Main

June 11, 2008

Urgent support needed for Mehmet Bal

Bal, a conscientious objector, is arrested for refusing to return to his unit. He was manhandled in the military detention facility where he spent the night. The Human Rights Association plans to protest the incident.

Bia news servıce

10-06-2008

Mehmet Bal, a conscientious objector, who announced his conscientious objection during his nine and a half month long military service, left his unit, and later acquitted of the accusation of “disobeying orders and alienating people from military service”, was arrested by police at Arnavutköy in İstanbul on Sunday (June 8).

He was taken to the 2nd Motorized Military Police Station Company Command.

Lawyer Gülseren Yoleri, the head of the Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul branch met with Bal after he spent the night in the station and determined that he was manhandled and the guards attempted to wake him up by pouring water over him.....

There will be at 13:00 in front of Galatasaray High School in Istiklal Street today.

June 04, 2008

"Jürgen Habermas spotted in santralistanbul!

Jürgen Habermas spotted in santralistanbul!

(From L to R) David Rasmussen, Murat Borovalı, Benjamin Barber. And Jürgen Habermas is circled by Erkan.

ResetDoc meeting continue in santralistanbul. Here are some fragments of ideas from the panels I have attended...

Monday, June 2, 2008
3.30 p.m. – 6.00 p.m                Lectures 1 and 2
Seyla Benhabib  The Return of Political Theology under Conditions of Globalization
Abdou Filali-Ansary  Playing Politics on the Field of Religion
Chair: Ferda Keskin 


I don't remember by who or how but some reliable intellectuals take the "hidden agenda" idea seriously. As Göle says as a perception this is to be taken seriously though one doesn't believe believe in it. the perception itself is sociological...



Tuesday, June 3, 2008
11.30 a.m. – 1.00  p.m.            Panel 2     
David Rasmussen:   Islam and Democracy
Benjamin Barber:   Can Islam accommodate Democracy, can Democracy accommodate Islam?
Chair: Murat Borovalı

ideas triggered...by no means these are quotations from the speakers. as a notarious conference participant, i take these events for their triggering impact. i have real difficulty to listen to the speakers concentrated so misunderstandings are always possible..

Continue reading ""Jürgen Habermas spotted in santralistanbul!" »

June 02, 2008

Erkan's personal items (!)



I very much enjoy the psychobilly tagged songs in Lastfm. Just had made a CD collection of psychobilly songs (very much thanks to Ceren Mert), so that i can also listen to them out loud in my car.

Another happy moment in recent days was my talk in Dutch Consulate to a group of visiting police officers from Netherlands. I seem to have to done all right in the talk and when I went back there for a cocktail next day with Hans, I seemed to have gotten good feedback about the talk.

The eseminar went well too. It was a relatively lively discussion. You can get all the discussion text soon here.

My application to Encyclopedia Britannica was accepted and for one year I will be able to link Britannica Online articles and when you click on those links, you will be able to read them for free.

A low moment last week was that our lovely fan group Çarşı officially ended its existence. Recently I had reactivated my Beşiktaş blog and you can read the latest developments there and own long portrayal of the end of Çarşı (all in Turkish, sorry). It feels like being an orphan with the official end of Çarşı but it was coming, i had observed it for a long time now...
      Here is some of the related news on Çarşı:


Çarşı puts an end to its 25-year-long story
Turkish Daily News (subscription) - Ankara,Turkey
Turkish football agenda is shaken with the most influential fan group's decision to disband, as Beşiktaş's Çarşı declares it is splitting. ...

Çarşı puts an end to its 25-year-long story

On the 25th year of its birth, Turkey's most organized and influential football fan group, Çarşı of Beşiktaş has disbanded, its leader Alen Markaryan declared Tuesday night. Speaking...

Since the beginning of my new times of anti-socialization, I tend to read a lot and play a lot and watch a lot- how could I live otherwise? Just finished Prof. Featherstone's Consumer Culture and Postmodernism.

For the last edition, Prof. Featherstone added a new preface and a new last chapter. These new additions are quite strong and make the book updated for current debates. One will not find fancy theoretical concepts to focus on but the author emphatically points out a sociological understanding of postmodernism. In that sense, it works. The reader is urged to think about the sociological validity of postmodern theories. Since most of the chapters were written at least 15 years ago, the literature seems to be old but the discussion is still up to date and as i said in the beginning the author informs us about the recent literature on the field in his additions for the last edition...
This week i have an intellectual agenda:
There is a fantastic list of participants in this organization that will last all week:

Check out the program here.

