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April 19, 2008

"Turkish Democracy at the Crossroads

Coup techniques by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

Italian writer Curzio Malaparte's book titled "Tecnica del Colpo di Stato" (Coup d'État, the Technique of Revolution), originally published in 1931, was translated into Turkish in 1963. Turkish Weekly Comment - Notes on the Recent Developments of Turkish Economy

Turkey a true ally of the US, New York mayor says

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has always believed that Turkey is a true ally of the United States. Speaking at the American-Turkish

Yusuf Kanlı: AKP needs a roadmap!

In the psychology of a guilty man the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is in a rather alarming swing mode. One day, senior executives of the party talk about a rather constructive roadmap and signal a willingness on the part of the ruling party to take some steps back and help resolve the explosive situation the country landed in with the closure case against it, the next day – and often the same day – the prime minister or some other executive of the ruling party comes up with a question “What step back? What have we done that we are expected to take a step back? We will defend ourselves, we will not surrender.” One day the prime minister and his men are all stressing that they...



Does the Islamic world view the closure case differently than the West?

The segments of society that see no drawbacks in Turkey's being led toward chaos through anti-democratic ways are seriously disturbed by Western calls for democracy in regards to the closure case brought against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Turkey on the way to self-destruction

Mehmet Ali Birand

We have fallen well behind Özal’s legacy

We remember Turkey's eighth president, Turgut Özal, with respect and gratitude on this, the 15th anniversary of his death, and continue to seek his leadership and fulfill his vision.

Crisis of representation

Unlike the views held by positivist elites, social life is not homogenous and monolithic. Social differences are as natural as the differences in the world of creatures, and they may even be considered projections of these.

An outside look at coups

At a point where the democratic process went out of control because of closure cases against two political parties, attention has been turned to messages from the outside world.

If Özal were alive...

By HASAN CELAL GÜZEL, RADİKAL

We lost him 15 years ago. He was a man who served well not only Turkey, but the people of Turkey. If he were alive today, he would be able to continue his service.

The Plots Proliferate: Is Ergenekon a Fiction of the CIA?

By Jenny White on Ergenekon

grenade.jpg A prosecutor is investigating links between an organized crime group known as Atabeyler, whose plans to assassinate Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were uncovered two years ago, and Ergenekon, a shadowy group suspected of trying to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), thereby bringing down the government.



Turkish Democracy at the Crossroads

By Reflection Cafe

Şaban Kardaş, University of Utah

As several observers of Turkish politics concur, since the beginning of the year we have been witnessing an undeclared bureaucratic -- i.e., judicial -- coup in the making. Far from upholding the rule of law, the closure case against the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is widely viewed as part and parcel of a political and ideological position that hardly stands any chance of gaining the public's approval through legitimate democratic channels. It is, in that sense, an attempt for the imposition of a particular ideology and political project on the Turkish society through extra-political channels, not unlike previous military interventions. The growing assertiveness of the judiciary emerges as yet another challenge to the consolidation of democracy, similar to the negative effects of military coups on democratization.

United Press International - International Security - Emerging Threats - Analysis - Analysis: Al-Qaida to attack Turkey?


Divergent European approaches to combating PKK terrorism

Abdulkadir Onay

Yusuf Kanlı: Labor Day and Taksim Square

For the post-1980 generations and for foreigners the importance of the Taksim Square and its great symbolism for the leftist movement in Turkey might be underestimated. From mid 1950s until the 1977 tragedy that claimed lives of 41 progressive Turks, the square was the most important venue for gatherings to condemn the systematic advent of conservatism in this country and to underscore the commitment of Turkish progressive youth to patriotism, free and independent Turkey and hope for a fully democratic and prosperous Turkey…Since the 1977 tragedy staged by some dark elements – who were firing on the demonstrators from the roof of the Intercontinental Hotel, the State Water Works buildi

The American plot to overthrow the Turkish Republic

Mustafa AKYOL

What about the pro-Russian NGOs in Turkey? by EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ

We would like to share a document titled "The Meeting of ‘The Eurasia' party leaders and the leaders of 'The Worker's Party' of Turkey," posted in 2003 on the Russian Website <http://www.evrazia.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1530>.

Özal’s neglected legacy

Despite the 15 years that have passed since his death, Turkey's eighth (and first civilian) president, Turgut Özal, who paved the way to many democratic reforms in Turkey, was commemorated with a series of ceremonies across the country.

"Judicial proceedings against the Justice and Development Party in Turkey

Judicial proceedings against the Justice and Development Party in Turkey

Written Declaration No. 409
This written declaration commits only the members who have signed it

We are concerned about judicial proceedings recently instituted by the General Prosecutor in Turkey to dissolve the Justice and Development Party and ban 71 of its members from politics. We are concerned that the Constitutional Court has declared this request admissible."

EU does not see CHP as interlocutor

By SEMİH İDİZ, MİLLİYET

We have begun to see more and more clearly now how the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is opposed to the European Union.

selcukdemirelflaglemondeapr172008.Jpeg

Turkish flag and headscarf: Caricature by Selcuk Demirel, published in Le Monde April 17, 2008 VIA


Article 301 is an insult to Turkishness

A flurry of debate on notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the amendment of which has been on Turkey's agenda for the past three years, continues even as the government rolls up its sleeves to attend to the matter.

Dialogue of the deaf on the Nabucco pipeline project

Turkey and the European Union blame each other for the lack of progress in overcoming problems that have surfaced about the realization of the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project, linking the

Free Speechless in Turkey: Ankara To Change One Law, But Others Still Muffle Dissent - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Support for EU Accession Increases in Turkey: Angus Reid Global Monitor

Ertugrul Ozkok: Why all this anger, Mr. Lagendijk?

