Month: July 2016
Pokémon Go: Beautifully Disappointing
Between the ages of eight and eleven, I was secretly sacrilegious. Whenever I said a prayer, I would tack on a silent addendum, hoping that God might hear it and make it so. Even as a child, I knew that my plea, while not technically forbidden by the man upstairs, would certainly be frowned upon … Read more
“Paid in Experience”
“I’m getting paid in experience.” As an intern on Capitol Hill, I hear this line at least twice a day, nearly every day, from my fellow interns hoping to justify their time spent as an unpaid summer intern. Only about one in three interns on the Hill are paid, yet thousands of college students take … Read more
The Gulen Movement: From Forceful to Fragile
Events in Turkey dominated the news this past weekend, as the country experienced its first military coup in 19 years. Tanks rolled into the streets, a military helicopter was shot down by fighter jets, and gunfire echoed throughout the country as the armed forces attempted and failed to wrest power from the government. At least … Read more
A Botched Attempt
In the late hours of July 15, 2016, various elements of the Turkish Armed Forces attempted to stage a coup d’état, primarily centered in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. Calling themselves the Turkish Peace Council, the coup’s perpetrators aimed to wrest control of the country from the ruling government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and … Read more
Turkey’s Military Disconnect
In an April 2013 interview with The Atlantic, Jordanian King Abdullah II told the world how he really felt about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then the prime minister of Turkey. According to Abdullah, “Erdogan once said that democracy for him is a bus ride … ‘Once I get to my stop, I’m getting off.’” Indeed, to … Read more