Funny thing is that although this event takes place in our university, those colleagues who are involved in it, did not bother to inform us until last Friday. I take it a typical narrow mindedness of academism. After such pressure, it was announced in our mailings lists. Erkan takes note of this attempt to hiding knowledge.

Finally,
Erkan is planning to do some minor changes in the blog main page but he will announce it anyway.

May 06, 2008

Prof. Hallin at Bilgi!

 live coverage of the conference begins!

Media Clientelism
Lecturer: Daniel C.Hallin
Date: 6 May 2008
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Place: santralistanbul E-3 101 

 

Charactesteristics of media clientelism:

Continue reading "Prof. Hallin at Bilgi!" »

March 21, 2008

It is nevruz time!

It is nevruz time! 

 

Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز, various local pronunciations and spellings) is the traditional new year holiday celebrated in Afghanistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bahrain, Armenia, Georgia, the countries of Central Asia such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, as well as among various other Iranian and Turkic peoples in Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Northwestern China, the Caucasus, the Crimea, and the Balkans.

 But of course, the way it is celebrated in Turkey is problematic:

Newroz as celebrated by Kurds

 

March 11, 2008

News from Bilgi

As part of the new curriculum, Media and Communication Studies senior students are organized as a press agency and work all days of the week in their newsroom and here comes their product: Check out MedyaKronik.

In the mean time, our department's Child Studies Unit updated its website.  

İSTANBUL BİLGİ UNIVERSITY CHILDREN’S STUDIES UNIT

İstanbul Bilgi University Children’s Studies Unit aims at the realisation of children’s rights and the fulfilment of the opportunity for every child to be all she or he can be and carries out research and empowerment based studies to support the relevant stakeholders.

Carrying out all its activities with the active participation of the children, the Unit endeavors to contribute to the policies developed concerning children.

The Target mass of the Children’s studies unit are children aged between 0-18, those organizations working with children and those who contribute to the development of child policies.

Objectives of the Children’s Studies Unit:

 

And i am still working on my presentation:D 

 

February 25, 2008

on February 25

 

on February 25
to the court
for Hrant,
for Justice!

As the victims and watchers
of the Hrant Dink case,
with the wish that yet another one be added
to the developments increasing our hope in recent days,

for Hrant, for Justice
we are meeting
on 25 February 2008 Monday
at 9.30 in the morning
at the Beşiktaş port!

FRIENDS OF HRANT

February 01, 2008

Freedom in the University!

Turkish scholars who are against the dressing code regulations in the campuses sign a collective declaration. Here is the call for signatures text in Turkish and the blog address where you can the list of scholars who signed the declaration.

KAMUOYUNA DUYURU

Merhabalar,
Son günlerde kamuoyunda yeniden tartışılmaya başlanan "üniversitelerde kılık-kıyafet yasağı" konusunda bir grup öğretim üyesi olarak aşağıdaki bildiri metnini imzaya açıyor ve bu konuda desteklerinizi bekliyoruz.
Metnin altına siz de imza atmak istiyorsanız bu maili, "metni imzalıyorum ve katılıyorum" şeklinde -ad, soyad ve mesleki bilgilerinizi de ekleyerek- kısaca cevaplamanız yeterli olacaktır. Ayrıca, ihtiyaç hissedilmesi durumunda, katılımınız için,
shcalis@yahoo.com, universitede_ozgurluk@yahoo.com, dagi@metu.edu.tr e-posta adreslerini de kullanabilir ve " 'Üniversitede Özgürlükler Konusunda Kamuoyuna Duyuru' metnine katılıyorum " notunu ve yine sizi tanımlayan unvan ve kurum bilgilerini bu mail adreslerinden herhangi birine de gönderebilirsiniz.
Katılım belli bir sayıya ulaşınca aşağıdaki metin olduğu gibi kamuoyuna duyurulacaktır. Duyuruyu ve duyuruya katılan öğretim üyelerinin sürekli güncellenecek listesini
adresinden takip edebilirsiniz.
Gösterdiğiniz duyarlılık için teşekkürler...

