “Rolexgate” scandal rocking the country. Six Peruvian ministers have resigned and a bid has been submitted to remove President Dina Boluarte from office, following a raid on the leader’s house and office on Saturday in search of luxury Rolex watches Boluarte allegedly failed to declare.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

Museum kicks: How sneakers came to run the world

The new “Sneakers” exhibition in Dusseldorf features pairs that sell for six figures and explores how the simple sports shoe became a global obsession, reports Adriano Sack in German daily Die Welt.

👟 Do sneakers really belong in a museum? And wouldn’t this exhibition just feed the consumerism of young people? Curator Alina Fuchs dismissed that concern with a smile, saying that if the sneaker market were to get a boost from her exhibition, that would be quite the achievement. Every year, 20 billion shoes are produced worldwide, of which 5 billion are sneakers or sports shoes.

🇺🇸 The basic idea and shape of a pair of sneakers is simple, comparable to a T-shirt or a pair of jeans. And they are a typically American fashion item. The Dusseldorf exhibition features shoes with a market price of six figures. But even for visitors who are not interested in these records, the exhibition is a vibrant journey through pop and consumer culture in the last few decades. Of course, there is a pair of Adidas High Tops worn by Run DMC in the 1980s.

♂️ Exploring the exhibition or flipping through the recently published authoritative book Sneaker Obsession gives a clear sense that the cultural history of sneakers is very male-dominated — from early rap stars to designers who have set the tone in recent years, such as Kanye West and Virgil Abloh. One exception is Berlin-based photographer Julia Schoierer, who since 2007 has been writing a blog under the name Sneakerqueen. The Dusseldorf exhibition features 20 pairs from her collection of around 1,000 pairs, some of which are kept in rented storage.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

30,200

A record number of wildfires hit Venezuela from January to March, according to new data released on Monday. Satellites registered over 30,200 fire points in the country, the highest level for the summer period since records began in 1999. This includes fires across the Amazon and in other forests and grasslands, as the region is currently experiencing a climate-change driven drought. Stay up-to-date on global environmental issues on Worldcrunch.

📣 VERBATIM

佐藤

Unless the law is changed, by the year 2531 all Japanese citizens will all have the same surname: Sato (佐藤, a name related to wisteria) according to a study by a professor of economy at Tohoku University. Japan’s civil code, dating back to the 1800s, states that married couples must pick a single surname to share, leading to surnames disappearing. Sato is currently the most common surname in the country, accounting for 1.5% of the population.

📸 PHOTO DU JOUR

Emergency services and rescue teams work among the rubble of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. Iran has accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike on the building in Syria's capital, killing eight people, including two Iranian generals of the Revolutionary Guard. — Photo: Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua/ZUMA

👉  MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH  

• October 7 And The Gaza War: A Double Godsend For Political Islam — DARAJ

• Linguistic Identity, The Boundary Of Belonging Told Through Books — LA STAMPA

• Danzón v. Dementia: Mexican Seniors Turn To Dance To Maintain Their Mental Health — GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL

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