Erkan's field diary

"J-memorandum" by judiciary, progress report by Euro Parliament

Cengiz ÇANDAR

Turkey's role in transatlantic relations

Turkey's relations with the EU have become a pivotal issue in the evolving EU-NATO relationship but security concerns still need to be ironed out, says Sinan Ülgen in an April discussion paper for the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).

Commission further waters down Med Union proposal

Not much is left of high-flying French plans for a 'Union for the Mediteranean' as the Commission yesterday presented its proposals on the initiative, allaying fears that it would be a closed club directed against Turkey.

EU-Turkey talks may go step further in June

Difference between EU and our leadership

By AHMET TAŞGETİREN, BUGÜN

The failure of the Turkish justice system to remain impartial is being considered. Europe says: This is not how we run things here. If we were to approach the people of our nations like this, the people would trample us.

Greatest obstacle before democracy

Only one reasonable explanation could have been offered for the following remark by a European politician made a decade ago: "What is going on in Turkey bears great importance; we will see whether a predominantly Muslim country will prove that it is able to become a truly secular and democratic country."

Britain's Miliband backs AKP on closure case

The British foreign secretary criticized the legal closure case against Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, during a speech in Washington Thursday, saying voters and not the

Leyla Gencer

The Independent (UK), May 15th, 2008

Elizabeth Forbes

The Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer became one of the most loved and admired operatic idols in Italy during the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. Although she sang all over Europe and America, from London to Vienna, from San Francisco to Buenos Aires, it was in Italy, at La Scala, Milan, at the San Carlo, Naples, at La Fenice, Venice, at the opera houses of Rome, Florence, Turin, Trieste and many other cities, that she spent the main part of her career, singing a very wide repertory whose core consisted of the works of Donizetti and Verdi. A singing actress of great expressive power, she used her voice as a weapon in her dramatic armoury. That did not mean that she could not, when appropriate, sing with great gentleness and beauty of tone.

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Judiciary’s political war by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

Professor Sami Selçuk is a former chairman the Supreme Court of Appeals, which has become a party to current discussions.

Did top court’s statement aim to influence closure case?

Reactions are mounting in opposition to a statement released by the Supreme Court of Appeals Board of Chairmen. The statement, released on Wednesday, contained severe criticism of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, including accusations of bringing the judiciary under its control.

Judicial system's trial by fire...or justice

By HASAN BÜLENT KARAMAN, SABAH

We keep living and re-living the same truths, over and over again. The Turkish justice system, acting along the lines of its own beliefs, is engaged in ideological maneuvering.

What did the top court do in Şemdinli?

By MEHMET ALTAN, STAR

We have become so very accustomed to the politicization of our justice system that we even try, through the lens of political conjecture, to understand developments that shouldn't ever even occur in a state of justice...

Solution lies in separation of powers

By İSMET BERKAN, RADİKAL

A democracy needs to be able to lead and to guide; it needs to have systematic preventive action taken against broken mechanisms and "inner-palace" games.

Not in the name of the people, but as the opposition by SEVGİ AKARÇEŞME*

As Turkey was trying to recover from the shock brought about by an indictment seeking to close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Supreme Court of Appeals shook Ankara once more with a memorandum-like statement on Wednesday which targeted the government without openly naming it.

Top judge breaks silence ahead of crucial rulings

Haşim Kılıç, the chief justice of the 11-member Constitutional Court, has said the ongoing closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, will not negatively affect Turkish

'Hands off,' judiciary tells government

Turkey's top jurists made very harsh accusations against the government yesterday, claiming that it exerted systematic pressure on the judiciary on the eve of crucial rulings. “The latest developments are enough to prove that the

According to knowledgeable sources

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ministers and senior party members are being taken to task and asked to answer a crucial question according to some press reports: "Who spilled the beans to a Reuter news agency reporter?"

The essence of the closure case

Turkey's destiny is presumably in the hands of 11 judges. Regardless of what the result turns out to be, the aftershocks caused by the proposed ban of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) keep coming.

Judiciary

The processes of trial and punishment have been around since the creation of man and will most probably remain with mankind forever. A fair trial stands out as a significant matter, whose availability is necessary for the survival of countries and the sound operation of an institutional framework.

‘Social contract’ through judiciary: a response to Köksal Toptan’s ‘third way’ proposal by ŞABAN KARDAŞ

Turkish Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan made a controversial proposal concerning the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

AK Party’s opponents in the US

Ali H. Aslan, a young columnist for Zaman and Today's Zaman, is one of the most successful journalists taking the pulse of Washington. Yasemin Çongar, who writes for the Taraf daily, is another colleague who closely follows the transatlantic developments despite having returned to Turkey.

Supreme Court of Appeals on the front

By AHMET TAŞGETİREN, BUGÜN

Yes, the Supreme Court of Appeals Board of Chairmen has taken its place on the front with the statement it released. The language of the statement is full of polemic.

Lost in the separation of powers

A harsh statement released by the Supreme Court of Appeals Board of Chairmen on Wednesday, criticizing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and even directing accusations at it, has once again brought the role of the Turkish judiciary into the spotlight.

Relationship between closure case and headscarf lawsuit by Mustafa Şentop

An increasing number of people hold that there is a clear connection between a lawsuit filed with the Constitutional Court asking to annul amendments made to the Constitution lifting a long-standing headscarf ban at universities and a closure case pending against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) now that the court rapporteur has submitted his report.

Washington is coming to the Brussels line on the closure case

Cengiz ÇANDAR

Does the AK Party lack social support?

By NASUHİ GÜNGÖR, STAR

Societal support for the AK Party is increasing, and many of the party's top-ranked members point these days to the expected societal support for the AK Party as a way out of the current situation.

Things get out of control in Ankara

Murat YETKİN

Turban verdict finally discernible

Finally Haşim Kılıç, the chief judge of the Constitutional Court, declared that the high court will in the first week of June issue its verdict on the demand for the annulment of constitutional amendments package the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) legislated in cooperation with the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in hopes of legalizing “for now” wearing of the turban, the Islamist headgear, in universities by female students. As it has become a tradition of the Constitutional Court to have hearings on cases mostly only on Thursdays, we may comfortably assume that even if what's said by Kılıç might not reflect the collective view of the 11 members of the

What is the path of common sense?