Şaban Çalış (
shcalis@yahoo.com)
İhsan Dağı (
dagi@metu.edu.tr)


ÜNİVERSİTEDE ÖZGÜRLÜKLER KONUSUNDA KAMUOYUNA DUYURU

"Öğretim üyeleri olarak bizler kılık-kıyafet konusunda yıllardır uygulanan politikaları ve son günlerde yapılan tartışmaları yakından ve kaygıyla takip ediyoruz. Üniversitelerin düşünce, ifade, din ve inanç özgürlükleri ile eğitim ve öğretim gibi en temel insan hakları karşısında yasakçı değil özgürlükçü bir tavır alması gereken kurumlar olduğunu düşünüyoruz.
Üniversitelerimizin çağdaş uygar toplumlara yaraşır biçimde, özgürlüklerle ve bilim üretimiyle anılmasını istiyoruz. İstisnasız her demokratik ülkede olduğu gibi üniversitelerimizde de kılık-kıyafet serbestliğinin; hiçbir din, inanç, düşünce, ırk, grup ve cinsiyet ayrımı yapılmaksızın bütün öğrencilere tanınması gereğine inanıyor; aksi yöndeki tüm düzenleme ve uygulamalara bir an önce son verilmesini talep ediyoruz.
Kamuoyuna saygıyla duyurulur."

January 16, 2008

Get ready for 19 January!

 There will be a couple of activities in the first anniversary of Hrant Dink's murder. the major one will take place in front of Agos weekly where people will gather at 15:00 on Jan 19.

January 15, 2008

Arundhati Roy in Istanbul for Hrant Dink

Boğaziçi University

Department of History
and
Department of Political Science and International Relations

present

2008 Hrant Dink Memorial Lecture

on

Freedom of Expression and Human Rights

Arundhati Roy
Listening to Grasshoppers

January 18, 2008, 15:00, Albert Long Hall (BTS), South Campus

 

The talk will be presented in English

December 12, 2007

The EUROBLOG2008 - Social media and the future of Public Relations

 

Call for Papers

Social media and the future of PR:

New ideas, new research, new business

EUPRERA EuroBlog 2008 Spring Symposium     Brussels, March 13-15, 2008

The EuroBlog surveys of 2006 and 2007 highlighted the ways in which interactive social media technologies – weblogs, podcasts, wikis, social networking and other social softwares and services - were beginning to impact on communication. The Brussels Symposium (March 13-15, 2008) brings together the latest academic thought with leading edge practice from Europe, the USA and elsewhere to draw new theoretical insights and encourage and shape practitioner innovation and implementation. By identifying and presenting examples of best practice, empirical investigation and new concepts for modelling and understanding the rapid changes in relationship management, EuroBlog 2008 will shape the agenda for social media discussion.

Continue reading "The EUROBLOG2008 - Social media and the future of Public Relations" »

November 27, 2007

"Emergency Benefit for Iraqi Refugees

Emergency Benefit for Iraqi Refugees

Photo of children in Basra, Iraq. Jane McBee, 2002

Host: Selma Turgut & Erik Gustafson
Location: World Culture Open Center in Manhattan
19 West 26th St., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010 US
When: Tuesday, December 4, 7:00PM
Phone: 585-520-2135 or 202-397-IRAQ
Cost: $30 minimum/guest required. $100/guest requested.

 RSVP via Evite and secure your spot with a generous donation today.

The evening will feature live Iraqi music by composer Tareq Abboushi & virtuoso oud-player Zafer Tawil, delicious mazza (Middle Eastern appetizers), a silent auction of award-winning photography of Baghdadi street life, and brief presentations by EPIC Director Erik Gustafson; IRC Refugee Advocate Nathaniel Hurd just back from the region; and humanitarian activist Selma Turgut, returning from a fact-finding mission to Jordan and Syria.........

More here.  

November 19, 2007

Child rights day in Istanbul!

Filli%20Logo%20%28son%29.JPG

Newly established Children Studies Unit in Bilgi University (special thanks goes to Şaylan Uran and her lovely team mates) are organizing a workshop tomorrow at SantralIstanbul to celebrate the Child Rights' Day. For more info, here seems to be a good source.

Check out tomorrow's program here.

Continue reading "Child rights day in Istanbul!" »

November 13, 2007

After Zizek conferences

 

Slavoj Žižek was in town last week, and lectured twice in Istanbul Bilgi University. One of my dear friends, Müge Serin provides a well done philosophical critique of these conferences and i provide a brief and more speculative critique just in the following paragraphs.

First of all, a technical detail. Zizek is a great public speaker. His constant use of anecdotes, most of them are not politically correct,  make the audience keep listening. I admired his speech power although I would like to use less sexist language.

