Politurco (2025)

07/08/2025

In the United States, medicines are increasingly treated not as essential tools for survival but as luxury commodities, available primarily to those who can afford them. A deeper analysis from the National Institutes of Health reveals why:

“Medicines are expensive because, as a society, we have chosen to rely on a for-profit business model for medical innovation that prioritizes profit maximization for the benefit of shareholders and investors over health purpose. The few medical breakthroughs are overly expensive, precluding access except for the wealthiest.”

This reality reflects a healthcare system that has drifted from its public health mission, where the value of medicine is measured not by lives saved but by profit margins.

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) play a significant role in the complex dynamics of prescription drug pricing in the United States. These intermediaries operate on behalf of insurance companies, employers, and government programs to negotiate drug prices, determine formulary inclusion, and influence patients’ out-of-pocket costs.

While PBMs were originally established to reduce healthcare spending, they have increasingly come under scrutiny for practices that appear to drive prices upward. As highlighted in Harvard Health Publishing, “Pharmacy benefit managers… often receive a share of total spending on medicines, which might encourage approval of higher-priced drugs.”

This indicates that PBMs might not be looking for cost-effective healthcare solutions but instead are motivated to promote higher-priced medications, even when they may not have a superior health benefit. Their complex rebate structures, lack of pricing transparency, and increasingly consolidated relationships with major insurers have contributed to a highly opaque and distorted pharmaceutical pricing system.

In response to rising public frustration over drug prices, former President Donald Trump signed a 2020 executive order introducing the “Most Favored Nation” model, which aimed to tie U.S. drug prices to those paid in other high-income countries.

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05/08/2025

YUKSEL CAYIROGLU

Scholars who approach the Qur’an and the Sunnah with a holistic perspective state that the primary objectives of Islam are to protect religion, life, intellect, property, and lineage. Any assault or violation against these is considered a form of zulm (oppression or injustice), meaning that the fundamental aim of Islam is to eliminate oppression on earth and establish justice. Indeed, the verse,

“We sent Our messengers with clear proofs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance so that people may uphold justice”

(Surah al-Hadid, 57:25)

clearly states that the divine purpose of sending scriptures is to establish justice.

According to Rāghib al-Isfahānī, zulm is a deviation from justice or its opposite. Therefore, the fundamental duty of believers is to eradicate all forms of oppression and establish justice on earth.

In the Qur’an, the concept of zulm is used with a wide range of meanings encompassing theological, moral, legal, and political dimensions. In its broadest sense, zulm is putting something in a place it does not belong. Transgressing the boundaries defined by religion in belief, practice, or ethics is considered oppression. In this context, shirk (associating partners with God), denial, rebellion, tyranny, injustice, and all types of sin are forms of zulm in the Qur’an.

Because zulm is such a broad concept, it falls within the scope of many disciplines—law, ethics, politics, psychology, theology, and philosophy. In the realm of politics, zulm typically refers to the unjust and oppressive actions of those in power against the people.

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04/08/2025

ADEM YAVUZ ARSLAN

The inevitable has happened… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s devastating assaults on Gaza and his policies amounting to genocide have begun to turn into “Israel fatigue” in the West, especially in the United States.

This development has long been foreshadowed. At Harvard, Columbia, and other prestigious universities — in pro-Palestinian student protests that spread across all U.S. campuses — there was a phrase frequently heard: “Israel may win this war, but it is losing its future.”

I personally heard this and similar remarks at demonstrations I followed in Washington, D.C. The predictions have come true, and that “future” is now collapsing before our eyes.

So much so that even U.S. President Donald Trump, known for his unconditional support of Israel, has begun openly voicing criticism. According to a report in the Financial Times, Trump told one of the Republican Party’s most important Jewish donors in a private meeting: “My base is starting to hate Israel.”

These words confirm not only a fracture within the right-wing base but also the rise of anti-Israel sentiment in the West. It’s no longer just left/liberal circles questioning Tel Aviv’s unconditional trust, but also right-wing populist constituencies.

Gaza Atrocity Shakes the Right’s Fortress
Images of Palestinian children reduced to skeletons from starvation have revealed an undeniable truth: A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza. This tragedy is too stark to be covered up by diplomatic niceties. So much so that Trump directly challenged Netanyahu’s lie that “There is no hunger in Gaza”:

“These children look hungry. Really hungry. You can’t make this up.”

