SPRING 2010
Contributors Ýbrahim al-Bayoumi Ghamen
Ergun Özbudun Professor Ergun Özbudun teaches constitutional law at the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Bilkent University in Ankara. He headed the academic commission that prepared a draft text for the revised constitution proposed by the AK Party in 2007. His latest books include Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey: The Case of the AKP, which he co-authored with William Hale, and Democratization and the Politics of Constitution Making in Turkey, co-authored with Ömer Faruk Gençkaya. Özbudun contributed the article on "Turkey's need for a new constitution" (pp. 24-29) to this volume of the TPR.
Levent Köker
Professor Ibrahim al-Bayoumi Ghanem teaches political science at Cairo University and is a member of the Center for Social and Criminal Studies at the same university. Ghanem is also a retired ambassador and works at the Egyptian National Social Research Center. He writes on civil society, the waqf system and politics in the Muslim world in general and in Egypt in particular. Among his several books Al-fikr al-siyasi li 'l-imam Hasan al-Banna [The political thought of Hasan al-Banna] (1992) and Al-Awqaf wa al-Siyasah fi Misr [Waqf and politics in Egypt] (1998) are best known. Ghanem contributed to the TPR with "The Turkish 'Ergenekon' through Arab eyes" (pp. 62-67).
Ahmet Ünal Professor Levent Köker teaches public law and politics at the Faculty of Law of Atýlým University in Ankara. He has published many books and articles about Turkish politics and democracy. Demokrasi Eleþtiri ve Türkiye [Democracy, Criticism and Turkey] (2008), Aydýnlanma ve Hukuk [Enlightenment and Law] (2008) and Modernleþme, Kemalizm ve Demokrasi [Modernization, Kemalism and Democracy] (2009) are among his bestknown books. Köker contributed to the current volume of the TPR with his article "Religion, education and the Turkish Constitution: a critical assessment" (pp. 36-45).
Ahmet Ünal is a freelance education reporter and a writer on politics, education, defense and security issues. Previously he worked for the Zaman daily as a local representative in Ýzmir, as education reporter and finaly as the news director of the daily. Ünal is a board member of the Writers Union of Turkey. His most recent book is Gizli Atatürkçülük Projesi [Secret Ataturkism project] (2009). Ünal wrote "What is the problem: reactionaryism or parochialism?" (pp. 80-87), where he analyzed the real mindset behind the coefficient problem of the Turkish higher education system.
Lale Kemal
Ümit Kardaþ Dr. Ümit Kardaþ is a retired military judge and a renowned analyst of civilian-military relations and the military judiciary in Turkey. Kardaþ worked as a military prosecutor at the time of 1980 coup and fought torture. Besides his contributions to several volumes, he has penned books that include Hukuk Devlete Sýzabilir mi? [Can law infiltrate the state?] (2006) and Ötekiler Ýçin Sivil Ýtaatsizlik Rehberi [A guide to civil disobedience for the others] (2008). Kardaþ wrote "The meaning of a constitution and constitutional movements in Turkey," (pp. 30-35) for this volume of the TPR.
Lale Kemal is the Ankara representative of the Taraf daily and a regular columnist of Today's Zaman. Kemal is also the Turkey correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly. An expert on military expenditure, armament issues, Turkish arms purchases and civilian-military relations, Kemal has contributed to several volumes on civilian-military relations including the now famous Almanac series of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) and published Kurt Kapanýnda Kýsýr Siyaset [Barren politics in the wolf trap] (1997). Kemal contributed to the TPR with "Turkey amid fierce power struggle between old and new mindsets" (pp. 18-23).
Mehmet Baransu
M.Nedim Hazar M. Nedim Hazar is a columnist for the Zaman daily and a regular film critic for the Aksiyon newsweekly. He has published several books on daily politics and its representation in art. Leprom [Leproma] (1998), Barbarlarý Beklerken [While waiting for the barbarians] (2002) and Bir Aþka Krallýðým [My royalty of a love] (2004) are among his best-known books. He penned Maskeli Balon & Medyatik Bir Ýnfazýn Anatomisi [Masked balloon & anatomy of a media lynching] (2008) under the penname of Ferhat Barýþ. His "Gang movies or the illegal protagonists of the screen," appears on pp. 110-119.
Necdet Subaþý
Mehmet Baransu is a young journalist working for the Taraf daily. His contacts with democratic officers helped him uncover illegal activities by certain groups within the army. He was given the 2009 Sedat Simavi Award by the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) for his groundbreaking reporting. Recently he published his book Karargah [the headquarters] (2010), where he disclosed evidence of the Sledgehammer coup plot. Baransu wrote "A guide for the perplexed: Why the Turkish military stages coups" (pp. 6-17) for the current volume of the TPR.
Ýhsan Yýlmaz Assistant Professor Necdet Subaþý teaches the sociology of religion in the Public Relations Department of Gazi University's Faculty of Communications in Ankara. Subaþý works in the fields of Alevis, modernity and religion, Islamic philosophy, religion and state, and Islam in Europe. His latest books include Öteki Türkiye'de din ve modernleþme [Religion and modernization in the other Turkey] (2003), Alevi Modernleþmesi [Modernization of Alevis] (2005) and Sýnýrlarý Yoklamak [Examining the boundaries] (2007). Subaþý was behind the AK Party government's Alevi opening, and he headed the Alevi workshops. He wrote "Alevi opening: new margins, new values" for the TPR (pp. 88-96).
Mustafa Þentop
Assistant Professor Ýhsan Yýlmaz teaches at the International Relations Department of Fatih University in Ýstanbul. Formerly a professor with SOAS at the University of London, Yýlmaz has published two books: Muslim Laws, Politics And Society In Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms In England, Turkey And Pakistan (2005) and Islam and Peacebuilding: Gulen Movement Initiatives (2010; co-authored with John L. Esposito). Yýlmaz contributed to the TPR with "Naming what is going on in Turkey: from a 'for the people despite the people' elitism to a 'for the people with the people' democracy" (pp. 68-75).
Mehmet Yýlmaz Assistant Professor Mustafa Þentop teaches Turkish legal history at the Faculty of Law of Marmara University in Ýstanbul. Þentop is currently the president of the Economic and Social Research Centre (ESAM). A frequent commentator on the Turkish higher education system, Þentop has published Osmanlý Yargý Sistemi ve Kazaskerlik [Ottoman Judicial System and the Military Judiciary] (2005) and contributed to several volumes on college entrance exams and the coefficient system as applied in Turkey. His "Council of State's coefficient ruling: appellate judiciary and constitutional order," appears on pp. 76-79.
4
Mehmet Yýlmaz is the editor-in-chief of the Bugün daily. An expert on Israeli religious movements and Turkish foreign policy, Yýlmaz has published Mafdal: Radikal Saðýn Ýsrail Dýþ Politikasýna Etkisi [National Religious Party: Influence of the Radical Right on Israel's Foreign Policy] (2003). Yýlmaz is a renowned commentator on Turkish foreign policy, domestic Turkish politics and media-state relations. He wrote "Conceptual framework of Turkish foreign policy in the AK Party era," (pp. 104-109) for the TPR, where he tried to write the initial entries of the new dictionary the Turkish foreign policy decision makers are using.
5