Turkish writers find no relief in free-speech reform | Reuters

AKP's request from PACE president irks opposition

The demand of lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that the parliamentary body of the Council of Europe of which Turkey is a member issues a declaration on

Turkey not becoming another Iran, says European parliamentarian


British envoy sees 'real possibility' of divided Cyprus reuniting - International Herald Tribune

Pippa Bacca, an Italian Artist Killed During Performance Trip for Peace, Is Mourned - New York Times

Missing persons | What the dead have to say | Economist.com

Apr 17th 2008 | NICOSIA AND SARAJEVO
From The Economist print edition
The grim skills of identifying and analysing human remains are being transferred from one benighted place to another

AT THE new “family viewing facility” in the divided capital of Cyprus, human bones extracted from mass graves across the island are laid out on a long table covered with white cloth. Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots come to grieve for long-lost relatives, and to collect the bones for reburial."

Lawyers request, court rejects in Malatya

The reasons for which a Malatya court rejected the requests of the lawyers of plaintiffs in the murder trial of three Christian missionaries is beginning to raise concerns. Four men

Changing 301 does not get rid of the problem

Semih İDİZ

Changes to Article 301 Are Insufficient

By Jenny White on freedom of speech in Turkey

Turkey is changing a law notorious for limiting free speech, but writers and publishers fear that the changes are so minor that they will continue to be arrested and tried under the new version of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Other laws that limit freedom of expression also remain in force.


Promoting understanding through arts and culture

At a time when the court case against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is putting additional strain on already difficult relations between Turkey and the European Union, it might seem frivolous or even irrelevant to discuss cultural cooperation between the EU and Turkey.

Need to Know - PostGlobal: PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com

By Diba Nigar Goksel

ISTANBUL - It is nearly impossible for anyone to win hearts and minds in Turkey nowadays.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso treaded carefully on Turkey's political minefield during his visit last week, because any of his moves could have caused the country’s delicate and divided political scene to rupture."

Kite Runner; a good Saturday

 

Oh boy, The Kite Runner is such a good novel! I have just started reading and already past 50 pages and i am so glad to discover another good novel. I don't feel like it is an apologetic work and it just flows from the author's mouth. (I had always found Kandahar movie's style too apologetic and i was expecting this would have a similar taste. But no, at least so far:)

This is a good Saturday and i am warming up for my US- LA trip that will start on Wednesday. Goin' out now with Nurdan to do some reading in a cafe and a little shopping and i will probably end up in my office to do more work. Well, good way to spend a good Saturday:)

April 18, 2008

"Happy people live longer

Happy people live longer

A close relationship exists between age and happiness, argues a survey by the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, which also notes that high income, health, family and friends significantly influence wellbeing.

Eurovision songs: Your views

France's entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest will be sung almost exclusively in English. Should Eurovision lyrics should be restricted to the language of the entrants?

Commission stands by 'Gazprom clause'

A reciprocity clause in trade and investment is necessary to prevent a massive sell-out of strategic EU energy assets to foreign companies such as Russia's Gazprom, a senior Commission official insisted at a debate on energy liberalisation this week.

Online privacy a concern for EU citizens

EU citizens believe data transmission over the Internet is not sufficiently secure and are increasingly using technology to protect their privacy online, a new poll reveals. The trend is posing a challenge to the current business practices of IT giants which rely on private data to offer their services.

DOSSIER: A new coalition model for Germany? | 18/04/2008

Germany's Christian Democrats and the Greens signed a coalition agreement in the city state of Hamburg on Thursday April 17. This is Germany's first black-green coalition at a state level. Will it shake up the country's political scene?

Man in the News: Umberto Bossi

Just how the Northern League has evolved could have a crucial bearing on whether Italy can move towards a more 'normal' system of stable government

L'Académie Française and decay

By Kiki

Anita Elash had an excellent article earlier this week in the Globe and Mail on the Académie Française and its struggle to remain the center of French cultural life. My point of view that what is ailing that old and conservative French institution is that it has never accepted that French culture is never stagnant, but continuously evolves and that French is not solely the language of the French.

Half of EU citizens on the net, but rural Europe left behind


A whistle too far


The EU’s most prominent whistleblower - Dutch MEP Paul van Buitenen - was in the news again this week after he gave the EU’s anti-fraud office (Olaf) the names of two MEPs he believes have been involved in expenses fraud.

"workflows of the 21st century newsroom...

Jarvis: A new ecosystem for news and media - the press-sphere

By Carolyn Lo

Jeff Jarvis, Buzzmachine blogger, writes about the new ecosystem of news: a press-sphere, in which the press may be involved, but "any of many sources can, thanks to links, add up a story and to fulfilling the need or desire for news and information." Newspapers aren't just news anymore, according to Jarvis, they are more complex with endless sources and handlers....

Al-Qaeda Media Nexus: The Virtual Network Behind the Global Message (PDF; 2.2 MB)
Source: Radio Free Europe

Key Findings

+ The ”original” Al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden accounts for a mere fraction of jihadist media production.

+ Virtual media production and distribution entities (MPDEs) link varied groups under the general ideological rubric of the global jihadist movement. The same media entities that “brand” jihadist media also create virtual links between the various armed groups that fall into the general category of Al-Qaeda and affiliated movements.

+ Three key entities connect Al-Qaeda and affiliated movements to the outside world through the internet. These three media entities — Fajr, the Global Islamic Media Front, and Sahab — receive materials from more than one armed group and post those materials to the internet.............


NME.com applies news diamond, workflows of the 21st century newsroom

By Carolyn Lo

newsdiamond.pngPaul Bradshaw of The Online Journalism Blog had posited that the editorial process and workflows must change with the online world, following the "news diamond," which is based on speed and depth.