This reaction is not just a human reflex — it’s also Trump’s attempt to read the shifts in his voter base. His statement, “There’s growing anger toward Israel in my base,” shows that the traditional pro-Israel consensus within the Republican Party is cracking.

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02/08/2025

AYDOGAN VATANDAS / Editor-in-Chief

Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is not merely a murder story—it is a timeless masterpiece that explores the deepest conflicts of the human soul, the reckoning of conscience, and the moral trials we face. The novel shines a light far beyond the gloomy streets of Petersburg, illuminating the darkest chambers of the human heart.

Raskolnikov’s axe murder may outwardly seem like a simple act of violence, but the real trial unfolds within his soul. In this inner court, the voice of conscience, not the law, presides. Dostoevsky poses a haunting question: “If a person commits a great evil, can they still be a good person?”

This is not a simple moral judgment—it is an invitation to probe the complexity of human nature and the limits of crime and punishment. For Raskolnikov, punishment begins not with the court’s ruling but in the shadowy corners of his own mind. The conscience that judges itself can be the harshest judge of all.

Dostoevsky shows us that punishment is measured not only by external sanctions but by inner tremors. A crime does not only wound the world outside; it carves deep, invisible scars within. These scars can become woven into the soul, convincing a person they can never be healed.

One of the most poignant figures in the novel, Sonia, is a flicker of mercy born from this darkness. Shunned and despised by society, she becomes a quiet beacon of resistance through her silence and compassion. Her strength lies not in force but in stillness. Shaped by fragility, it is proof that pain can be transformed into hope.

Raskolnikov’s crime is not a rash outburst of anger—it is a philosophical experiment. He tests a theory in which he sees himself as an “extraordinary man”: “Some people stand above ordinary people and beyond the law. If ending a life is necessary to benefit society, it is not a moral crime.”

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01/08/2025

ADEM YAVUZ ARSLAN

Recently, I revisited Hannah Arendt’s classic Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Widely considered one of the most unsettling intellectual accounts of the 20th century, the book emerged from Arendt’s observations of the trial of N**i war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Her central thesis remains provocative: evil is not necessarily the work of monstrous figures, but often the outcome of ordinary bureaucrats who do not think, do not question, and simply obey.

Viewed through this lens, today’s Turkey becomes tragically legible. Yes, the machinery of repression has been designed at the center of Erdoğan’s regime. Yet it spread to the provinces, into schools, courthouses, police stations, and neighborhoods not only through government officials but through teachers, rectors, neighbors, academics, and civil servants—those who were “one of us.”

The Bureaucracy of Obedience

Eichmann, Arendt argued, was not a demon but a thoughtless bureaucrat. The same dynamic played out in Turkey after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.

Tens of thousands of teachers, doctors, judges, prosecutors, soldiers, and academics were dismissed or jailed for such “crimes” as holding an account at Bank Asya, using the ByLock app, or belonging to a union. Committees, judges, police officers, and rectors excused themselves with the familiar refrain: “We were just following orders.”

Arendt would recognize this instantly: the unthinking functionary becomes the willing accomplice of evil.

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28/07/2025

Metamorphosis is not merely a film; it is a profound act of remembrance, resistance, and renewal. In a world grappling with injustice, this award-winning documentary brings to light the untold stories of women in Türkiye who have endured unspeakable political persecution — and emerged with unbroken spirits. Since its release, Metamorphosis: Women’s Resilience to Oppression in Türkiye has garnered international acclaim and touched audiences across the globe.

A Human Story of Resilience

Following the 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye, a massive wave of government purges targeted tens of thousands of citizens — disproportionately affecting women. Teachers, academics, civil servants, journalists, and mothers were arbitrarily detained, imprisoned, or exiled. In many cases, women were separated from their children, subjected to degrading treatment, and forced into silence. But Metamorphosis breaks that silence.

This powerful documentary, produced by Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST), chronicles the deeply personal and emotional journeys of women who were swept up in this political crackdown. Through intimate interviews and raw storytelling, it bears witness to their pain — but also to their dignity, strength, and unyielding hope.

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28/07/2025

SAIT ONAL

I’ve pondered this question for a long time. Why do human beings cry? What really flows from our eyes—just saltwater? Or something far deeper, a sacred chemistry of sorrow and healing? Science tells us there is a physiological explanation, but that never seems enough. Especially not when your child dies under rubble in Gaza. Or when you spend years in a Turkish prison just for thinking differently. Especially not when all you have left is your tears.