At the end of the first conference, my big conclusion was that Zizek does not accept any theoretical novelties after Lenin. In this sense, despite his humourous, sympathetic manner he is a Leninist fundamentalist. His some talk of a pursuit for a new "universality" then is a theoretically very regressive act.  

His derision of political correctness, multiculturalism and post-structuralism ignores all the nuances and hard-won civil rights. His constant tease overlooks the historical struggles and contributions. His constant reactionism to "trendy" issues are not always helful but indeed regressive.

An older note on Zizek's perception of Web 2.0: Erkan cannot help but attack both Slavoj Zizek and Robert Fisk - I

A recent article in the Guardian on Turkey's possible intervention in Northern Iraq again misses Turkey's position although he provides some constructive criticism on war agains terrorism discourse...

And here comes a more substantive commentary by Müge Serin:

 The Most Frequently Used Word by Zizek in Istanbul: "Paradox"

Continue reading "After Zizek conferences" »

October 10, 2007

Islam in Turkey Today conference at Columbia University

   

Islam in Turkey Today

 

A syposium sponsored by

 

Middle East Institute at Columbia University

The Turkish Cultural Center

Institute of Turkish Studies


 

 

 

November 2 & 3 , 2007

 

Venue:

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

420 West 118th Street

Between Amsterdam and Morningside Avenues

 

September 22, 2007

the Constitution committee on air

The committee that prepares the draft of new Turkish constitution will be on air tonight: at 21:45 in Samanyolu Haber TV (Digiturk channel 46) in Yavuz Baydar's ROTA.

You can send questions to +90-216 481 56 56 or rota@samanyoluhaber.tv

 The committee members:

Prof. Dr. Ergun Özbudun, Prof. Dr. Levent Köker, Prof. Dr. Serap Yazıcı, Prof. Dr. Yavuz Atar, Doç. Dr. Zühtü Arslan

September 10, 2007

Towards the end of the conference...

We will conclude the 2007 Film and Media Conference with a coctail in the Swedish Embassy. A group of photos are posted here.  From now on I will post my photo albums on the left hand side. Check out those from time to time:)

September 07, 2007

Conference tomorrow!

 tomorrow at the Dolapdere Campus. Starts early in the morning: 10:00. You are all welcome whenever possible. It will take three days and as an organizing committee member, I will certainly be around....Well, this means confence might disrupt my usual work pattern...

Shifting Landscapes of Film and Media: Questioning Legacies, Navigating Critique

2007 Film and Media Conference

The Conferences official website

July 04, 2007

July 4, 1776

 Wikipedia: ...Independence Day (commonly known as "the Fourth of July","July Fourth", or even simply "The Fourth") is a federal holiday celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain.

Uncle Sam and perhaps a depiction of Thomas Jefferson holding a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

VIA: Fourth of July Postcards

 

June 13, 2007

Rest in Peace dear Prof. Richard Rorty

VIA 

Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 in New York City – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. He was an emeritus professor of comparative literature, and, by courtesy, philosophy at Stanford University. for the Wikipedia bio

From the Telos site:

...In April the American Philosophical Society awarded him the Thomas Jefferson Medal. The prize citation reads: "In recognition of his influential and distinctively American contribution to philosophy and, more widely, to humanistic studies. His work redefined knowledge 'as a matter of conversation and of social practice, rather than as an attempt to mirror nature' and thus redefined philosophy itself as an unending, democratically disciplined, social and cultural activity of inquiry, reflection, and exchange, rather than an activity governed and validated by the concept of objective, extramental truth." ....

i got the sad news from BlogLeft 

Richard Rorty’s legacy by Roger Scruton in Open Democracy

 

[Intute] Tribute to the American Pragmatist Richard Rorty

June 11, 2007

"Cities and Cultural Industries in the 21st Century


Continue reading ""Cities and Cultural Industries in the 21st Century" »

"“New Directions in Turkish Politics.”

The Summer 2007 of the Turkish Studies journal issue is now available. This is a special issue on the theme of “New Directions in Turkish Politics.” Thanks Anna for the reminder. The contents should be seen here but the articles themselves are not online.

