Anna Grabolle Çeliker

Although it is likely that several independent candidates in Van will get enough votes to enter parliament, many people are still betting on candidates with tribal connections. Van is a poor underdeveloped province with high unemployment.

In the light of the consistent failure to enter parliament as a party, Kurdish-interest party DTP -successor of HADEP and DEHAP- has decided to enter these elections with independent candidates. In Van there are 3 independent candidates supported by DTP.

The upcoming elections can be felt all over Turkey. In Van, a Kurdish-majority province in the very east of Turkey, this is no different. In the past, the Kurdish vote has been wasted because pro-Kurdish parties couldnt pass the electoral threshold.

Turkish and foreign social scientists came together in Istanbul this weekend to discuss the concept of Europe from an anthropological perspective. Also discussed were relations between Turkey and Europe, and the state of anthropology.