By HASAN CEMAL,MİLLİYET

Let's consider the AK Party being forced to close. Who will form the new government? It will once again be formed by the AK Party group, and the prime minister will emerge from this group.

Yusuf Kanlı: The 'third way' or what?

As the Constitutional Court's 11 top judges started reading the report on the demand for the annulment of constitutional amendments legislated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the support of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in hopes of paving the way to the lifting of the turban ban at universities (only there for now), speculations started to spread in Ankara that probability of a “third way” was over 50 percent. What's that third way? It is rather complicated. According to one claim the two sides of the polarized real politics of the country have reached a compromise deal according to which while the government takes steps to defuse tension and provide

With friends like these, AKP needs what?

Ahu ÖZYURT

Law and jurisprudence are being confused

Cüneyt ÜLSEVER

Turkey brokers Israel-Syria talks

Israel and Syria say they are holding indirect, Turkish-mediated talks to reach a comprehensive peace agreement.

Who is on the main axis and who is marginal?

By MUSTAFA KARAALİOĞLU, STAR

Looking at the recent months of tension in Turkey, it would be wrong to conclude that there are two central axes that counterbalance one another in this nation and that one of them is secularism.

Party closures

By NAZLI ILICAK, SABAH

Rıza Türkmen, a former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, said the court adjudicates cases regarding party closures according to its own jurisprudence, not the Venice criteria, which set conditions on party closures. (May 19, Milliyet daily)

Kurdish party calls for mediator to solve problem

In an advertisement that appeared in French daily Le Monde, the Kurdish Institute of Paris and deputies of Turkey's pro-Kurdish party (DTP) called for an international mediator who could

The trouble with the Kurdish manifesto

Mehmet Ali Birand

From isolationism to peacemaking: 'New Turkey' meets Mideast

Mustafa AKYOL

Turkey's mediation in the Middle East

İlter TÜRKMEN

Turkey faces hard battle in Syrian-Israeli rapprochement

Semih İDİZ

My judge vs. your judge: Which one is better?

Burak BEKDİL

Turkey is losing blood

What's right and what's wrong appears to have been mixed up in the rather wild atmosphere Turkey was plunged into all of a sudden in February when our Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remembered on a visit to Spain that his government indeed had a headscarf, turban, Islamist headgear – or whatever one would like to call it – agenda for which it waited with “dervish patience” for more than five years but time has ripened enough to act on it despite continued secularist sentiments that it was symbol of political Islam… “What if it is a symbol!” he had said.The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) allowed itself – indeed volunteered – to be used by the ruling Justice and Develop

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EU foreign policy 'undermined' by flurry of national initiatives

Following France's example with the EuroMed proposal, Poland and Sweden are due to present an 'Eastern Initiative' at a meeting next week, in a move which diplomats warned could ruin the EU's patient efforts to craft a common external policy.

EU: the most peaceful region in the world

The Economist Intelligence Unit has compiled a ranking of the peacefulness of countries, measuring both domestic and international violence. The results are very favorable for the EU. How do you interpret this? First of all, the European Union was designed to create stable peace in a continent that had gone through the worst wars of mankind,

Europe's old boys need to make way for women

The scarcity of women in top jobs is not about a shortage of capable female politicians, but a question of men choosing men, writes Margot Wallström

Europe is a geopolitical dwarf

Most European geopolitical gurus believe that the EU can survive well as a free-rider on US power, counting on it to keep the world safe while Europe tends to its internal gardens. The paucity of European strategic thinking is stunning, writes Kishore Mahbubani

Top five Eurovision hits

By Martyn Hawkins

Since its first broadcast on 24 May 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest has seen hundreds of songs battle it out for the titles of the worst, the funniest and above all the best

Interview: Europe has problems accepting 'New Russia'

Growing tensions in EU-Russia dialogue are inevitable as Russia's developing economic, military and energy resource strength lends it a much stronger bargaining position in international relations than in the past, according to Piotr Dutkiewicz, director of the Institute of European and Russian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He spoke to EurActiv Slovakia in an interview.

Parliament under pressure for shunning free software

The European Parliament is discriminating against EU citizens by using commercial software which is not freely available to everyone for its digital services, according to the open source community. But Parliament cited technical and security reasons to justify its decision.

European banks: The silent (r)evolution

Despite the impact of recent global financial turmoil on European banks, the structure of the banking industry in Europe that has been built up over the last decade will secure its future, argues Jan Schildbach in an April research paper for Deutsche Bank.

EU urges Club Med focus on trade links, environment

A planned Euro-Mediterranean Union should start by upgrading sea and road links, cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea and developing solar energy, the European Commission said yesterday. Laying

Ronja Kempin

Could France Bring NATO and the EU Closer Together?

Options for the French EU Presidency

SWP Comments 2008/C 11, May 2008, 4 pages

Hannes Adomeit | Frank Kupferschmidt

Russia-Nato Relations

Stagnation or Revitalization?

SWP Research Paper 2008/RP 02, May 2008, 32 pages

Commission plans mandatory car-safety technologies

A draft regulation, due to be presented by the Commission on Friday (23 May), seeks to impose the fitting of advanced safety features on all road vehicles in a bid to cut the number of road deaths in Europe, according to an early copy of the text seen by EurActiv.

Immigrants battle against Fortress EU

Huddled on mattresses on the floor of a church in central Brussels, some 240 illegal migrants have embarked on a hunger strike to demand the right to stay in the European Union. The answer they

MAIN FOCUS: Georgia: a small country with big problems | 22/05/2008

President Mikheil Saakashvili's party has won a clear victory in Georgia's early parliamentary elections. But the political and economic problems facing the small republic in the Caucasus are far from over. What do the election results portend for Georgia's relationship with Europe?