Here's how a news site implemented this process in practice.

Editor of NME.com, a news publication about the music industry, David Moynihan, said his own team has worked towards adopting the news diamond, describing his work as "a buzzing cross-platform environment that mirrors [Bradshaw's] theories."






Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment

Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)

"How to: use RSS and social media for newsgathering"

By Jean Yves Chainon

UK journalism blogger Paul Bradshaw offers some tips for busy reporters and editors on how to use some Web-based tools such as RSS feeds and social media to help them along the basic newsgathering process.

Le Monde journalists on strike

Journalists at the prestigious French daily Le Monde strike over job cuts - the second such protest in its history.

Future of journalism series: Jonathan Landman - The New York Times

By Jean Yves Chainon

The Editors Weblog is running a series of exclusive interviews about the future of journalism with top editors at leading newspapers around the world. Here is the latest installment with  Jonathan Landman, deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times in the US.

AP adjusts to changing industry and adopts new copyright tool

By Carolyn Lo

On Wednesday, Tom Curley, president and CEO of Associated Press, spoke at the annual conference of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) and stated that "the news cooperative hasn't changed its fundamental mission, but must have a more flexible business model to meet the changing dynamic of the media industry."

Press Roundup

Eight-year-old İbrahim Yıldırım suffered in pain for an hour from burns as he was forced to wait at an Adana hospital because his family could not afford the treatment expenses.


Turkish Press Scanner

Municipality restricts drinking establishments The municipality of the central Anatolian city of Niğde has launched a project to relocate drinking establishments in the city center to at least five kilometers outside the boundaries of the city, reported daily Milliyet yesterday. Niğde Mayor Murat Zeren, a member of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said 14 different areas planned under the project would be completed in a short time and that restaurants and other businesses located in the city center that currently serve alcoholic beverages would no longer be allowed to serve alcoholic drinks by a decision of the municipality council. Zeren also met with the owners of

Press Roundup

Citizens lined up in front of the Sakarya Turkish Agricultural Board on Wednesday in order to buy rice at below market prices. Food prices have rapidly increased in Turkey recently.


Turkish Press Scanner

MILLIYET Turkish girls enter puberty aged 7Girls in Turkey are reaching puberty earlier as a result of mothers smoking during pregnancy and young girls being overweight and not exercising enough, daily Milliyet reported yesterday. Professor Dr. Selim Kurtoğlu, a specialist in endocrinology with the Pediatrics Department of Erciyes University's Faculty of Medicine, said endocrinology clinics were full of young women who have entered puberty at an abnormally early age. Kurtoğlu said entering puberty prematurely due to being overweight and not being active enough might have horrible results. He added, “There are girls that have physically matured and started having their periods

Turkish Press Scanner

Daily Vakit marks rector as target The daily Vakit, which marks people opposed to its ideologies as targets for radical Islamic organizations has now declared Akdeniz University rector, Professor Mustafa Akaydın, a target, daily Akşam reported yesterday. On Monday Vakit led with a report, titled “Take This Man,” about Akaydın. The daily also displayed a photo of the rector on its front page. Antalya University was the scene of recent student conflicts. Akaydın, who was also accused by the daily of triggering the armed conflicts at the university, is known for his opposition to the new Higher Education Board (YÖK) chairman and the government and is currently the chairman of

Turkish Press Scanner

Good news for pregnant female employees A Supreme Court of Appeals ruling has made an employer, who terminated a female worker's employment contract because she was pregnant, to pay compensation for “bad intention,” daily Star reported yesterday. The ninth branch of the court issued a favorable ruling for female employees who are pregnant or have just given birth and determined the employer should pay compensation for terminating their contracts. The same ruling also obliged employers to include maternity leave while calculating the amount of days worked. “The witnesses made clear that the claimant was asked to resign due to her pregnancy however she refused to do so. Later on her

Press Roundup

Three thousand people traveled to the village of Yukarı Bozkır in the western city of Manisa's Turgutlu district to attend ceremonies marking the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. A military band gave a concert at the event. Activities for the occasion will continue through April 20 all across Turkey. 

"Europe sees China as a bigger threat than the United States

Europe sees China as a bigger threat than the United States

By Carolyn O'Hara

More Europeans now consider China a bigger threat to global stability than they do the United States, according to a Harris/FT poll out this week.


Quelle horreur! France's Eurovision song has English lyrics

By Preeti Aroon

Language purists in France are fuming. The country's entry in the Eurovision music contest has English lyrics! (OK, two lines are in French.) Of the 43 countries participating, more than half -- 25 -- submitted songs in English. It sounds like there's a new linga franca.

Euro MP calls for strong women's commission in Parliament

Rapporteur on women's issues of the European Parliament Emine Bozkurt yesterday hailed the ruling party's latest proposal to establish an equal opportunities commission in the Turkish Parliament

EU competitiveness 'much better' than US, says Barroso

The European Union is "uniquely placed to make the most of globalisation," says Commission President José Manuel Barroso, despite concerns raised by his colleague Employment and Social Commissioner Vladimir Spidla relating to the "far-reaching and often brutal consequences of globalisation", which include "the outsourcing of jobs and the closure of factories".

France seeks more ambitious EU globalisation strategy

The EU's growth and jobs strategy needs to be supplemented by a global arm if Europe wants to remain competitive in the future, argues a new French government report, which is likely to become official policy when the country assumes the EU Presidency on 1 July.

Cohen-Tanugi: Lisbon Strategy 'inadequate' answer to globalisation

The current Lisbon Strategy will not be sufficient for Europe to compete with fast-growing Asian economies and needs to be upgraded to a "Lisbon Plus" agenda that encompasses the bloc's external economic policies, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, the author of a report for the French government entitled "A European strategy for globalisation" told EurActiv France.

