Erkan's Field Diary

Now comes Sweden

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:37:55 +0000

When Turkey and Armenia come closest, third country parliaments interfere. Looks like a calculated provocation….

Sweden angers Turkey with ‘genocide’ vote

from European Voice

Turkey withdraws its ambassador to Sweden in protest at Armenia vote.

Turkey’s Ambassador to Sweden Zergun Koruturk poses between a Turkish flag and a portrait of Kemal Ataturk at the embassy in Stockholm March 11, 2010. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Sweden on Thursday and cancelled an upcoming summit between the countries after the Swedish parliament branded the World War One killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces genocide. REUTERS/Fredrik Persson/Scanpix Sweden

Armenian Massacres News Trends 1880-2010

from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M

View recent news results for armenian massacres. Curiously it is down.

FT.com / Comment / Opinion – Turkey needs more from Ataturk’s heirs

Turkey and Sweden in genocide row

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Turkey withdraws its ambassador to Sweden after the parliament votes to describe as genocide the killing of Armenians in WWI.

Recent Articles on Armenian-Ottoman History

Mavi Boncuk
Recent Articles on Armenian-Ottoman History

A Changed U.S. House to Vote on Armenian Genocide

from NYT > Turkey by By BRIAN KNOWLTON

As members of a House committee prepared to vote yet again on a resolution condemning as genocide the mass killing of Armenians starting in 1915, both Armenian supporters of the resolution and Turkish opponents said Wednesday that the ground had shifted since the last such vote.

Troubled Partnership: U.S.-Turkish Relations in an Era of Global Geopolitical Change
Source: RAND Corporation

A strong security partnership with Turkey has been an important element of U.S. policy for the last five decades. However, in the last few years, U.S.-Turkish relations have seriously deteriorated, and today they are badly in need of repair. The arrival of a new administration in Washington presents an important opportunity to put Washington’s relations with Ankara on a firmer footing. Turkey plays a critical role in four areas of increasing strategic importance to the United States: the Balkans, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf. In each of these areas, Ankara’s cooperation is vital to achieving U.S. policy objectives.

İBRAHİM KALIN – Losing the ‘model partnership’

Last week’s vote by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Armenian genocide bill was a bad move in more than one way. It will not break the well-established US-Turkish relations but has already raised questions about the use of what President Barack Obama has called the “model partnership” between Turkey and the US.

ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ – Genocide resolution: unwise move, unethical response

I was once again embarrassed by the Turkish method of stopping the Armenian genocide resolution in Congress. Don’t misunderstand me; I find this resolution process wrong.

KLAUS JURGENS – US-Turkey: Partnerships must be of mutual interest, benefit

The widely discussed and most recent US House Committee on Foreign Affairs vote (23 “yes,” 22 “no”) in favor of labeling the incidents during World War I involving the Ottoman Empire and Armenia genocide is nothing to be shrugged off.

Annual drama between US and Turkey continues US congressional move will definitely help US favorability in Turkey...
Turkish angers builds up today And I am sure this will boost the sequel of...
Now PM points out the “Jewish lobby” for the course of genocide resolution… The Resolution Saga Continues, Erdogan Points to “Jewish Lobby” from...

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Istanbul Film Festival: April 3-18 (#istanbul2010)

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:21:53 +0000

Istanbul Film Festival to take place in April 3-18

As Turkey’s largest film activity, the International Istanbul Film Festival drew an audience of 162,000 last year. This year the programme is, once again, packed to the brim.

Program can be found here

Istridye Balik Lokantasi: The Business of Lunch

from Istanbul Eats by

Greek musicians a force on Istanbul’s vibrant music scene – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Turkey Quake Reminds Istanbul of Danger
Voice of America
The 14 million people living in Istanbul are waiting for what is known there as, “The Big One.” A Turkish television program remembering the victims of the

Istanbul municipality boosts income with property sales
Hurriyet Daily News
The total value of city properties sold by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, led by Mayor Kadir Topbaş, over the past five years amounts to 880