IEA questions role of markets in climate change fight

With global energy demand on the rise despite significant fossil fuel price hikes, the EU should "not expect too much" from carbon pricing and other market-based instruments in their green economy quest, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Intercultural dialogue through sport 'essentially a local process'

Intercultural dialogue through sport happens mainly at local level, so local and national governments must therefore commit to supporting long-term initiatives by sports clubs, organisations and individuals on the field, concluded a two-day seminar.

MAIN FOCUS: A new debate on nuclear energy | 23/05/2008

Debate on the use of nuclear energy has once more flared up in Europe. Italy now plans to build new nuclear power plants after a 20-year ban, while in Sweden a bomb scare in an accident-sensitive reactor has fears running high. What should Europe's energy policy look like in the future?

Sarkozy in uphill battle over living standards

The French president's main pledge in his election campaign last year was to improve "le pouvoir d'achat", or purchasing power, but French consumer confidence has since hit a 21-year low

Europe's mixed reaction to state funds

Big economies respond differently to the rise of sovereign wealth funds, despite shared suspicions that they make investments for political reasons

Let's hear it for the Transatlantic Economic Council

By Centre for European Reform

by Philip Whyte

Some institutions get less attention than they deserve. Arguably, one of these is the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC). On May 13th it met for the second time since its launch in 2007. Its existence is still only known to a small group of initiates. Its obscurity is partly a reflection of its youth. But the TEC’s profile is not helped by the perception that its agenda is dull and that transatlantic relations are no longer as important as they used to be. The TEC’s agenda may be unglamorous. But the transatlantic axis remains as important as ever: it is still the world’s pivotal economic relationship. As protectionist sentiment rises on both sides of the Atlantic, the TEC deserves both greater visibility and political support.

Exhibition Madrid: images of anger

By Alison Matthews

The ‘Lest we forget: 34 images’ exhibition, organised by Médecins du Monde, has been in the Spanish capital since 12 May. Both enlightening and necessary, it relaunches the debate on humanitarian crises which fade into the background in the modern world

Thoughts on the "Global Hub"

By Nikolas K. Gvosdev

I've been pondering Foreign Secretary Miliband's notion of the UK seeking to project influence by being a "global hub."

The UK has major advantages--stability, infrastructure and trustworthy institutions, that encourage people to do business and to form meaningful interconnections. The UK benefits from hosting these transactions and extends its global reach as a result. There is also a "soft power" possibility--that people return from the UK and are more inclined to pursue reforms.

Will a woman ever run the EU?

Yes, but not Margot Wallstrom

MARGOT WALLSTROM, the European Union commissioner in charge of communications (ie selling the project to the public) has published a cross piece in Le Monde this week, asking why only men are being proposed for the new top jobs of the EU.

[Comment] Europe on the cusp of change

[FOCUS] EU in global spotlight for emissions trading scheme

The European Parliament must get more involved in the supervision of the EU's agencies

The European Parliament approved today during its plenary session in Strasbourg,  a report on the European training foundation drafted by Bernard Lehideux (MoDem, France).  This report calls for closer parliamentary involvement in the control of  EU agencies.  In this case, the Parliament supports having representatives on the governing board and intends to formalise the hearings of the director of this foundation before Parliamentary committees.

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EU Recommendations for Turkey II

By Jenny White

In a 17-page document entitled “46th Meeting of the EC-Turkey Association Council: Position of the European Union,” the EU takes a critical position on the judiciary, Cyprus, the Kurdish question, freedom of expression, military-civilian relations, religious freedom (for religious minorities), Iraq and the reform process. Although pointing out the limited progress achieved in political reforms in 2007, the draft notes the government’s declared intention to carry on reforms. The draft says the EU “follows” the closure cases and hopes for the verdict to be in line with European Court of Human Rights principles and the guidelines established by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. Brussels draws attention to the closure cases in two different sections — freedom of association and assembly, and political criteria.

EU warns Turkey not to slip on reform path

The European Commission warned membership-hopeful Turkey yesterday not to slip back in its reform process, saying it could not afford “another wasted year.” Speaking in the European

Lagendijk's comments, a leftist and pro-EU party

By ENGİN ARDIÇ, SABAH

Do you know Joost Lagendijk, the man who stirred up such hatred after being accused of "getting involved in Turkey's domestic business"?

Turkey not so peaceful study finds

Turkey is not an especially peaceful country, a new study has revealed. Turkey recently ranked 115 out of 140 countries on the Global Peace Index (GPI), which measures the relative peacefulness of

Worrying lack of progress in Turkey

The European Parliament has voted to adopt a report on Turkey's 2007 progress in accession negotiations.  The report from the Foreign Affairs Committee welcomes several recent legislative activities of Turkey, while insisting that the speed of reforms must pick up. The report calls on Turkey to continue its constitutional reforms and, regardless of those reforms, calls for the Turkish penal code, particularly article 301, to be changed.

Euro parliament to debate Turkey

The European Parliament will be debating Dutch Christian Democrat Ria Oomen-Ruijten's Turkey report today. A total of 28 political groups have

Ruling party suspends plans to amend Constitution

The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has suspended its plans to prepare constitutional amendments that will prevent the Constitutional Court from closing down the party, the foreign

MedUnion not against Turkey'

It is very clear that the Mediterranean Union project is not directed against Turkey, the European Commission's

France, again…

Turkey's relationship with France has been under stress for quite some time. The tension became apparent after Nicolas Sarkozy's entry to French political life and has reached a peak during his presidency.

Will Cyprus pay the price for Turkey’s troubles?

Now that the euphoria over the demise of Tassos Papadopoulos' presidency has died down it is becoming clear that even with the new pro-solution Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias in charge there is not going to be a quick solution to the Cyprus issue.

E.U.'s Enlargement Official Blames Terrorist Organization

BRUSSELS - European Union`s enlargement commissioner blamed the terrorist organization PKK for "heightening tensions" ahead of traditional spring festival celebrations in southeast Turkey."