Let us take a moment together—away from the noise—and ask: Why does the human soul cry? And why does crying bring relief, even when the world refuses to change?

The Chemistry of Tears: What We Shed is More Than Water

When we cry from emotion—not just from dust or irritation—our body is doing something remarkable. Emotional tears contain stress hormones, like cortisol, being flushed out. In their place, the body releases endorphins (hormones of relief and joy) and oxytocin (the hormone of trust and bonding). It’s not an exaggeration to say: crying is a kind of healing.

Physiologically, crying calms the nervous system, slows the heart rate, and regulates breathing. The body, in its wisdom, listens to the pain of the soul—and responds with mercy. Crying, then, is not merely expression—it is restoration. It is survival. In Gaza. In a Turkish jail. In exile. In silence.

The Language of the Soul

Crying is not a weakness. It is not even a choice. It is how the soul speaks when words collapse under the weight of reality.

Loss. Joy. Longing. Love. Loneliness. When the heart overflows, the eyes become its voice. And so, tears are not just physiological. They are spiritual dialects. Sometimes, they are the only prayer we know.

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26/07/2025

NURULLAH ALBAYRAK

On July 22, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a historic judgment. The Court ruled that 239 individuals, tried and convicted in heavy penal courts across 61 provinces of Turkey on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization,” were sentenced based on acts that did not constitute a crime and were denied their right to a fair trial.

This decision reveals not only individual grievances but also the systematic and collective victimization of people under the pretext of terrorism charges. In doing so, it reaffirms the structural flaws in Turkey’s criminal justice system that were underscored in the Yüksel Yalçınkaya ruling.

However, what is strange and deeply troubling is that this decision did not receive the attention it deserves—not from the public, not from the legal community, and not even from the victims themselves.

Why did it not resonate as it should have?

Because there is a prevailing perception in both society and among victims: “Even ECtHR decisions are not being implemented.” Prosecutors ignore them. Judges dismiss them. Law enforcement disregards them. The administration is indifferent. And the government has normalized its rejection of such rulings.

This picture reflects more than a loss of faith in justice—it signals a complete erosion of trust in the very existence of the rule of law. In such a mental climate, even a decision by a judicial authority as internationally legitimate as the ECtHR can be rendered ineffective.

This sense of despair has, unfortunately, worn down belief in legal struggle and diminished motivation. Yet this ruling should not be seen as a reason to give up—but as a compelling call for a stronger legal mobilization.

This is no ordinary decision.

In the history of the ECtHR, no ruling of this scale has ever been issued concerning the violation of the principle of “no crime or punishment without law.” Until now, such rulings under this heading could be counted on one hand. But with the Demirhan v. Turkey decision, the ECtHR has found violations in 239 separate cases all at once.

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25/07/2025

DR.YUKSEL NIZAMOGLU

Sultan Mehmed V, who ascended the throne in the parliamentary session that dethroned Abdulhamid II, remained overshadowed by both his elder brother, Abdulhamid, who ruled the empire as an absolute monarch for thirty-three years, and by his successor, Vahdeddin, the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

A BELATED SULTANATE

Known as “Sultan Mehmed-i Hamis,” “Sultan Mehmed Reşad,” or simply “Sultan Reşad,” Mehmed V was the third son of Sultan Abdülmecid, after Murad V and Abdulhamid II. The next to ascend the throne after him would be his younger brother, Vahdeddin, as Mehmed VI.

Born in 1844 to “Gülcemal,” a Circassian concubine famed for her beauty, Mehmed Reşad lost his mother at the age of seven. In 1911, he requested that a newly acquired ship—originally named “Germanic” and later “Ottowa”—be renamed “Gülcemal,” after the mother whose face he had barely remembered. The Gülcemal steamer remained in service until 1950 and played a memorable role in transporting population exchange migrants to Turkey.

During his long years as a prince and crown prince, Mehmed Reşad improved his command of Persian and Arabic, immersed himself in Eastern culture, read the Masnavi, and was affiliated with the Mevlevi order. However, his engagement with Western culture remained limited.

He was one of Abdülmecid’s many children—18 sons and 24 daughters. His uncle Abdülaziz, dethroned in a coup, died under mysterious circumstances at the Feriye Palace, with ongoing debates about whether it was su***de. Mehmed Reşad’s older brothers, Murad V and Abdulhamid II, had also been dethroned. These events greatly influenced him and are often cited as reasons for his passive rule during his nine-year reign.