Interview: 'Sarkozy is wrong on migration'

Migration, economic woes and civil liberties will be the hot issues for the Liberal family in the 2009 European Parliament election campaign, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) leader Graham Watson told EurActiv.

Pressure mounts ahead of key energy vote

The Commission's controversial proposals to complete the liberalisation of the EU gas and electricity markets are entering a critical phase as Parliament prepares for a decisive vote in May. But the tight schedule is now leading some to speculate that an agreement could be delayed.

Chair of European Parliament's agricultural committee discusses renewable transport with Wikinews

ESDP: Time for the First Teeth, but Whom to Bite?

Marek Swierczynski: The Lisbon Treaty opens a new path for the European Security and Defense Policy. After Europe failed to create either a relevant European defense capability or a common security strategy, it favors a collective defense that may ultimately threaten NATO.

Support for the Democratic Process in Europe

By Edurne Bartolomé Peral

This paper presents an analysis on one of the main indicators for the study of political support, which is Satisfaction with Democracy. It also offers a revision on the actual levels of this indicator in different European societies. This paper, therefore, deepens and presents data on the levels and nature of support for the democratic process, measured by the indicator of satisfaction for democracy.

A Need to Integrate Schools Curriculum across Member States

At present, most EU members have varying differences in the educational curriculum and teaching methods within European schools. If we begin to introduce an integrated curriculum between member states, then moving forward in our committed ideas will have a stronger chance, if our younger citizens ‘grow their minds together’ in the classroom. An integrated approach

Putin following Sarkozy?

By Boz

As you may be aware, rumors have been furiously circulating in the European press that Vladimir Putin has divorced his wife and will soon marry a Russian gymnast, the 24-year-old Alina Kabayeva. The paper that first put the rumor to print last weekend, Moskovsky Korrespondent, apparently subtitled its article "The Sarkozy Syndrome."

European Immunization Week 2008 - time for reflection

This week's edition of Eurosurveillance is dedicated to European Immunization Week 2008, which will take place from 21 to 27 April....

Communist-influenced union praises consensual approach

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, has won unlikely support from the country's biggest trade union, the communist-influenced CGT, for his consensual approach to...

Balkan blackspots

Prime responsibility for cleaning up Romania and Bulgaria rests not with Brussels but with Bucharest and Sofia

Self-styled saviour is symptom of Italy's ills

Silvio Berlusconi owns three TV stations, two newspapers and a publishing empire. Try to imagine Angela Merkel or Gordon Brown doubling up as media tycoons: impossible. It should be impossible in Italy, writes Philip Stephens

Barroso assures Irish on tax ahead of referendum

José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, sought to reassure Ireland that its corporate tax policy would not be affected by voting Yes to the Lisbon reform treaty, which is set to be put to referendum in June.

Italy’s hour of darkness, Geoff Andrews

Geoff Andrews is staff tutor in politics at the Open University. He is the author of Not a Normal Country: Italy After Berlusconi (Pluto, 2005), published in Italian as Un Paese Anormale (effepilibri, 2007). His The Slow Food Story: Politics and Pleasure will be published by Pluto Press in 2008. Geoff Andrews is also an associate editor of Soundings

Nicolas Véron : Preventing Europe’s Next Banking Crisis

As shockwaves from America’s subprime disaster continue to reverberate, there is growing doubt about Europe’s ability to handle a financial crisis on a major scale. Severe lapses in bank regulation – in Germany, Britain, and perhaps France – have damaged the credibility of national systems of supervision. But this is only part of the problem. The European Union remains hopelessly ill-equipped to handle the crises that haven’t yet happened: cross-border crises sparked by EU banks’ increasing interdependence.


"Reviewing the AAA’s Report on Anthropology and the Military

Reviewing the AAA’s Report on Anthropology and the Military

By Maximilian Forte


About four months ago I promised to produce an essay/notes reviewing and summarizing the 04 November, 2007, release of the report by the AAA Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities, whose term of work began in November of 2005. The report is titled “AAA Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities” and is available at:

Cooperation between the Pentagon and anthropologists a fiasco?

By Lorenz

newsweek

The collaboration between the U.S. military and anthropologists has been criticized for both political and ethical reasons. According to a recent article in Newsweek, the whole project could end as a fiasco: The implementation of the $40 million project has fallen short, according to more than a dozen people involved in the program that were interviewed by Newsweek.

Open Source & Open Access Textbooks

By Maximilian Forte


In “Professors Gone Paperless” in the April 16, 2008, issue of Inside Higher Ed, Elia Powers writes of a growing campaign in the U.S., by Student Public Interest Research Groups and www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/ to promote the use of free, open source e-textbooks. Professors and organizations are also invited to sign a statement in support of the campaign, on the same link provided here. I will reproduce an extract of the article below:


The Military-Academic Complex in the U.S.: “The Minerva Consortia”

By Maximilian Forte

More News on Anthropology and Counterinsurgency

By Maximilian Forte


As an addendum to the last bundle of posts for today, more news is being published about American anthropologists embedded in counterinsurgency programs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Website for “Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency” Conference Now Live

The website for the University of Chicago’s “Anthropology and Global Counter-Insurgency” conference is now available at http://anthroandwar.uchicago.edu/. You can read abstracts for each of the three panels and for the individual presentations. Notice that I’ve somehow been given the last word…

Camelot Revisited: The Department of Defense’s New Plan for Academia

In a recent speech before the Association of American Universities, Defense Secretary Robert Gates described his ideas for a new military-academia partnership. The “Minervia Consortium”, as he calls his vision, would offer funding and research assistance for researchers across academia, in order to build up the military’s understanding of the world the operate in and create a pool of experts the military can draw on.