Why there will be no solution in Cyprus

There has emerged an optimistic view in Cyprus -- both in the north and the south -- that the dispute on the island could soon be solved. This optimism is due to the fact that both sides of the island have pro-solution governments at the moment.

The queen and I

"Ha!" I joked. "No one really expects the guests to come in formal dinner jackets to a reception starting at 5:30 in the afternoon…" But the polite silence that greeted me on the other end of the phone suggested that to turn up at a reception aboard the HMS Illustrious in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen with anything less than a black tie and a chest full of medals would be equivalent to wearing velour track bottoms and a "my friend went to İstanbul and all I got was this lousy" T-shirt.

MHP criticizes Queen's reception on aircraft carrier

The leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, yesterday severely criticized Queen Elizabeth II for hosting a reception on board a British aircraft carrier in Istanbul, arguing that this served as a

Debates in the wake of Elizabeth

By NAZLI ILICAK, SABAH

The interest in Queen Elizabeth was strong; some went to the state reception held for her, others decided to pontificate about it and still others adopted specific stances regarding the reception.

Turkey & Armenia: Promise amid discord

D. Nigar GÖKSEL

Scenarios in Ankara, attitudes of US and EU

Cengiz ÇANDAR

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Obama claims new 'milestone' in race

Barack Obama passed a major milestone to move within reach of the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, but rival Hillary Clinton refused to surrender.A split of two nominating

Morning Brief: Obama's milestone

By Joshua Keating

Top Story

Barack Obama won the majority of pledged delegates in last night's primaries, though he lost badly in Kentucky. Hillary Clinton has no plans to drop out of the race before June.

Barack Obama and Turkish foreign policy by EMRE USLU & öNDER AYTAÇ

With his latest victory in Oregon on Tuesday, it became clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States to run against Republican John McCain.

Caribbean Musicians for Barack Obama

By Maximilian Forte

Slowly I have seen the emergence of Caribbean musical tributes to Barack Obama, something one ordinarily does not see happening with US presidential candidates, most of whom I would argue inspire indifference, resignation, or plain hostility in the English-speaking Caribbean which, without a language barrier, and with significant family connections, and blanketed by US media, is directly exposed to US politics.

 

Fernando Botero Opens Abu Ghraib Exhibit at the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno Colombian Painter Fernando Botero attended the inauguration of his exhibit Abu Ghraib - The Circus at the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM). Photo: EFE / Manuel Bruque.

Obama targets McCain, shifts to full US election mode

Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama is bidding this week to reach a symbolically potent milestone in his nominating battle with Hillary Clinton and take the fight to Republican John

Neoconceit and the Iraq Debacle

By now all but the most ardent of Bush administration admirers must face the obvious: the mission in Iraq was never accomplished, only botched. Historians and pundits will devote tomes upon tomes in assessing one of the most egregious blunders in American foreign policy. But it is not that difficult to see how it happened. Take a horrific tragedy (9/11), a convenient scapegoat (Muslim extremists), a personal grudge (Saddam surviving the first Gulf War and bragging about it), ideological nitwits (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, and the list goes on), a bottom line (oil supply), a fear factor (WMDs) and outright lies. Much of the evidence for the Iraq Debacle survives on videotape. Now Christopher Cerf and Victor S. Navasky have documented what the “experts” bungled in their recent Mission Accomplished or How We Won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008).

Funny Friends in the Middle East

By Patricia Lee Sharpe

Who hates us? Who loves us? Who’s an enemy? Who’s an ally? These are important questions, but the people who presume to answer them for us often seem to be more than a little disingenuous—or just plain ignorant—when they try to persuade Americans that we’d be fine if we could shut down the Shia and rely on the Sunni, among whom we have so many staunch friends.

Why She Fights On

By Richard Cohen

The New York Times recently ran down a list of women who might someday become the nation's first female president. Out of both courtesy and caution, it included Hillary Clinton, but the whole point of the exercise was that it is not going to be her. Her campaign is all but over, but that's no longer the point. She's ending it in a way to start all over.

A New Report About the FBI, CIA and Interrogation

A new Justice Department reports faults the CIA's handling of prisoner interrogation

Understanding America

Peter H. Schuck: As in de Tocqueville’s time, American culture, politics, and economics stand apart from the rest of the world. Examining American institutions, public policies and cultural patterns would help the world understand America's exceptionalism compared to other liberal democracies.

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Another season is over in Turkish super league, Beşiktaş leaving us pointless for the future seasons. Whatever the case, I am determined to return and so i will buy the season ticket as soon as it is released. In the mean time, let's enjoy the final today.

I have been passing more and more time in my office and warming up my writing camp here for the summer.  Last night I left here at 11 pm but i guess I will be earlier today.

Atmosphere gains momentum ahead of Moscow final

As the kick-off for the biggest prize in European club football draws nearer, English fans soak up the atmosphere in Moscow

Manchester United, Chelsea well matched in historic Champions League final

Manchester United vs. Chelsea at the Luzhniki Stadium tonight effectively means that the Premier League has come to Russia, the first time two English teams have met in the final of European

Champions League: Great expectations The European final is a historic moment for clubs, players, managers - and football. Let it be remembered for the right reasons.

AP:Terim relies on foreign-based strikers for Turkey's success

By Ahmet Turgut

Turkey's national soccer team coach Fatih Terim talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, May 17, 2008. Turkey is in group A with Portugal, Switzerland and Czech Republic in the Euro2008, European Soccer Championship finals which will take place in Switzerland and Austria in June.
(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

NIHAT IS IN GERMANY CAMP...............

By Ahmet Turgut

This was the third day, in Germany, for Turkish National team and for Fatih Terim...
On a third day, Terim, had his team in full roster...

Euro 2008 targeted by Islamic extremists

According to Swiss police reports, Al-Qaida has threatened to launch attacks on the European football championships due to be held in Austria and Switzerland in June, leading to heightened vigilance by security forces.