Greek musicians a force on Istanbul’s vibrant music scene
Hurriyet Daily News
Few musicians active in Istanbul’s vibrant music scene blend in as well as the Greeks. Look at any calendar for a music venue and it isn’t hard to find

Small bike shop cultivates cycling culture in Istanbul
Hurriyet Daily News
Littered with potholes and crowded with traffic, Istanbul’s streets are far from the ideal surface for traveling by bicycle. On the Anatolian side, however,

İstanbul tops European cities in real estate development
Today’s Zaman
Turkey’s economic powerhouse İstanbul holds the top spot on PricewaterhouseCoopers’ ranking of European cities in terms of real estate development prospects

Earthquake law is necessary for Istanbul, says mayor
Hurriyet Daily News
An earthquake law especially for Istanbul should be come into force, according to the city’s mayor who said he was planning to discuss it with the prime

Istanbul Film Festival to feature more than 200 films
Hurriyet Daily News
The countdown has begun for Turkey’s largest film event, the 29th International Istanbul Film Festival. Under the sponsorship of Akbank yet again

Tolstoy, Salome to vie for Golden Tulip at İstanbul film festival
Today’s Zaman
Held annually by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the festival will mark its 29th edition on April 3-18 in seven theaters across

İstanbul’s outlying districts come to fore with new developments
Today’s Zaman
With recent investment projects and more to come, İstanbul’s Pendik, Şerifali, Çekmeköy, Bayrampaşa and Silivri districts have attracted a great deal of

Uçuncu Mevki: Student Fare

from Istanbul Eats

Istanbul in 2010. A heavy metal haven! (#istanbul2010) Here are some of the upcoming concerts. All major bands...
“”The first edition of ‘Istanbul 2010′ hits newsstands (#istanbul2010) it can be dowloaded here. STARTING POINT: The first edition...
Istanbul under snow (#istanbul2010) More photos can be found here. Istanbul is under...

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EP against ACTA measures

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:09:53 +0000

EU Parliament votes 663-13 against ACTA’s enforcement measures

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

The European Parliament resoundingly voted against the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), in a resounding 663 to 13 tally. The parliamentarians defied the EU executive and threatened to take the issue to the European Court of Justice if the EU doesn’t reject ACTA’s provisions on disconnection for infringement and other enforcement provisions.

French racists steal poster idea from Swiss racists

from FP Passport by Joshua Keating

If you’re going to make a xenophobic poster, at least make it original:

MAIN FOCUS: Dispute over European Monetary Fund | 10/03/2010

from euro|topics

Germany’s proposal of founding a European Monetary Fund (EMF) has triggered a dispute between politicians and banks. While the European Commission is considering setting up such an institution the leaders of the Eurozone’s central banks are against the idea. The Fund could help crisis-stricken Eurozone countries, the press writes, but strengthening existing institutions could also prove worthwhile.

Swedish newspapers reprint Mohammed cartoon

from FT.com – World, Europe

Leading Swedish newspapers have published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog after the foiling of an alleged plot to kill the artist responsible for the drawing

Germany’s Worst School Names

from Strange Maps by strangemaps

German Exports and that Looming Double Dip

from A Fistful Of Euros » A Fistful Of Euros by Edward Hugh

I hadn’t seen an advance release of the January German export data, when I wrote the following on Tuesday, honest injun I hadn’t:

Well, this is only a hypothesis. But if the hypothesis has any validity we should be able to make some predictions on the basis of it. I would make two. Firstly, since East Europe’s economies are often dependent for their growth on exports to the West, and in particular to Germany, then we should be able to see some “shadow” of this German process cast out into the East.

Nightmare Lisbon Treaty

by Open Europe blog team

Today, the Lisbon Treaty has been in force for 100 days. The result? A more democratic and open EU? A Union which voters have an easier time understanding and identifying themselves with? Simpler and more ’streamlined’ institutions? Not quite.

On it’s 100th day in force, the fundamental flaws of the Lisbon Treaty – which many of us warned against – are beginning to hit home around Europe.