After Abdulhamid ascended the throne, Mehmed Reşad became the crown prince and lived under close surveillance in the heir-apparent wing of Dolmabahçe Palace. Due to incoming reports (jurnals), Abdulhamid had Reşad constantly monitored. After the declaration of the Second Constitutional Era, Reşad appeared in ceremonies under the grand title “Devlet-ü Necabet-ü Veliahd-ı Saltanat Reşad Efendi Hazretleri.”

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23/07/2025

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has ruled against Turkey in Demirhan and Others v. Türkiye, citing violations in 239 applications based on the landmark Yalçınkaya judgment. The Court found violations of the principle of “no punishment without law” and signaled that thousands more similar rulings are on the horizon. Following the July 15 attempted coup, hundreds of thousands of individuals in Turkey were declared “members of an armed terrorist organization” overnight, without legal grounds.

Building upon the Grand Chamber’s Yalçınkaya judgment of September 26, 2023, the Court’s Second Section issued a new batch of violation decisions. In the Demirhan and Others case, the Court found that Turkey had violated Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The decision was adopted by a majority of 6–1, with Turkish judge Saadet Yüksel dissenting — as she did in the Yalçınkaya ruling.

The Yalçınkaya judgment noted that approximately 8,500 similar cases were pending before the Court, with the potential for up to 100,000. Under Article 46 of the ECHR, the Grand Chamber urged Turkey to resolve this systemic issue domestically.

In Yalçınkaya, the Court had ruled that a teacher’s use of the ByLock messaging app, possession of a Bank Asya account, and membership in a union could not serve as legal grounds for conviction of terrorism. It found that Turkey had violated both the right to a fair trial and the principle of legality in criminal law.

Turkey’s failure to implement legal reforms following Yalçınkaya has led the ECtHR to begin issuing collective violation judgments. Article 7 violations are among the rarest rulings in ECtHR history — yet Turkey is now facing thousands of them.

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21/07/2025

M.NEDIM HAZAR

The second dimension of MIT’s (Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization) “Ricerca Operation” has emerged as the exploitation of the trauma and financial hardship experienced by dismissed (KHK) academics via fake Twitter (X) accounts. These fake identities, posing as members of the Gülen movement, lured targeted individuals with messages like: “Serve science and earn money!”

Summary of the First Part:

Academic Dr. Emre Uslu revealed that Turkish intelligence (MIT) established a fake UK-based company called Ricerca Research & Consultancy Co. to approach members of the Gülen Movement under the guise of academic research and collect intelligence. The information gathered during this operation was later used by intelligence officer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Yiğit in a “scientific analysis” report for Anadolu Agency. Using the “retrospective reasoning” method known in academic literature, Uslu analyzed suspicious similarities between the two documents and discovered that Ricerca had no physical existence, its CEO was fictional, and it operated solely on Gülen-related topics. This operation represents a new front in modern hybrid warfare: collecting intelligence and conducting psychological manipulation under the mask of academic legitimacy.

Let’s pick up where we left off.

MIT’s operation adopted a strategy of reaching Gülenists on X (Twitter) using fake identities. This now-familiar digital trap constitutes the most insidious aspect of the operation and shows how sophisticated modern intelligence methods have become.

These fake accounts build trust by acting like genuine Gülenists, using community-specific terminology, and mimicking Gülenist values. Their profile pictures, posts, and language are meticulously crafted to reflect Gülenist culture. The operators have studied the emotional world, value systems, and communication codes of the movement’s members so carefully that the accounts are nearly indistinguishable from real ones.

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19/07/2025

A leaked confidential document obtained by Nordic Monitor shows that Turkish authorities planned to circumvent INTERPOL rules in an attempt to secure a Red Notice for the arrest of exiled journalist Levent Kenez, who currently resides in Sweden.

The document, dated June 18, 2025, and marked “Confidential – For Official Use Only,” was signed by İskender Güray Keskin, deputy director of the Interpol–Europol Department within Turkey’s General Directorate of Security. It was circulated among the Ministry of Justice, top prosecutors in Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir, as well as various police departments across the country.

According to the document, INTERPOL has repeatedly rejected Turkey’s Red Notice and diffusion requests involving individuals allegedly linked to the Gülen movement, citing violations of its constitution, which prohibits political, military, religious, or racial persecution. In response, Keskin suggests that terrorism-related charges be dropped or downplayed in favor of fabricated criminal allegations that could be more palatable to INTERPOL standards.

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