Commission to boost football fans' consumer rights

A joint EU-UEFA information campaign and helpline is hoped to help the some 5 million football fans travelling to EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland this summer to enforce their rights regarding air line delays, mobile phone roaming charges, health insurance, car hire or fake tickets.

TURKISH NATIONAL TEAM IN GERMANY...

By Ahmet Turgut

After a five days get together with the family members and relaxation in Antalya ,Turkish National team is in Germany a small town of Marienfeld...

Euro-2008/Turquie - Fatih Terim, “l’empereur”

Agence France Presse

12 mai 2008, Istanbul

Fatih Terim, le sélectionneur de l’équipe de Turquie, surnommé “l’Empereur”, est le plus célèbre des entraîneurs turcs et passe pour un héros auprès d’une partie de la population mordue de football, qui lui pardonne son caractère explosif et ses excès.

Euro-2008/Turquie: Nihat, “vendeur de café” et sauveur

Agence France Presse

12 mai 2008, Istanbul

En marquant contre la Norvège et la Bosnie-Herzégovine lors des deux dernières rencontres des éliminatoires pour l’Euro-2008 de football, l’attaquant turc Nihat Kahveci, dont le nom signifie vendeur de café, a permis à son pays de se qualifier sur le fil.

It is all over!.....Galatasaray clinch 17th Turkish title

By Ahmet Turgut

After the final match of the season, Galatasaray became the champions of Turkish Turkcell Super League with 79 points in 34 games, six points ahead of rivals Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

50th season of the top-flight soccer league in Turkey ended Saturday as Galatasaray and Fenerbahce qualify for next season’s Champions League, third-place Besiktas and Federation Cup winner Kayserispor qualify for the UEFA Cup. There was disappointment for Sivasspor, who came fourth by having same points with Besiktas but less goal average.

Galatasaray clinch 17th Turkish title

my dear blogger friend Ahmet Turgut was ON SPORT RADIO IN ENGLAND

big congratulations!

Kayserispor win Turkey Cup in 28-penalty shootout | Herald Sun

Sporting News: European Soccer: FIFA president Blatter seeks to limit Europe's power

Galatasaray 20th Most Powerful European Team

By Ahmet Turgut

Turkey`s Galatasaray are the 20th most powerful soccer team in Europe, according to a ranking released on Friday.
England`s Manchester United remained atop at the monthly "European Club Power Rankings" prepared by a Canada-based sports network --TNS. Galatasaray made its debut at the ranking.

English fans tackle the logistics of Moscow final

Ever since Chelsea and Manchester United secured their places in the Champions League final in Moscow, fans' minds have been filled with questions about strategy and...

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EU business, farmers criticise new WTO proposals

Despite optimism from World Trade Organisation officials that new negotiating drafts presented on 19 and 20 May will act as a "springboard" towards achieving a global trade pact, the EU and its major trading partners have reacted cautiously.

Think tank warns against EU diplomatic turf wars

The future EU diplomatic service, to be launched with the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, is unlikely to bridge fundamental differences between EU nations when it comes to foreign policy, according to a Swedish think thak.

Parliament backs calls for EU anti-discrimination law

The European Parliament has reminded Commission President José Manuel Barroso of his commitment to put forward a directive outlawing discrimination on a whole range of grounds, including disability, age, religion or belief and sexual orientation, as Brussels finalises preparations for a social policy package to be presented in June.

Spotlight turns to gas in EU energy battle

The battle over energy liberalisation shifted to the gas sector yesterday (19 May) when Parliament's industry committee threw its weight behind France and Germany in their bid to prevent the forced break-up of large integrated gas groups.

Pesticides: EU remains divided on substances

The Slovenian EU Presidency has delayed a key vote on pesticides until June, following a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels yesterday (19 May) that revealed a divergence of views over which substances should be kept off the market.

MAIN FOCUS: Green light for human-animal embryos | 20/05/2008

Following heated debate, the British House of Commons has given the green light for the creation of human-animal embryos. Is this a new "Frankenstein science" or a breakthrough for stem cell research? asks the European press.

Gorbachev suggests there might alternatives to EU

A Eurasian union is a viable alternative to the European Union, said the Soviet Union's last head of state in an interview published yesterday. The USSR's last leader, Mikhail

Britain: Pro-European And Pro-American At Once?

By Sonja Bonin

Gordon Brown’s administration, despite its domestic (foremost economic) troubles, has a great foreign policy opportunity, claims Philip Stephens in the Financial Times:

The next year or so offers Britain the best chance in a generation to get its foreign policy right. Whoever wins the White House, the time has come for Britain to rebalance its European and transatlantic relationships. [...]

British agreement on agency workers raises hopes for EU-wide deal

British Press-Freedom Case Involves Anti-Terrorism Law

By Kevin Sullivan

LONDON, May 20 -- A high-level British court will hear arguments this week in a press-freedom case in which police are attempting to use anti-terrorism laws to force a journalist to turn over notes and other source material.

British-French Defense Cooperation Looks Promising

By Joerg Wolf

European defense has two problems: The defense spending is much lower than in the US. And in addition, the money is not used as efficiently as in the US, because each EU country has its own military with its own equipment. Therefore, I am pleasantly surprised to read in The Sunday Times (HT: Zyme):

The Irish EU Treaty referendum

Irish voters remain divided over whether to support the EU's latest reform treaty in the upcoming referendum on 12 June. Yet the decision of voters in this small country could alone determine the fate of the Lisbon Treaty for the whole of Europe.

Spain's new brand?

A little less macho

PHOTOS of a heavily pregnant defence minister reviewing military troops have been splashed across the Spanish papers for weeks, delivering yet another jolt to traditionalists in a country that has gone through some big adjustments lately. Divorce, gay marriage, now this, the old guard is clucking.

[FOCUS] Energy and Climate

[Comment] The EU still needs UN peacekeepers

Brussels to keep control of 'Mediterranean Union'

Unbalanced engine: Germany's economy is firing on all cylinders – for now

The export powerhouse of Europe is defying forecasts of a slowdown but consumers will have to start spending more if its growth is to be sustained

Europe's green calling: a new raison d'être?