Spain’s politics of memory,

by openDemocracy

Author:

Guy Hedgecoe

Summary:

The Madrid train-bombings on 11 March 2004 provoked a dignified outpouring of collective grief. But the moment was soon reclaimed by Spain’s enduring political warfare over the national past, says Guy Hedgecoe.

The centre-left Spanish government led by prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced in mid-February 2010 that it was going to “repair” the memory of the poet Miguel Hernández, a Republican former goatherd who died in prison in 1942 – the third year of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship – at the age of 31.

Copenhagen Summit and EU agenda roundup Arrested demonstrators sit on the ground as they are...
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Swiss minaret referendum today. Swiss Minaretxia from tabsir.net Cows will no longer give milk...

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A few EU related cartoons

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:08:57 +0000

by Miro Stefanovic

more at ANTE PORTAS, the cartoon project book from Macedonia

Anti-Kurdish Initiative propaganda begins to gain ground…Political Cartoons at work… I have begun to receive forwarded emails with highly ultranationalists...

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The doyen of Turkish cartoonists, Turhan Selçuk passes away…

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:06:08 +0000

TURHAN Selçuk passes away March 11, 2010 in Istanbul

from caricaturque by kozyurt

The doyen of Turkish cartoonists, Turhan Selçuk dies in Istanbul early this morning March 11, 2010 at 01.30 h at Acibadem Maslak Hospital where he had two operations since he was hospitalized on March 7. He was one of the three founders of the Association of Cartoonists in Turkey in 1969.……..
See his works at
http://www.sanalmuze.org/sergiler/contentxy.php?sergi=397&ic=90&pg=0
http://www.karikaturculerdernegi.org/karikaturculer.asp?id=4159

Abdülcanbaz was one of the most famous creations by Mr. Selçuk.

In memoriam | Turhan Selcuk (1922-2010)

from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M

And a social roundup:

Women warm themselves near their destroyed house in Okcular village in the eastern province of Elazig, Turkey, Monday, March 8, 2010.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Burhan Ozbilici

FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK – Turkey’s unchangeable reality: earthquakes

Unfortunately, Turkey, which is located on major fault lines, lost 51 of its citizens due to an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 in the eastern province of Elazığ on Monday. The victims for the most part lived in stone and mud-brick homes in rural parts of the province.

A man walks in Okcular village in the eastern province of Elazig, Turkey, Tuesday, March 9, 2010, a day after a strong earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6, hit eastern Turkey early Monday, killing at least 57 people and knocking down houses in at least six small villages, the government said. The quake affected villages near the town of Kovancilar, toppling stone or mud-brick homes and minarets of mosques, officials and media reports said.

(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

Unemployment Increased to 14 Percent in 2009

from Bianet :: English

The Turkish Statistical Institute announced the official unemployment figures for 2009. With almost 3.5 million jobless people 14 percent of the population is out of work. Almost half of all Turkish employees work off the record without social security.

401 gendarmaries in 10 years committed suicide

Turkish pop singer Tarkan speaks to the media after his release outside a courthouse in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 1, 2010. Turkish police detained Tarkan, the country’s best-known pop star, in a narcotics raid Friday in Istanbul along with nine other people. Tarkan, who only uses one name, and others were detained for their alleged links with two drug dealers being monitored by narcotics agents, the state-run Anatolia news agency said. Police reportedly found and seized a small amount of hashish at the pop star’s country home in the Omerli district near Istanbul, the agency said.(AP Photo )

Turkish pop star Tarkan held in drugs raid – CNN.com

Writer Pala says military interferes with private lives of its members

by YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN

İskender Pala, a distinguished writer and scholar who was expelled from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), says the TSK has become an institution that interferes with the private lives of its members.

Unraveling The Turkish Inferiority Complex

from The White Path

[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News] LONDON – Every time I come to this magnificent city, I admire the way the British honor their past. This time, I was impressed even more, for I had a chance to spend a whole morning in the House of Lords, at which a conference about Turkey’s emerging role in the world was held. While walking in the corridors of the splendid building, I could not count the number of statues of former statesmen that I saw. But I could well feel how tradition keeps the British proud and dignified. The Turkish Parliament, in contrast, is devoid of any symbol that will give you a sense of history. The current one is the third parliament building since the 19th century, and was totally refurbished in the early 90’s. Now it has white walls and bright orange chairs, which look anything but kitsch, and has anything but character. If there were no Turkish flags in the hall, and no drones of men with moustache, you would hardly guess this was actually the Turkish parliament.

