Geries Othman

Political realism and economic needs push Ankara and Yerevan to hasten diplomatic relations and trade. For the majority in both countries it is a sign of hope. But there are opposing fringes: Turkey’s Gray Wolves and the Armenian diaspora.

The trail against the Turkish writer, guilty of having spoken about the Armenian genocide and the massacre of Kurds, could be reopened. Turkey is sliding towards Islamic fundamentalism and nationalism. Tell-tale signs; its friendship with Syria and Iran.

In just a few decades Gülen, the son of an imam, has generated an Islam-based cultural, religious and economic revival. Backed by PM Erdoğan he is disliked by secularist. He preaches dialogue with Christians against atheism and dreams that Turkey can be a key player from the Balkans till Central Asia.

For the first time in 30 years Labour Day is celebrated. Taksim Square is cordoned off by police. A group of trade union representatives places a flower wreath in memory of the 1977 victims. But some demonstrators attack police and break windows of banks and supermarkets.

It has not been celebrated since 1977, when there was the massacre of 36 workers in Taksim. There are difficulties for tomorrow as well. The economic crisis is testing the country, and unemployment is high in both urban and rural areas. The scourge of black market and child labor.

On the day recalling the extermination of the Armenians, the American president avoids using the word that Turkey does not want to hear, but praises and supports the effort of normalization taken by the two countries.

During his visit US president signals his support for Turkish membership in the European Union, the dialogue of civilisations and better relations with Islam. Armenian and Kurdish issues are put on the backburner. Some protests take place and some criticism is voiced.

The AKP keeps its hold on the big cities of Istanbul and Ankara, but ultranationalists linked to the Grey Wolves gain. Kurds remain loyal to the DTP. Election violence leaves six people dead and about a hundred wounded. The government must now deal with the economic crisis and cope with European accession.

The economic crisis, accusations of corruption, and the failure to keep many promises made in the last elections are weighing against the Turkish prime minister, engaged in a campaign of rallies and inaugurations. Neither the governing party nor the opposition parties have presented any real plans to break the inertia.

Cardinals and bishops of the Eastern European Churches are following the journeys of Saint Paul: Antioch, Seleucia, Tarsus, Mopsuestia. Multiculturalism and Christian identity in the apostle's time and in our own.

At least 86 Kurds were arrested during yesterday's demonstrations for Ocalan. The government is launching a Kurdish language television channel, but is continuing its lethal military campaign on the border with Iraq. Censorship is being used against many Kurdish parliamentarians, guilty of using their own language.

Signs of anti-Semitism are on the rise in Turkey following a rift between Erdogan and Peres in Davos. Turks are boycotting Israeli goods; Israelis cancel trips to Turkey.