By Ascii on Can Europe save the Earth?

Bruno Turnheim Associate researcher, Institute of European Studies Vrije Universiteit Brussel French-American

The European Union is increasingly active on the international scene in promoting global action against climate change. The necessity for strong leadership in a context of international reluctance is clear.

The reasons for the EU's willingness to engage in a first-mover position with such vehemence are less straightforward. Let us have a closer look at them.

A Transatlantic Energy Security Strategy is Essential

Richard G. Lugar: We must forge a more productive relationship with Russia. The absence of a collective energy security strategy and the lack of supply diversification will lead to greater fragmentation among European nations and across the Atlantic.

MAIN FOCUS: Riots in South Africa | 21/05/2008

In recent days there have been xenophobic attacks against residents from neighbouring countries in the South African city of Johannesburg. The European press looks at the causes and consequences.

Eurovision song contest: chamber of horrors

By Nabeelah Shabbir

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Misunderstanding '68

By Eurozine Review

"Esprit" focuses on "the other '68"; "Merkur" looks back at '68 in amusement; "New Humanist" outstares blind faith; "Blätter" warns of climate wars and market crashes; "The New Presence" takes a dim view of Czech neo-Nazism; "Ord&Bild" works through Nordic colonialism; "Mittelweg 36" debates the terminology of inequality; "dérive" can't see freedom without power; and "Wespennest" writes back from post-crisis Argentina.

found in Sex rule: Use a condom: "For several years the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) makes remarkable Aids prevention campaigns. Typical European with a visual language that is not suitable for all countires in the world.
This years focus is on possible kamasutra situations like holidays and night life. Wherever you go, don’t go without a condom..... 

 

Surprising insights from the social sciences

IFPRI: 'Food crisis not over when prices come down'

While the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) does foresee an end to the current commodity price crisis, it underlines that the consequences will be visible for decades to come as children who have suffered from deficiencies in food, for even a couple of months, will never really recover. Von Braun was speaking to EurActiv in an interview.

From Metrosexual to Retrosexual: The Importance of Shifting Male Gender Roles to Feminism

By Katherine Noel Anderson

The study of gender in feminism should not only concentrate on female gender roles and queer transgressions of established gender roles, but should also include an in-depth discussion on male gender roles as they exist in society. This paper focuses on the metrosexual and the retrosexual trends which have recently affected the male gender role in society.

The re-transnationalization of literary criticism

By Carl Henrik Fredriksson

Critical and public discussion of foreign literature in newspapers and magazines has traditionally served as a source of information and guidance not only for a broad readership, but also for "people in the business", for publishers and authors. When that discussion disappears, or loses its perspectives and becomes one-sided, this has consequences for the literary institution as a whole.

Who Speaks for Islam?

By Ronald Lukens-Bull

Recently, all members of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion received a copy of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed (2007), which is based on Gallup’s World Poll — specifically on polls conducted between 2001-2007 which included tens of thousand of face to face interviews. The authors identify nine counterintuitive discourses that emerged from the poll:

Art education, Science, Technology and Culture collide in a new book from Intellect

By INTELLECT

The future of art and education is evolving, propelling artists into unknown territory in the new media age.

Educating Artists for the Future edited by Mel Alexenberg offers ground-breaking guidelines for higher art-education, focusing on the way that contemporary education must accept and reflect changes in digital and cultural systems.

The Future of the Internet, by Jonathan Zittrain

By Philip Young

The full title of cyberlaw scholar Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It is stencilled across yellow and black warning stripes. The message is clear: something terrible is going to happen - unless...

Toward a More Public Social Science

By Maximilian Forte on SSRC

By SSRC President Craig Calhoun

I want to suggest four crucial ingredients of a more public social science that are not always stressed in such discussions.

1. Engagement with public constituencies must move beyond a dissemination model. It is not enough to say that first scientists will do whatever “pure” research moves them and then, eventually, there will be a process of dissemination, application, and implementation. Writing more clearly is good, but not the whole answer. For one thing, we should be cautious about assuming that social scientists should always write directly for broad publics; this may be more the task of some than others, and raising the standards for how journalists draw on social science may be equally important. As the crises of libraries and university presses reminds us, we have also failed to ask enough questions about what publications deserve public subsidies and which should proceed on market bases. In the process, we have made it hard for both ourselves and especially our nonspecialist readers to identify what is really worthwhile. We also need to bring non-scientific constituencies for scientific knowledge into the conversation earlier. Those who potentially use the results of social science in practical action, and those who mediate between scientists and broader publics, should be engaged as social science agendas are developed. Neither broader dissemination nor better “translation” of social science will be adequate without a range of relationships to other constituencies that build an interest in and readiness to use the products of research.

Remaking Turkey: Globalization, Alternative Modernities, and Democracies

By Reflection Cafe

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in Turkey's ability to create a secular, constitutional democracy within a predominantly Muslim population. Remaking Turkey provides a comprehensive and detailed account of how Turkey has achieved the possibility of modernity and democracy in a Muslim social setting, as well as the important problems and challenges confronting this achievement.

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Twitter’s Crisis: Two Questions

By Dan Gillmor

CNET: Announcing the Totally Unofficial Build a Better Twitter Contest:

ECPA and the value of blogging in Brussels

By fhbrussels

Our lunch event on trade associations and the use of the internet the other week turned out to be interesting for all sorts of reasons. While our own experience on this blog and that of Pat Cleary, our US colleague, was clearly a draw, the real value was the exchange of experience between participants all fighting to persuade internal audiences of the (pretty obvious) merits of online communications in a Brussels public affairs context. Hopefully some more trade association blogs will spring up as a result.

Chief amongst those sharing their experience was perhaps Brussels’ foremost trade association blogger, Helen Dunnett. Helen is the eCommunications Manager (cool title) for the European Crop Protection Association. She writes the association’s blog, which is available on wordpress platform as well as on the blogactiv platform. Happily on the back of our discussions, Helen agreed to answer a few (ok, lots) questions about her experience to share with you all on this blog. Unsurprisingly, she has a lot of interesting insights so we’ve posted her response in full to all our questions.