Professor Mehmet Altan: ‘We need urban religiosity for normalization

by AYŞE KARABAT

Professor Mehmet Altan, who teaches at İstanbul University’s department of political economy, believes that the fight that is presented as one between secularists and Islamists is really in essence a class conflict in which religion is used as a tool.

Turkish Wines

from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M

French maître Sommelier Mme. Annie Crouzet and her wine expert assistant Mr. Gerard Gutierrez made a trip to Turkey between 29 April – 8 May 2009 with the purpose of discovering Turkish wines and promoting them in France. The tour included most of the wine regions of Turkey including Cappadocia, Ankara, Manisa, Izmir,Istanbul, Sarköy and Tekirdağ which is in Thrace. The names of the wineries hosted the tour were Büyülübağ, Doluca, Idol, Kavaklıdere, Kayra, Kocabağ, Sevilen, Turasan, Umurbey, Urla and Vinkara.

Vogue Turkey Debuts

from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M

Vogue Turkiye Editor in chief Seda Domaniç [1] (left)
Mavi Boncuk |

Conde Nast [2] is adding yet another international addition to their portfolio with a Turkish edition of Vogue magazine which will release it’s innaugural issue on March of 2010 and the new magazine was fêted with a launch party at the Crillon in Paris.

Results Profile: Turkey Health

from Turkey | World Bank

Reforms Deliver – Turkey Expands Health Insurance, Improves Care………

State of Turkish women; surveys, stats etc. A keen observer of state of Turkish women, Jenny White...
The Economist on the Turkish army… The Turkish army Economist Scores of officers, including retired generals,...
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The Winter Thief. New novel from Prof. White

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:40:09 +0000

I had the honor to meet her in person. Prof. Jenny White an anthropologist, author of Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics, also writes detective novels that take place in late Ottoman times. Latest novel just released…

The Winter Thief

January 1888. Vera Arti carries The Communist Manifesto in Armenian through Istanbul’s streets, unaware of the men following her. When the police discover a shipload of guns and the Imperial Ottoman Bank is blown up, suspicion falls on a socialist commune Arti’s friends organized in the eastern mountains. Special Prosecutor Kamil Pasha is called in to investigate. He soon encounters his most ruthless adversary to date: Vahid, head of a special branch of the secret police, who has convinced the sultan that the commune is leading a secessionist movement and should be destroyed—along with surrounding villages. Kamil must stop the massacre, but he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, framed for murder and accused of treason, his family and the woman he loves threatened.

Another spring day in Istanbul in the middle of winter I took these photos a few days ago when Istanbul...

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Davutoğlu again on stage

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:59:28 +0000

Davutoglu is one of The World’s Kissingers

…And the youngest of the four.

Mavi Boncuk
The List: The World’s Kissingers BY JOSHUA E. KEATING

A country’s foreign policy is often defined less by its elected leader than its behind-the-scenes operators and elder statesmen. Here are four figures setting the global agenda for the world’s emerging powers, just as Henry Kissinger set America’s for over 50 years.

Turkey’s IMF financing talks end

from FT.com – World, Europe

Turkey’s two-year saga of on-off negotiations with the International Monetary Fund appears to have ended as the country’s outlook improves

News.Az – Russia ‘wins’ in US-Turkey standoff

Businesses lament Turkey’s slow EU accession process

Le grand vizir de la nouvelle Turquie

Le Nouvel Observateur (France), 4-10 mars 2010, Nº2365, pp. 56-60

Laure Marchand, de notre correspondante à Istanbul

Depuis qu’Ahmet Davutoglu dirige sa diplomatie, la Turquie renoue avec ses voisins, tend la main à l’Europe, offre sa médiation tous azimuts, quitte à flirter avec des régimes sulfureux. Un exercice périlleux qui la replace au coeur du « grand jeu » régional

