Media freedom and independence are the pillars of a given democratic society. Since the media makes up the bridge between the political authority and the public opinion, its independence is crucial for the survival of democracy. However, the history of the media has always been paved with obstacles of different kinds. This paper examines the…

With a particular rise since the turn of the millennium, cyber-security become one of the most important security sector in contemporary security politics. Despite this, the convergence of cyberspace and security has mostly been analyzed within the context of technical areas and had been neglected in the political realm and international relations…

This work explores how a country's political status may impact its soft power policies, such as internationalization of higher education, through an examination of the Turkish case. Based on a survey of and subsequent interviews with actual implementers of policy, university international office heads and staff, the study draws on the theory of…

This article discusses the changes in basic education in Turkey, with a particular focus on religious education and its ramifications for the education system. The latest education reform, 4 + 4 + 4 (or 4+), the largest education reform in recent Turkish history, has brought radical changes to the school system regarding religious education. For…

During the last decade the agenda of local and global politics is heavily marked by the encounter of two powerful currents, namely democracy and political Islam. On the one hand Islam as a religion itself is facing a cultural dialectic between a modern and an authentic form, producing a synthesis which is only to be criticized again by a new…

The concept of state has a specific importance for Turkish-political culture. However, the influence of textbooks in constructing the state concept in Turkish culture from Ottoman to modern Turkish Republic has not been adequately researched. In this paper, the relation between the state perception in Turkish culture and textbooks from Ottoman to…