June 08, 2007

International Conference: Penal Law and Freedom of Expression in Turkey and EU Countries

International Conference

Freedom of Expression and its Limits

Penal Law and Freedom of Expression in Turkey and EU Countries

Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law

Friedrich-Ebert Foundation Turkey

June, 8 th 2007, Istanbul

Continue reading "International Conference: Penal Law and Freedom of Expression in Turkey and EU Countries" »

May 14, 2007

A tribute conference for Edward W. Said

Waiting for the Barbarians: A Tribute to Edward W. Said





Venue
Albert Long Hall (Assembly Hall)
South Campus
Bogazici University
Bebek, Istanbul
tel. (90) 212 3595400

For the location of Bogazici Main Campus, see:
http://www.boun.edu.tr/map/istanbul_bu_campus_map_eng.html

For the location of South Campus, see:
http://www.boun.edu.tr/map/bu_main_campus_map_eng.html

ALSO another conference:  

Continue reading "A tribute conference for Edward W. Said" »

May 13, 2007

Turkey 4th at the Eurovision Contest

The national tele-voting system explicitly implies international relations and the Eastern European solidarity rules in the contest. The results could be read to demonstrate where Turkey stands. Turkey got the highest votes from the UK, the Netherlands, France and Germany (all 12) and Austria, Denmark, Bosnia, Belgium, Albania, Switzerland and Macedonia (all 10). Finland, Romania, Norway, Georgia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Iceland, Russia votes btw 2-7. The highest votes are the direct result of Turkish citizens' existence in those countries. The strategic target of this year's voting in Turkey's side was Armenia as she got 12 from Turkey whereas Armenia gave 0 to Turkey. With a few exceptions, Turkey does not receive votes from the Eastern European countries...

Kenan Doğulu's Shake it Up Şekerim

Same song with Turkey photos

May 06, 2007

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ANTHROPOLOGY comin' up in Istanbul!

A change of course; here is the news of a upcoming anthropology happening here in Istanbul: 

BOUNDARIES, IMAGES AND CULTURES

RECONSIDERING EUROPEANNESS FROM ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTROPOLOGY ASSOCIATION, TURKEY

  25-27/ 05/ 2007 � İSTANBUL

 

 Ulf Hannerz, Michael Herzfeld, Jenny B. White, David Shankland are some of the attending figures many anthropology grad students know. Bozkurt Güvenç who is probably the most known one of the Turkish anthropology will also attend... Here is the conference site...

May 01, 2007

around 100 demonstrators already arrested by 10.30 am

By 17:00, 695 arrested... 

By 13:30, 600 arrested...
  

Communist Party of Turkey released its photos here.

DJ Nozem: May Day Turkey Blogging

 

Heavy security measures taken against Istanbulites and no demonstrators are let to enter Taksim Square...

BBC: Hundreds detained in Turkey rally

The Guardian: Turkish police break up May Day protest

 

  Via Haberturk.

30 Years Ago in Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey...



 (photo source)

Sinan Ikinci in Turkey’s bloody 1977 May Day still clouded in mystery:


...The Revolutionary Confederation of Labor Unions (DISK) organized a May Day demonstration in Taksim Square in Istanbul. Demonstrators filled the square, and the crowds flowed into the surrounding area. In Besiktas, hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in the early morning hours to march to the rally. By the time DISK General Chairman Kemal Turkler delivered his his May Day speech, all the roads leading into the area were still full of people marching. It was nearly 7 p.m. before the last contingents were able to reach the Taksim area.

The DISK general chairman was about to finish his speech when three gunshots sounded. First there was stillness, and then a deadly pandemonium broke out. The crowd of 500,000 dispersed in panic.

People who had been lying in ambush inside buildings in the vicinity of the meeting area, in the Intercontinental Hotel (now The Marmara Istanbul) and in the Water Authority building, rained bullets down on the crowd with automatic weapons. As the firing spread, armored personnel carriers went into action. Noise bombs and the firing of the automatic weapons suddenly turned the meeting area into a battlefield. Thousands of people lay down where they were, while others running to escape were shoved into corners and crushed by the armored vehicles.

Automatic weapons fire from a white Renault was turned on thousands of people who were fleeing down Kazanci Yokusu, a street that intersects Taksim square. A truck parked in the middle of the narrow street blocked the road. Those who were fleeing were squeezed together, piled up one on top of one another, and a number of them were suffocated or crushed.

.....

The incident has been commemorated on May 1 ever since in Turkey. Since 1977, however, no one has been able to use Taksim Square for a May Day celebration. Never could such a crowd be gathered again, and May 1 was no longer officially recognized as a holiday. After the September 12, 1980 coup, May 1 celebrations were banned for eight years........