Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Please go ahead.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Turkish president Erdogan comes from a political tradition that's close to the Muslim Brotherhood and has often seen himself as one of the global leaders of an emerging network of Muslim Brotherhood dominated countries. However, following the collapse of the Arab Spring, Erdogan

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. I see Turkey as really the linchpin of the transatlantic alliance in southeastern Europe. However, under Erdogan's presidency, we see Turkey increasingly pivoting away from the transatlantic values and the alliance toward Russia and Iran. The hollowing out of Turkey's instit

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Can I add one point? I think what makes the crackdown on Turkish academics really egregious is the fact that it is not just a purge of academics; it is more. Cancelling their passports, pensions, and health insurance, blacklisting them so that they can no longer be gainfully empl

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. Since for the most part Turkey now lacks an independent media for a robust civil society, I think it's imperative that Turkey's friends carry out fact-finding missions and report on the state of human rights in Turkey, as well as showing that they're in solidarity with Turke

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think we have to tackle this problem at two different levels. On the one hand, we see that Turkey has a major human resource problem at this point, a bottleneck. At the same time, in addition to the arrests, dismissals, and blacklisting, we are also seeing an exodus, a brain dr

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Anyone who has followed President Erdogan's career since 2002 could be surprised by the snap election decision because in the past he has denounced early elections as either a sign of underdevelopment or of treason. Despite this framing of it, he had to call snap elections almost

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  For the opposition, it will be tricky to run under the state of emergency conditions. Most public gatherings and rallies are severely restricted. Journalists are in jail. More than 90% of Turkey's print and visual media are under Erdogan's direct or indirect control. There's a hu

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  For my part, last November I did testify at the U.S. Senate at an event organized by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in a very similar manner—to raise the plight of Turkey's religious minorities, especially the case of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Especially since the aborted coup and then the state of emergency, we are seeing that Turkish President Erdogan is basing his legitimacy on both nationalism and radical Islam. When these two ideologies come together they're sometimes referred to as “neo-Ottomanism”. It is an atte

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Chair Levitt, Vice-Chairs Sweet and Hardcastle, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights. On behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, I thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you today the human rights situation i