Why did ECPA decide to start a blog?

New Media Principles — Publius Project

By Dan Gillmor

The “Publius Project” — essays and conversations about constitutional moments on the Net collected by the Berkman Center — has launched. I have an essay there, along with the writings of many other folks.

Some Thoughts on New Media Copyright

By Jolie ODell

Ok, so after posting my bitchy rant about people stealing my videos and watching the fallout, I’ve decided a few things about how Internet friends should use and share content.

First of all, any blogger has to be grateful that her content is compelling enough that others want to share it. It’s awesome to be part of the big conversation known as the Internet, and having a share of that voice is an intensely powerful experience. Life-changing, for many.

Tactic: Keeping demonstrators up to date using Twitter

Description: A German group used the microblogging service Twitter to inform protesters during the traditional May 1 demonstrations in Hamburg, Germany.

Organizer: The Freie Sender Kombinat (FSK), “Free Channels Conglomerate”, a Hamburg-based independent radio station.

Purpose of Action: To inform leftist protesters about the progress of both their own and a neo-nazi counter-demonstration.

Organizing Tools:Twitter, cell phones.

Outcome: About 360 people followed the FSK’s Twitter account and were subsequently informed about the ongoing of both demonstrations, but the organizers failed to study whether their broadcasting had any effect on the protesters’ behavior. Using Twitter instead of regular SMS broadcasting saved the FSK about 650 € (~1000 $) of SMS costs.

Facebook will not remove the 5000 friends limit

By Loïc Le Meur

It was a fake rumor. I just spoke to a friend at Facebook about the 5000 friends limit. He told me it was a fake and they are not going to remove the 5000 friends limit. This was given as an exclusive to Business Week part of an article to be released shortly and I committed I would not disclose his name, but not the news:)

Google may be Yahoo's white knight

Dominant force in market ran trial of its technology on Yahoo's site in the US during takeover talks

The Most Annoying Software Out There

YouTomb Lists YouTube Removals

By Philipp Lenssen

Introduction to Google Search Quality

Posted by Udi Manber,

Search Quality is the name of the team responsible for the ranking of Google search results. Our job is clear: A few hundreds of millions of times a day people will ask Google questions, and within a fraction of a second Google needs to decide which among the billions of pages on the web to show them -- and in what order. Lately, we have been doing other things as well. But more on that later.

The Virtual Campfire: An Ethnography of Online Social Networking [online]

By tunabananas

I've been a bad blogger recently, and hardly a functional human being- this state of total liminality is both extraordinarily liberating and incredibly frustrating. I graduate on Sunday. If you would like to experience the fruits of my yearlong labors, I encourage you to check out the electronic version of my thesis, which I plan to add interactive features to in the future (I'm thinking more along the lines of a wiki than this rather average website). If you do read it, drop me a line and let me know what you think! I'm always eager to hear fresh perspectives and related stories.

Chinese Bloggers Gain Ground Using Blog Technology to Help Preserve Peasant Rights

By Zola

Chinese Interpreter’s note: I have submitted the following blog post on behalf of Digiactive.org’s China correspondent, Zola Zhou. The text from Zola’s original post is displayed in the image below the translation.

After the Reform and Opening policy began to dramatically alter China’s economy at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, the country has undergone an almost unfathomable transformation. One of the most striking areas of change has been in real estate development. Old neighborhoods have been razed to make way for office towers and seemingly endless rows of high rise apartment buildings.

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My blogger friend Hans' last column in Turkish Daily News:  

Turkey: Not a country for old men

Hans A.H.C. de WIT

Politics is all about business and spin; all about negotiation and bargaining. Until, that is, you get what you want. And then you must communicate with other groups, like people who didn't vote for you. So, you act on a fine line of ethics: You are the leader of a political party which won the elections but not the heart, souls and minds of all Turks.

 

Mindset of judge not fond of parties

Party closure has become a general custom of Turkish politics, with 24 political parties having been closed down so far. Two parties are currently facing closure cases: the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which received 47 percent (16.5 million votes) of the vote in the July 22, 2007 elections, and the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which received 4 percent (2 million votes) of the vote in the same elections. The choices of 18.5 million voters are now subject to a political ban.

A dirty war of words

Have you heard the latest story about our prime minister and our chief of General Staff?
According to a columnist who happens to be a former minister of social democrat governments, when Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, the chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), visited Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his İstanbul office last summer, he was blackmailed.

Democratization process parallel to economy

Turkey's integration into the global economy must proceed parallel to its democratization process, said Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, the chairwoman of

Who cares for democracy in Turkey?

The political crisis created by the chief prosecutor's appeal to the Constitutional Court to ban the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) is surely an indication of the unconsolidated character of the democratic regime in Turkey, despite a history of at least 60 years. The crisis has also provided an opportunity to assess who really cares for the consolidation of democracy in Turkey, in both the domestic and international spheres.

Report raises hopes common sense will prevail in scarf case

In a move likely to anger secular circles, a rapporteur to Turkey’s Constitutional Court, Osman Can, who submitted a report to the court last Friday about a case filed by two opposition parties against constitutional amendments removing a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities, said the court should reject the case.

Court Report Says Headscarf Amendment Doesn’t Violate Secularism

By Jenny White

The Constitutional Court rapporteur has recommended the rejection of an appeal by two Turkish opposition parties to annul a constitutional amendment pushed through by the ruling AK Party that would give headscarf-wearing women the right to attend university. The rapporteur’s report is not binding on the court’s decision, but his conclusion that the amendment was procedurally correct and does not violate the principles of secularism is important for another case before the court, that is, the closing of the ruling AK Party, since this amendment on the headscarf is one of the major “crimes against secularism” of which the AKP stands accused.

Fate of the headscarf ban

İlter TÜRKMEN

The American confusion over Turkish politics

Julian CHRYSSAVGIS

Why are the neo-cons so interested in Turkey?

