Rasim Ozan Kutahyali - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali has been a columnist for Sabah since 2011 after writing for Taraf from 2008 to 2011. He is a popular political commentator on various TV programs, having started at CNNTurk and now appearing on Beyaz TV. Kutahyali is known for his anti-militarist and liberal political views. He can be reached at rasim.ozan@hotmail.com

This file picture taken on December 19, 2014 shows the head of Turkey's intelligence agency Hakan Fidan (C) standing in Ankara. The powerful head of Turkey's intelligence agency, one of the most loyal allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has resigned to stand for election as a lawmaker, the official Anatolia news agency said on February 7, 2015. The resignation of Hakan Fidan, who has headed the National Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, has been accepted by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and will

Are tensions straining AKP's inner circle?

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

President Abdullah Gul of Turkey arrives at The World Forum in The Hague on March 24, 2014 on the first day of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) . AFP PHOTO/POOL/MARCO DE SWART (Photo credit should read MARCO DE SWART/AFP/Getty Images)

Will there be a showdown between Gul and Erdogan?

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends a meeting at AK Party (AKP) headquarters in Ankara August 14, 2014. Turkish president-elect Tayyip Erdogan urged his ruling AK Party on Thursday to work for a stronger parliamentary majority next year to enable them to re-write the constitution, signalling no let-up in his drive to create an executive presidency. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR42E5X

Will Davutoglu be Turkey's next prime minister?

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Syrian refugee men sit at a refugee camp in Nizip in Gaziantep province, near the Turkish-Syrian border March 17, 2014. Aleppo continues to bear the brunt of the civil war, in which about 140,000 people have died. Almost two years after rebels grabbed half of the city, they are now on the defensive, with government forces advancing on three sides. Turkey began building its refugee camps near the border in mid-2011, little knowing the war would last so long and bring such vast numbers of people, many of them

Syrian refugees under attack in Turkey

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Masked women face each other during a gay pride parade on Istiklal Street, Istanbul's main shopping corridor, on June 29, 2014, as part of the Trans Pride Week 2014 organized by Istanbul's 'Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals' (LGBTT) solidarity organization. AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Pro-Erdogan LGBT individuals get organized in Turkey

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan acknowledges supporters during the municipal elections outside a polling station in Istanbul March 30, 2014. Erdogan looks set to win Sunday's municipal elections that have become a crisis referendum on his 10-year rule as he tries to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3J6TG

Erdogan’s former bodyguards arrested for espionage

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Masked Sunni gunmen pose for a photo during a patrol outside the city of Falluja April 28, 2014. Iraqi soldiers say they have been trapped in and around the western city of Ramadi. They say they have run low on tank shells, lack aerial cover and armoured vehicles, and have been hit by high casualties and desertion rates. In March and April, ISIL seized a dam in Fallujah, flooded farmland on the outskirts of Baghdad in Abu Ghraib, and drained offshoots of the Euphrates river; the Iraqi government evacuated t

Turkey: ISIS magnifies Iraq's Sunni crisis

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reviews students of the Police Academy upon his arrival to their graduation ceremony in Ankara June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX10YXL

Turkey to close down police academies

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

A demonstrator hold pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen (R), during a protest against Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP), demanding the resignation of Erdogan, in Istanbul December 30, 2013. Erdogan swore on Sunday he would survive a corruption crisis circling his cabinet, saying those seeking his overthrow would fail just like mass anti-government protests last summer. Gulen denies involvement in stirring up the graft case, but he regularly censures Erdogan, a

Is Gulen movement behind arrest warrants for Israeli generals?

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Turkish cruise ship Mavi Marmara, carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid to Gaza, leaves from Sarayburnu port in Istanbul May 22, 2010. The ship, sponsored by Turkey's Islamic and pro-Palestinian rights group, The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), will join an international flotilla aiming to break Gaza blockade expected to sail at the end of May. REUTERS/Emrah Dalkaya (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2E8IC

Is Turkish-Israeli normalization on track?

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Protesters march to Agos newspaper office during a demonstration to mark the seventh anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul January 19, 2014. Dink, the former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was shot dead in front of his newspaper building by a Turkish nationalist, who had been sentenced to over 22 years in jail. Protesters also denounced the trial process of several top suspects, whose acquittal was recently overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, according to

Freedom House report on Turkey misguided

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan greets members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) as he arrives a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara April 29, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3N1W3

Turkish liberals should back Erdogan's message to Armenians

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali

Rasim Ozan Kutahyali