Microtargeting or Macrotargeting? On Politics and Culture


What’s for Dinner? The Pollster Wants to Know sets out a basic anthropological argument—people’s behaviors and traits are not isolated, discrete units, easily analyzed as individual phenomenon. They are linked, interconnected, patterned.

As Kim Severson opens, “If there’s butter and white wine in your refrigerator and Fig Newtons in the cookie jar, you’re likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Prefer olive oil, Bear Naked granola and a latte to go? You probably like Barack Obama, too. And if you’re leaning toward John McCain, it’s all about kicking back with a bourbon and a stuffed crust pizza while you watch the Democrats fight it out next week in Pennsylvania.”



April 17, 2008

Erkan's US trip starts on Apr 23...

It has been more than two years. I will probably arrive Los Angeles on Apr 23. Still trying to make a plan....

I will be attending

April 25-26, 2008        Cultures of Virtual Worlds conference. Organized by Tom Boellstorff (UC Irvine) and Maria Bezaitis (Intel Research). Sponsored by Intel Research, the Intel Digital Home Group, the Department of Anthropology at UC Irvine, and the Center for Ethnography at UC Irvine. Conference website: http://www.anthro.uci.edu/vws/index.html

And at some moment I will be talking at the department on anthropology and blogging as invited by George Marcus...

"Turkish parliamentary commission adopts Article 301

Turkish parliamentary commission adopts Article 301

"Turkish parliamentary commission adopts Article 301
The Turkish Parliament's EU Adjustment Commission on Wednesday adopted a bill to make amendments to Articles 301 and 305 of Turkey's penal code. The bill will be debated at the Justice Commission on Friday."

Article 301 Changes, But Criticism Still Is Considered Insult

By Jenny White

The government has submitted a proposal to Parliament to amend the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which has been used to to prosecute intellectuals, journalists and activists for “insulting Turkishness.” (See my March 21 blog entry on Ms. Erin Keskin’s recent conviction under Article 301.)

The 301 impasse

CENGİZ ÇANDAR


Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs

Ertugrul Ozkok: Who requested this communiqué ?

"Ertugrul Ozkok: Who requested this communiqué ?
I stand amazed... I heard that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) would issue a communiqué against the closure case of ruling AKP.

What’s more, such a request would be the first in the history of this country.

Tremors in Turkey - The Boston Globe

Wearing the old shirt, or a new one

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has never been more lucid. "[The situation is] worse than you think," he told three colleagues of mine on his way to meet his British counterpart, David Miliband, the other day.

EU will suspend negotiations if AKP is shut down

Mehmet Ali Birand

Turkish Parliament Speaker Does Not Predict Early Elections In Turkey

TURKEY BROADENS REGIONAL SECURITY DIALOGUE - Eurasia Daily Monitor


AKP closure case 'matter for Turks to decide,' Rice says

A legal case for the closure of Turkey's ruling party on anti-secularism charges is a matter for Turks to decide and Washington hopes that the issue will be resolved in a way that takes into

'Turkey faces foreign policy challenges'

Nato is courting disaster in Afghanistan by relying too much on force to defeat the Taliban, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said in an interview to daily Telegraph yesterday. Babacan met British Prime

‘EU-Turkey collaboration will continue'

Turkey is a European Union candidate with ongoing negotiations and is therefore a part of the Union's

What Mr. Barroso notes

ORHAN KİLERCİOĞLU

The biggest threat to Turkey is 'independence'

Mustafa AKYOL

Don't change 301! Bring back the death penalty!

Mehmet Ali Birand

Yusuf Kanlı: Some hope!

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken refuge at somewhere not so far discovered by the media in hopes of having some “undisturbed” time “away from the watchful eyes” of the media in order to concentrate on the “roadmap” the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will follow regarding the closure case against itself at the Constitutional Court, and to finalize the contents of the “reform package” expected to be unveiled sometimes later this month and perhaps as early as next week.Reporters following the prime minister conceded their failure Wednesday in finding out where the prime minister disappeared and while it was claimed that excluding some top party executives and some senio

Ergenekon won’t end up like Şemdinli

Those in the future who write the history of democracy in Turkey will have to set aside an entire chapter titled "Years law was ashamed of."

The war over Article 301

By MUSTAFA ÜNAL, ZAMAN

Should Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) be changed? Yes, it is, after all, quite backwards when it comes to democracy, freedom of thought and universal standards in general.

‘You won't remember, darling' soap opera

By YILDIRAY OĞUR, TARAF

Our "Democracy History" book is like a book sold for YTL 1. And we have volumes of the "Coup History" book. Every volume is as thick as a brick.

Secularity and democracy: siblings?

By HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN, SABAH

Is secularity a necessary condition of democracy? Yes, because if there were a different sort of model at hand, the very essence of liberal democracy would be neglected. In other words, certain faiths and beliefs would put pressure on other faiths and beliefs as well as on the personal wills of individuals in society.

"Your Guide to Net Neutrality

Digging Deeper::Your Guide to Net Neutrality


From time to time, I’ll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and take action. I’ve already covered micro-blogging and Twitter, citizen journalism, the mobile web and other topics. This week I’ll look at Net neutrality.


Background

Net neutrality or network neutrality means that Internet service providers (ISPs) such as cable and telephone companies must treat all traffic equally that travels across their networks. That means that your broadband service provider couldn’t block you from seeing a particular site or using a high-bandwidth service arbitrarily.