Avni DOĞRU

Erdoğan's 'Otağtepe Criteria' unveiled

Mehmet Ali Birand

Cynics and realists

The bitter truth is that nothing is more harmful to Turkey than Turkey itself. This has been a fact, proven over and over since 1908, a crucial year that saw for the first time the confrontation of the country's elite, either ruling or keen to rule, with Western values for real.

The contradictions of Turkish secularism by Sevgi Akarçeşme

Each time someone even attempts to suggest "redefining" secularism in Turkey, the fundamentalist Jacobins in the country are offended and interpret it as an implied desire to undermine secularism. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's recent statement on secularism in Turkey ignited a new debate.

Lesson on legality

By GÜLAY GÖKTÜRK, BUGÜN

Recently I noticed a news report in a paper saying that education officials are considering the addition of a course in school curricula to raise awareness of the concept of legality among pupils. There is a great deal of ambiguity regarding every aspect of this course.

Why isn't the DTP taken seriously?

By MURAT YETKİN, RADİKAL

The answer is simple: the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) does not take the Democratic Society Party (DTP) seriously because the relationship between the DTP and the PKK -- which, in the conception of DTP parliamentary group chairman Ahmet Türk, shares the same political base as the DTP -- is one-directional.

CHP board member speaks with NGOs

The problems of the Turkish community in Germany need to be addressed by civil society organizations, said a member of the central board

The real reason for irreverence

I'm guessing you have heard about the recent words of Republican People's Party (CHP) Secretary-General Önder Sav. Is it a fitting attitude for a former president of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB) to reply to an 80-year-old man's request to go on Hajj by saying, "Don't give your money to Arabs"?

Normalizing the abnormal

A pernicious sense of normality prevails in Turkey that makes people accept the unacceptable and normalize the abnormal, and it affects us all to a certain degree.

Ahmet Türk and the PKK

By MEHMET METİNER, BUGÜN

"The armed struggle by the PKK is actually harming the Kurds." These are words from the leader of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), Ahmet Türk. But do Türk's words show that the DTP is in the midst of evolving?

Explaining the AK Party closure seems difficult

By SEMİH İDİZ, MİLLİYET

The West seems to be voicing more and more suggestions these days regarding the possible forced closure of the AK Party. It is clear that the subject has become an important part of the agenda when it comes to our relations with both the EU and the US.

May 19, Independence War givens and unknowns

Yesterday was Youth and Sports Day, a holiday marked with nationwide celebrations in Turkey. The date commemorates the anniversary of the day that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, landed in Samsun 89 years ago to launch the national independence struggle.

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Socialists introduce alternatives to the 'Union for the Mediterranean'

Party of European Socialists (PES)has presented a proposal designed to influence preparations in the European Commission for a European Union-Mediterranean summit, to be held in Paris on July

Club Med more dead than before

By Boz

Sarkozy must be beyond frustrated. Besides witnessing his cherished Mediterranean Union undergo a name change and a complete stripping of pretty much any novelty, Le Monde reports that his hope to start off the Union with a two year co-presidency between France and Egypt have now been dashed.

Brussels Studies, the e-journal for academic research on Brussels - NEW: ISSUE 17

 

Karen Meerschaut, Paul De Hert, Serge Gutwirth and Ann Vander Steene

The use of municipal administrative sanctions by the municipalities of Brussels. Is there a need for a regulating role for the Brussels Capital Region?

to the website

straight to the article

Questions about EU enlargement?

Ask Olli Rehn

THE enlargement of the European Union is one of the most challenging issues affecting Europe today. The man at the centre of the debate is Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, whose job it is to work with countries such as Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia as they take steps towards EU membership.

Liberalisation of the EU gas sector

As the EU embarks on a third wave of energy liberalisation, some voices are warning that the gas sector must be treated with extra caution as the current proposals are causing tensions with Europe's largest supplier, Russia.

Bulgaria and Romania face EU sanctions over corruption

European Commission officials are to visit Sofia and Bucharest this week to assess judicial reforms, EurActiv Romania reports. The visit takes place amid mounting pressure in Brussels to invoke so-called "safeguard clauses" against the two countries, which could result in EU funds being slashed.

EU regions ranked on high-tech workforce

EU capital regions in Northern Europe tend to lead the way towards the knowledge-based economy with the highest share of highly qualified workers in science and technology (S&T). At national level, France has the highest proportion of high-tech workers, while Poland's S&T workforce is the Union's youngest, according to the EU statistical office Eurostat.

Rise in EU counterfeit seizures

Counterfeiting is a "growing problem" for Europe, a report finds, as cases of fraudulent goods seized last year soars.

World War IV: Europe on the Front Line

By Sonja Bonin

While Swiss media are reporting Al Qaeda bomb threats during the upcoming EU- soccer championship (taking place in Switzerland and Austria), Eric Grover warns from an Islamic "World War IV" against the West on blogactive:

ALDE greets International day against Homophobia, 17th May 2008

The ALDE group is backing the world day against homophobia (declared by the NGO IDAHO) taking place on the 17th of May every year. ALDE stands for the promotion of equality and of anti-discrimination of LGBT people and has taken a number of important initiatives in the field of human rights both in the European Parliament and outside. ALDE is the only parliamentary group in the European Parliament to have a campaign, "ALDE 4 Equality", to support the participation of MEPs in LGBT rights events and in Gay Prides around Europe.

Biofuels, food and trade top EU-Latin America Summit

European and Latin American leaders pledged to deepen trade ties between their two regions and tackle global warming and poverty at the fifth EU-Latin America-Caribbean Summit in Lima.

Diversity and the European future

By Kushtrim Mehmetaj

European Union is build and continues to progress based on shared values and interests of all member states toward a common vision. No doubt it is a success story of its own. It is very important that countries with different cultures and interests stick together and discuss their common future. Member countries use the diversity to get to know each other much better by communicating and sharing values, habits and other important issues.

MAIN FOCUS: Who is to blame for the food crisis? | 19/05/2008

The ton