Getting to Boring

from Istanbul Calling by Yigal Schleifer

I have a short analysis piece up in the new issue of the online magazine The Majalla. The question I was asked to answer was “Why Turkey Should Join the EU?” (from the Turkish perspective). The combination of Turkey’s growing self-confidence on the world stage, the lack of political ambition being projected from Brussels and the economic turmoil in Greece certainly make it harder to make the case for Europe these days. Here’s my take on why Turkey should still be keeping its eyes on the EU membership prize:

What is behind Çağaptay’s aggression from the other side of the Atlantic? (2) by İDRİS BAL

Why are Mr. Soner Çağaptay and the like trying to cast doubt on coup attempts and preparations in Turkey?

Results Profile: Turkey Energy

from Turkey | World Bank

Opening the market

Turkey’s Reforms for a Sustainable Energy Future………..

"Blockage of EU environment chapter angers Turkey Blockage of EU environment chapter angers Turkey SERKAN DEMİRTAŞ MADRID...
Newsweek finally does some journalistic work on Turkey… Newsweek seems to have stepped aside for the moment from...
Who cares Sarkozy who doesn't want Turkey as long as Turkey builds up new friendships in the region… Hail to the Turkey-Armenia deal to be signed today. After...

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Open Democracy on Ergenekon….

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:48:17 +0000

Turkey and Ergenekon: from farce to tragedy ,

- by openDemocracy

Author:

Bill Park

Summary:

An epic military, political, and security scandal continues to absorb Turkey. The affair’s latest bizarre sub-plots make the tensions between the country’s “deep state” and its constitutional order even more acute, says Bill Park.

The sprawling, chaotic, all-consuming “Ergenekon” investigation into the activities of Turkey’s so-called derin devlet (“deep state”) shows no sign of abating. Indeed, its tentacles are spreading ever further as it moves from enveloping its politicians and public to polarising the state’s core institutions.

General Malaise

from Istanbul Calling by Yigal Schleifer

Ilter Turan, a respected professor of International Relations at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, has written a briefing for the German Marshall Fund looking at the recent arrest of dozens of high-ranking Turkish military officers – among them the former heads of the Navy and Air Force – as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow Turkey’s AKP government.

The struggle for Turkey’s soul | statesmanjournal.com | Statesman Journal

Advocates, elites and hitmen of the network by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

If you ask me what the biggest achievement of the Ergenekon gang is, I would say without hesitating for a moment that it is its ability to convince some people that it actually does not exist.

‘Neo-nationalist group wiretapped PM’s house’
Today’s Zaman
The VKGB is suspected of close ties with Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government.

More Ergenekon Developments

from Turkish Politics in Action by Ragan Updegraff

Three significant developments happened this week in line with the Ergenekon investigation:

Accountability in military organizations: the Turkish case by Bekir ÇINAR

If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. Although government must be enabled to control the governed, it must be obliged to control itself as well.

Plot drafter worked with Erzincan prosecutor
Today’s Zaman
Cihaner and Berk are accused of membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government

Latest bullshit from S.C: Soner Cagaptay: Turkey’s Republic of Fear – WSJ.com

YAVUZ BAYDAR – Determined on referendum?

Even the meeting between President Abdullah Gül and main opposition leader Deniz Baykal was extraordinary. In the course of the past seven years, the latter visited the presidential palace only three times, a symbol itself of how difficult “normalization” is here.

İHSAN DAĞI – A constitution without Kemalists and nationalists

Once again making a new constitution is on the agenda. According to a public opinion survey conducted by MetroPOLL, 70 percent of people think a new constitution is needed.

BÜLENT KENEŞ – The judiciary issue: Who blockades who in Turkey?

The latest MetroPOLL survey, covered in our headline story on Saturday, has put an end to the debates, showing clearly that there are serious problems with the judicial system in Turkey and there is a strong popular demand for change in this regard.

ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN – Why is the military in a paralyzed condition?

We have so internalized the place and role of the military in the country’s politics that everyone harbors the hope or fear that the military may make an unexpected move at any time.

FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK – Referendum’s possible consequences

After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government would take a constitutional reform package to referendum if it fails to win sufficient support in Parliament to be approved, there is now a heated debate over what the consequences of holding such a referendum would be.

It can declare war, but it can’t change the Constitution!

by ERHAN BAŞYURT- BUGÜN

Deniz Baykal even denied the reason why he is against changing the Constitution. “This Parliament cannot change laws…” OK, but why? Can this Parliament declare war?

Shāh Māt: Prosecutor Takes Prosecutor

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White

Photo of Cihaner from Bianet

Prosecutor Ilhan Cihaner’s arrest has created a deep judiciary crisis. Cihaner had launched an investigation into the Ismailağa religious sect in Erzincan in 2007. He was arrested Wednesday on charges of being linked to the suspected anti-government gang Ergenekon, which allegedly sought to topple the government. Osman Şanal, chief prosecutor in Erzurum, had ordered Cihaner detained. But now Şanal’s authority has been revoked by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

New era of Turkish democracy by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

It is important to understand the difference between the two: Has the armed tutelage over the state ended in Turkey? Yes, it has.

Modernity that covers

by EMRE AKÖZ – SABAH

You know the story. A group of female Republican People’s Party (CHP) supporters tore black chadors into pieces on Wednesday.

CHP against, MHP uncertain

by MUSTAFA ÜNAL- ZAMAN

The agenda in Ankara is judicial reform. The government is determined. The package will include around 10 to 15 items. Opposition parties have objections to the constitutional amendments, which foresee reforming the judiciary.

And Now, The Plot is Proven…

from The White Path

[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News] Something very important happened last Monday. A short statement from the Turkish General Staff noted that its investigators had gathered “evidence that might prove the existence of the document in question.” “The document in question” was quite a terrible one. It was a military plan to overthrow the AKP government and suppress the popular Islamic movement led by Fethullah GÃ¼len, a retired preacher who lives in the U.S. One idea was to “find” weapons in the homes of people from the GÃ¼len movement by planting them there first and thus portraying the peaceful community as a terrorist group. At a time when the world is understandably sensitive about Islamist terrorism, this certainly would be a good sell. And even a good justification for the Turkish military to roll its tanks once again — against its own people. Just a Bad Apple?

LALE KEMAL – Reform package and government dilemma

by LALE KEMAL

The Turkish government has slowed down its democratic reform process over the last few years, playing into the hands of those who have been seeking to preserve the status quo in a country that has witnessed five different types of coups interrupting the democratic process.

BÜLENT KENEŞ – Who deserves criticism more: Prime minister or the media?

Last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks that media bosses should control their columnists were received with much criticism. His words were largely regarded as a threat to the already contentious freedom of thought and freedom of the press and were mercilessly lambasted by columnists, who even wrote and published a joint petition.

A roundup of aftermath of biggest raid against Ergenekon Power shift from BBC News | Europe | World Edition...
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More confessions from a former media tycoon

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:04:37 +0000

It is not the first time Mr. Bilgin makes confessions, this time he is bolder.

Dinç Bilgin

Bilgin wishes he could be a reporter like Taraf’s Baransu

YAVUZ BAYDAR – Dinç Bilgin speaks out

One of the greatest myths about today’s Turkish media is that it is a “totally clean and democratic press” targeted by an “evil” government. This myth is deliberately reproduced by the financially dominant segment of the Turkish media groups, and their accomplices abroad, merely to be able to regain the political influence and leverage it has lost vis-à-vis this government and to continue to survive through the use of privileges.

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A film and An album, I recently discovered

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:08:45 +0000

A Prophet is a French movie I have recently watched. It is definitely worth watching. It is a story of “A young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin.” Not all action packed and i did not feel a strong claustrophobia I sometimes have when watching prison etc movies. Have a look.

official site.

via Trailer Addict

Trailer:

Heathen is a very quality thrash band. They have had a comeback after 19 years (!) and their last album The Evolution of Chaos is listeneable more than once (!) I did not have any expectations when I started to listen to them. But with a bit of Exodus sound, they got me in the mood…

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