Reflection: on blogs and natural selection

By Richard Bailey

Prnewmediaclass Some student bloggers: from left to right, with country of origin. Tor Martin (Norway); me; Elif (Turkey); Olga (back row, Russia); Margarita (front row, Russia), Anderson (Brazil); Nina (Poland); Radhika (India). More students, representing many more nations, were on the other side of the camera. Other class blogs can be found here (scroll down to end of page).


Campaign: “Justice Now!” for a Girl in El Salvador

Description of Campaign: In 1999 a 9-year-old girl named Katya (also Katia) Miranda was raped and murdered. Charges against the suspects, all members of the country’s military elite, were dismissed in 2000 and there is a feeling that judicial corruption was at play. Now bloggers are taking up the cause in order to bring the case back to court before the 10 year statute of limitations runs out.


LINES OF THINKING


Real Beauty and Why Women Want

By dlende on Psychological anthropology


In my medical anthropology class last Thursday, three students led our discussion of Caroline Knapp’s Appetites: Why Women Want, a memoir of anorexia, desire, femininity and feminism, and women and their bodies. To break the ice, they broke the class up into small groups and had the other students work on imaginary magazine covers for Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and Men’s Health (see also my previous post, Ethnography and the Everyday).

The dialectic of secularization

By Jürgen Habermas

The opposition between "multiculturalism" and "Enlightenment fundamentalism" is misconceived, argues Jürgen Habermas. "The universalist claim of the political Enlightenment does not contradict the particularist sensibilities of a correctly understood multiculturalism."

The Real (Porn) World: The Politics and Aesthetics of the New Reality Porn

By Jennifer Moorman

It may at first seem perfectly selfevident that a porn filmmaker would want to borrow from the conventions of reality TV. Cinematic pornography has, as Linda Williams suggests, concerned itself with proving its own authenticity since its inception.1 And reality TV attempts to depict "the real world," right? In fact, generally speaking, it doesn't.

The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada
Source: Institute for the Study of Labor

Disruptive Civil Technologies
Six Technologies with Potential Impacts on US
Interests out to 2025
here

Network Effects: The Influence of Structural Social Capital on Open Source Project Success

Source: Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

DOSSIER: Was the food crisis inevitable? | 17/04/2008

The riots over the soaring prices of foodstuffs have grown across the world over the last weeks. Several governments have announced measures controlling the trade of these commodities. The European press seeks the causes of the lack of basic foods and proposes solutions to the crisis.

The Internet and Virtual Civil Society: The New Frontier of Social Capital

By Miki Caul Kittilson

Although scholars generally agree that social interactions within traditional social groups build social capital, they debate the benefits of a virtual civil society based on social interactions over the Internet. Our research examines how interpersonal social group activity and virtual activity contribute to the multiple dimensions of social capital:

"Foreign investments in Turkey plunge

Foreign investments in Turkey plunge

ANKARA - Direct foreign investments in Turkey have plunged dramatically in the first two months of the year, down by more than 80 percent according to figures released by the Treasury Undersecretariat on Wednesday."

Double jeopardy in 301

A lawyer and human rights campaigner charged with insulting the military under Article 301 of the penal code was found guilty and not guilty by two separate courts that heard the same case by

Nationalism-Neo Nationalism; 'Laicism-Militarism'

CENGİZ ÇANDAR

Families of Malatya massacre victims demand compensation

The families of German citizen Tilman Geske, Turkish citizens Necati Aydin and Uğur Yüksel, who were murdered in the offices of the Zirve Publishing House in the eastern town of Malatya on

Bahçeli sees 301 move as an 'assassination of Turkishness'

Turkey's ultra-nationalist party yesterday described the government's move to amend the controversial Article 301 of the penal code as an “assassination of Turkishness.”

Don’t touch juntas or gangs, or else you’ll burn! by MURAT YILMAZ

Reports documenting cases of wiretapping leaked out to the press during the Ergenekon operation show that the Ergenekon gang has been lobbying for the closure of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in order to relieve the pressure it has been under.

301 leap fails to clear jurists' bar

A government proposal to bring to culmination the years-long process of amending Article 301 of the Turkish penal code has been deemed unsatisfactory, even dangerous, by legal experts. While jurists disagreed about the president's role in launching proceedings under the

Britain commends AKP gov't amid closure case

Britain praised the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Monday amid the ongoing legal case to disband the party on grounds that it has become a focal point of anti-secular activities. “This

A short review of Western media on the latest developments in Turkey

By Ruslan Khaydarov

During the last week or so Western political eyes were closely following developments taking place in the Turkish political arena. The unanimous decision by the Constitutional Court to consider the case calling for closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as bans on the prime minister and president from party politics for a five-year term on the grounds of intending to impose Islamic law in the overwhelmingly Muslim country of 70 million has sent the country into turmoil, as the British Guardian wrote.

Reflections on the government’s Article 301 proposal

The government's proposal to amend Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which makes it a crime to insult Turkish identity as well as state institutions, was finally signed by Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan and forwarded to the parliamentary Justice Commission early this week.


Thousands of Turks protest AKP in Ankara

Yusuf Kanlı: Absurdities...

Some people must be either rather sadist enjoying to torture the nation, or fools enough to believe what they themselves concoct in the first place as “credible information…”There is definitely a misinformation frenzy or contamination of information coming out of Ankara. Speculations are abundant, though all based on the “fact” that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would be closed down by the Constitutional Court for various reasons varying from “the establishment want to get away with the AKP and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan” to “eight of the eleven members of the Constitutional Court are known to be definitely against Islamists and whatever the AKP say in its def

Mrs. Samsa, or the Turkish cockroach with a headscarf!

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

A glossary of Turkish political terms

BURAK BEKDİL

When inspired by conspiracy theories...

İlter TÜRKMEN

Kurdish question and party closure case

By MAHMUT ÖVÜR, SABAH

"Is there any relationship between the court case aimed at closing the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Kurdish problem?"

