Yasin Aktay All daily Yeni Şafak Columns

10.08.2025, Sunday
01:40

Yasin Aktay

498 columns listing

A Revolution in Bangladesh That Debunked Orientalist Clichés

05 August 2025, Tuesday

From an orientalist lens, Bangladesh would seem like the farthest and quietest corner of the East—stoic, submissive, burdened by hardship, defined by sweat and toil, and cloaked in mystery. The land of rickshaws and resilience. Hardly the kind of place one expects a revolution. After all, aren't revolutions the domain of the West? In the East, power supposedly shifts only through palace intrigues and the machinations of despots or monarchs. But Bangladesh has defied that script—with intelligence,

The Sociology and Future of the Revolution in Bangladesh

29 July 2025, Tuesday

DHAKA These days, Bangladesh is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the popular revolution it carried out last July. It’s a country surrounded by India on three sides and the sea on the fourth—which means it has no neighbors besides India. It has no land access to any other country, and reaching anywhere else by sea is too far, leaving air travel as its only viable connection to the outside world. Though it gained independence from India in 1947 as part of Pakistan, this union with Pakistan

The First Anniversary of the July Revolution in Bangladesh

28 July 2025, Monday

DHAKA As Türkiye marked the eighth anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, a different kind of anniversary was being commemorated in Dhaka. Around this time last year, a mass uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year authoritarian rule in Bangladesh was rapidly gaining momentum. That uprising culminated in a full-blown revolution when Hasina fled to India on August 5. The event is now remembered as the July Revolution, and we’re in Dhaka this week for its first anniversary celebrations. Commemorations

The Path from Suwayda to Jerusalem Gains Momentum

23 July 2025, Wednesday

Israel views strong nation states—especially Arab ones—as threats. It does not want any powerful states in its vicinity, and this perception directly shapes its policy toward Syria. Israel has never wanted a unified Syria with territorial integrity and a strong army—and it never will. This is an open secret known to anyone who has faced threats from Israel. For 80 years, Israel has worked to neutralize these perceived threats by fueling conflict across the region, turning instability into a routine

Impressions from Syria at the beginning of the reconstruction process

29 April 2025, Tuesday

I wanted to be among the passengers of the inaugural AJET flight from Ankara, as I also had a prior invitation to attend to. The flight, initially scheduled for last Tuesday, was unfortunately postponed to a later date due to incomplete technical procedures. But having already resolved to make the journey, and with the hosts insisting, we decided to set out again the same day—not by air, but by road, saying bismillah as we took to the familiar highways. We reached the Kilis-Öncüpınar border crossing

Assad or the US-Israel axis? We're actually saying they're all complicit!

16 April 2025, Wednesday

When American academic and UN advisor Jeffrey Sachs spoke at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum about the war in Syria—now in its 14th year—his remarks were received like carefully prepared talking points handed to those who mourn the fall of the Assad regime. That he’s American seems to make his claims feel more "credible" to some. And the fact that he blames both the U.S. and Israel? Even better—it gives his words an extra dose of "legitimacy." But no one stops to ask: What’s Sachs’ problem with the

The Fairy Tale Jeffrey Sachs Told in Antalya

14 April 2025, Monday

One of the more interesting guests at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum was Jeffrey Sachs—though the interest, of course, comes from what he said. In Türkiye, we tend to offer people an immense amount of credit upfront as long as they say things we like to hear. That generous credit often blinds us to other, less comfortable truths about them. Take Sachs, for instance. His remarks about the destructive roles of Israel and the United States in our region quickly went viral on social media and across news

There is now a state in Syria

23 February 2025, Sunday

Following the downfall of Syria’s brutal, bloody, and oppressive 61-year regime at the hands of its people, the roadmap for the newly established state is gradually emerging—at its own natural pace. Meanwhile, some observers, both locally and from Europe, have already begun offering unsolicited advice from the comfort of their own idealized realities, without considering the depths of darkness and hell the country has just escaped. When Ahmed al-Sharaa suggested that free and fair elections would

Everything Abu Ubaida said came true...

22 January 2025, Wednesday

As of January 20, in the United States, all eyes were on the farewell speech delivered by former President Joe Biden before the inauguration of the new president. This speech, widely followed across the globe, was Biden’s effort to present an account of his four years in office, highlighting areas he claimed showed progress under his leadership. Just three days before the end of his term, Biden portrayed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas as a success, marking it as one of his administration’s

The Inevitable End of America's Hellish Politics

13 January 2025, Monday

These days, as the United States grapples with one of the worst natural disasters in its history, President-elect Donald Trump, set to assume office on January 20, has made it clear he intends to prioritize domestic issues. While his rhetoric has sparked mixed expectations about his Middle East policies, particularly concerning Gaza and Syria, his recent remarks on Gaza suggest little hope for a shift in the costly, trouble-prone stance the U.S. has taken on Israel. His statement, "I want the prisoner