It's just that kind of country

By MURAT BELGE, RADİKAL

When it became clear what fate had befallen the poor Italian woman, the news made nearly every Turkish newspaper's top headline.

April 16, 2008

"After Pippa Bacca

After Pippa Bacca

By ELİF ŞAFAK, ZAMAN

The sad death of Italian artist Pippa Bacca was greeted by both the Turkish press and the public with great sorrow.

Turkey’s Culture of Violence

By Jenny White on violence against women in Turkey

The murder of Italian artist Pippa Bacca has raised a discussion in the Turkish media of violence in general in Turkey and violence against women in particular. Bacca was hitchhiking across Europe and the Middle East dressed as a bride in a demonstration for world peace and was picked up in Turkey by a truck driver who raped and murdered her. (click for article) While a crime like this can happen anywhere, it also provides an occasion to take a closer look at the particular circumstances of violent behavior in Turkey and its relation to being male and female. In a previous post, I mentioned the glorification of fighting and dying in educational textbooks. Violence is presented as bringing honor to men. Guarding honor is a theme in violence against women (from surveillance and beatings by male relatives all the way to so-called “honor” killings of women who disobey family expectations — or even just appear to), but also in violence by men against other men.......


more pippas will come to be slain

By Galip

pippabacca, the peace artist or the "peacebride" as the turkish press dubbed her because she traveled in a wedding dress to promote peace, was killed as the resultant of the same introverted, anti-introspective, paranoid schizoid mentality that plagues droves of turkish fans after almost every international football meet.

Self-criticism over Bacca’s tragic death

The murder of Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, also known as Pippa Bacca, an Italian artist and activist who went missing while hitchhiking across Turkey dressed in a wedding gown as part of an appeal for world peace, has stirred widespread anger, condemnation and grief across the country.

Turks smoking away despite looming ban

The government's efforts to limit cigarette smoking and the harm it causes seem to be failing. Recent figures show the daily consumption of cigarettes in Turkey has reached

"EU Parliament under fire for 'lack of transparency'

EU Parliament under fire for 'lack of transparency'

European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros insisted that the EU institutions become more transparent after demands to strenghten his access to confidential documents were delayed by the two main political groups in the European Parliament.

DOSSIER: Berlusconi is back at Italy's helm | 15/04/2008

The Italian right, led by Silvio Berlusconi, won the legislative elections of April 13 and 14. His coalition won a majority in the House and Senate. At the age of 71, Berlusconi will serve his third term as the head of the Italian government. The European press evaluates the consequences of his return on the political and economic life of the country.


EU adopts stricter air quality rules

The EU Council of Ministers has endorsed a new directive setting binding EU-wide limits for fine particle emissions, which cause respiratory diseases thought to reduce European life expectancy by up to three years.

Bulgarian government in reshuffle after mafia scandal

Bulgaria's Interior Minister Rumen Petkov resigned on 13 April following a month-long corruption scandal that exposed links between government officials and mobsters, highlighting persistent problems in the new EU country. EurActiv Bulgaria contributed to this report from Sofia.

EU manoeuvring for non-Russian gas supplies

10 billion cubic metres of natural gas are set to flow from Turkmenistan into EU markets as of next year, it emerged on Monday, and the EU may clinch a deal for Iraqi gas later on this week.

Key reform of EU funds market frozen

The European Commission has postponed a review of its rules on European investment funds, originally forecast for the end of April. No clear new deadlines have been set.

Ministers seek new vision for European Research Area

Nearly ten years after the European Research Area concept was launched, EU countries and the Commission have agreed to launch yet another process to overcome the fragmentation of research activities, programmes and policies across Europe.

DOSSIER: Putin elected leader of the United Russia party | 16/04/2008

Russia's outgoing president, Vladimir Putin, has been elected leader of the United Russia party he once founded. At the beginning of May Putin will hand over the presidential post to his successor, Dmitri Medvedev, and become prime minister.

France Takes Aim at Cult Of Thinness

By Molly Moore and Corinne Gavard on Europe

PARIS, April 15 -- France, the country that defined haute couture, on Tuesday launched Europe's most aggressive assault yet on the promotion of ultra-thinness by the fashion industry, advertisers and Web sites.

Videos: Barroso and Mamère are ecologically challenged

Two of Europe’s politicians talk ‘global solutions, global problems’ but sometime forget to put their words into action

Italy’s Changing Politics

Berlusconi wins by a landslide. Why Italy may never be quite the same again.

The Shape of Things to Come in Russia

By Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Vladimir Putin was unanimously chosen by the congress of the United Russia party to become its new leader. Putin will replace Boris Gryzlov. Since United Russia controls a supermajority of seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament, he in theory now has the ability to amend the constitution or to have legislation passed.

Irish referendum - not at all surprising

By Jon

Shock horror! Scandal! Collusion! British officials have been conspiring with their Irish counterparts to help stitch up the referendum in Ireland on the Treaty of Lisbon, and a note about it has been leaked… Open Europe, Bruno Waterfield and Iain Dale have been getting in a lather about it. Of course none of those sceptics have bothered to report that a pro-Treaty MEP, Prionsias De Rossa, was assaulted at a public rally.


French report calls for revision of EU's reform plan


Lack of EU transparency citizens' main concern, says ombudsman


Transatlantic Relations and "New Europe"

Lukas Vitalijus: Going-in-Between in Order to Survive

A government of women?

Queremos felicitar a Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero por ser el primer Jefe de Gobierno español que dirige un gabinete con mayoría de mujeres. Pero todavía hay más. Por primera vez una mujer, Carme Chacón, es Ministra de Defensa, un hecho más llamativo aún si cabe si tenemos en cuenta que está embarazada de siete meses. Y la cosa no acaba ahí; este es el primer Gobierno español que cuenta con una cartera de Igualdad, y su titular, Bibiana Aida, de treinta y un años, es la persona más joven que ocupa un ministerio en la historia de España. Un Gobierno, pues, que se asemeja un poco más a la sociedad que representa. Quizá un día podamos tener una foto de familia de la UE igualmente más representativa …

Does Europe Have an Ethical Power?

By Reflection Cafe

International Affairs
January 2008 - Vol. 84 Issue 1 Page 1-189

Ethical power Europe?


Giles Merritt: Choosing Mr. Europe

BRUSSELS – America’s riveting presidential election campaign may be garnering all the headlines, but a leadership struggle is also underway in Europe. Right now, all eyes are on the undeclared frontrunners to become the first appointed president of the European Council.

Northern separatists are big winners in Italian elections

By Joshua Keating 


PACO SERINELLI/AFP/Getty Images

Within the fragile coalition that has brought Silvio Berlusconi back to power, the big winner appears to be the Lega Nord, a separatist party that advocates federalism or even complete independence for Northern Italy (or Padania, as they call it.) The Lega won about 8.3 percent of the vote out of a total of 47 percent for Berlusconi's center-right coalition.










Nicolas and Silvio

By Boz

Not a day has passed since Silvio Berlusconi was once again elected Italian Prime Minister and the Sarkozy comparisons have already begun. This from the BBC Europe editor:

April 15, 2008

Life back under control

After a few weeks of nervous and stressful times, Erkan believes to have control over his life again. Most tasks are handled properly and Erkan is happy.

Our volunteers in Children Studies Unit (primary school kids from neighbouring schools) has been planting trees in the campus today...

FT interview with Ali Babacan

Transcript: FT interview with Ali Babacan

Ali Babacan, Turkey's foreign minister, gave an interview to Martin Wolf, the FT's chief economics commentator, David Gardner, chief leader writer, and Leyla Boulton, Assistant World News Editor, on Monday 14 April at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

These warnings are vitally important

On the way to London, we had the chance to have a long conversation with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Mustafa Karaalioğlu, the editor-in-chief of Star newspaper, Murat Yetkin, Ankara representative of Radikal newspaper, and I asked him some questions. Babacan did not want to give us detailed information about the essence of the issue of party closure, and he was right not to do so.

Fighting for free speech in Turkey

Sarah Rainsford discovers that despite limits on free speech in Turkey, some people are still willing to publish controversial work.

The lost Turks, or the lost Europeans

A splendid office in Stockholm… A “Turkish Swede” manager of a not such a small company involved in investments in several dozens of countries, including Turkey, shared some of his extremely valuable time exchanging opinions with a group of guests “from the motherland” on “What's happening in the motherland?” on the one hand, rising xenophobia across Europe and the reflection of it on the Turks living in Europe. The situation has been getting all the more difficult at home for Turks because of the closure case at the Constitutional Court against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Workers were angry about the Social Security Reform package – indeed they claim it will be a “

Gov't in action for 301

A long-awaited legislative process to amend the much-criticized Article 301 of the Turkish penal code was started yesterday by Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan, in an effort to convince the

Impartiality of judges must be ensured

Sylvia TİRYAKİ

Barroso's visit saves appearances

Ariana FERENTINOU

Barroso and the EU's oxygen tube to Turkey

Cengiz ÇANDAR

Arguments On E.U. Trying To Divide Turkey Are Not Accurate, Pierini

TURKEY In Ankara, a "lesson" from Barroso on what the EU means - Asia News

USAK Report on Cyprus Issue

Long-lasting Cyprus issue has turned into a form that has been changing dimension in the course of time due to the involvement of different actors in different time periods and that even propositions on a comprehensive settlement seems to remain inadequate to overcome the long-term resistance of the parties. The long- lasting characteristic of the issue causes it to be more complicated and international actors to intervene the problem. Due to these features, the problem requires a multi- component formula whose all components need to be conducted simultaneously."

Sarkozy dispatches envoy to convince Turkey

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is sending Jean Pierre Jouillet, minister responsible for European Union affairs to convince Turkey to participate in the Union for the Mediterranean.

Envoy to the East

By Boz

Since the dilution of the Union for the Mediterranean the signals from Turkey have been mixed to say the least, with diplomats chatting up reporters about their comfort with the idea, leaving Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to come in and issue the denials. Now the Turkish Daily News reports that a new envoy is being sent to prepare for the summer launch:

New Report on Cyprus

The International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) released a 51-page-long report titled "Alternative Developments in the

EU parts ways with nationalists

Mehmet Ali Birand

Where does Turkey stand in the Middle East equation?

Cüneyt ÜLSEVER

TURKEY: One year after Malatya murders, time to address the causes

Turkey's AKP mulls pre-emptive strike against court

Turkey: the constitutional frontline, Katinka Barysch

Turkey is no stranger to political turmoil. The country has experienced four coups since 1960. The current government - in which the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (Justice and Development Party / AKP) has an absolute majority - itself only took over after a falling-out among political leaders triggered economic meltdown in 2001.


Spanish recipe

A failed military coup attempt by traditionalist members of the armed forces trying to thwart parliament's choice… The scenario may sound eerily familiar, but these events took place in Spain in 1981.

Beyond a ‘majoritarian’ democracy by ŞABAN KARDAŞ

As several observers of Turkish politics concur, since the beginning of the year we have been witnessing an undeclared bureaucratic -- i.e., judicial -- coup in the making.
New Kurdish Terror Group?: Germany Concerned About PJAK Activities - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Yusuf Kanlı: AKP seeks a way out, but...