In the following text, you will find a huge round up on Turkish society. I highlighted Jenny White’s emphasis on a particular section of Turkish women but there is also stuff on the threat of a new earthquake in Istanbul, Tuzla disasters, Turkish academia and in the mean time Istanbul is burning with heat and humidity. Boy, I am doing my best to ignore the evil weather!
Blue Wall of Silence: Policeman Kills With Impunity
Treatment of Widows and Divorced Women
A large majority in Turkey (70%) perceives discrimination against widows with the largest number (52%) of any of the nations polled saying that they are mistreated a great deal. The same pattern applies to divorced women–72 percent think divorced women are mistreated, with 51 percent saying a great deal. This issue may have gained a greater profile in Turkish society as part of the process of Turkey seeking accession into the European Union. The European Parliament has said that while women have officially had full political rights in Turkey since the 1930s, customary treatment of women in the country’s southeast has varied from the legal ideal. (click for poll results)
Meeting European Mustache Standards
Bus drivers have been forbidden to have mustaches by Metro Tourism, one of Turkey’s biggest transportation companies… Metro Tourism has 7,000 workers and though some of the bus drivers tried to resist the decision, arguing that their wives “would not allow it”, or that they have grown a moustache for 30 years …
The rise of Turkish universities Inc.
Only one-third of Turkey’s foundation universities balance tuition and expenditures per student. Meanwhile, rectors continue to debate the financial structure for Turkey’s version of the private
Four More Deaths and 12 Injured at Shipyards
Like something out of a Charles Dickens novel, deaths are almost a weekly occurrence at Turkey’s shipyards. In the most recent incident, workers were testing the lifeboat of a newly built ship and got into the lifeboat to test it instead of using sandbags. The hawser connecting the boat to the ship broke off and the lifeboat fell, along with the workers in it, killing four and injuring others. 12 other workers were injured on Monday when a lifeboat broke loose from a ship under repair and plunged into the sea. Last week there were more deaths at a different shipyard. More than two dozen workers have died this year at the Tuzla shipyards alone.
[CROSS READER] Officials’ insensitivity toward Tuzla deaths draws criticism
Three workers lost their lives on Monday at a shipyard in İstanbul’s Tuzla district, notorious for work-related accidents and deaths over the past few years. The workers got in a lifeboat to test it instead of using sandbags.
Tuzla murders and ethics
The possibility of work-related accidents exists in almost every sector of business. Undoubtedly, the risk of work accidents is higher in some sectors than others.
Workers die in Tuzla after regulation comes into effect
Three workers died and 13 others were injured in a work related accident yesterday at the Gisan Shipyard in Istanbul’s Tuzla district, Anatolia news agency reported. The number of deaths is four or
TÜSİAD and Tuzla
As recently as last week three died and 12 were injured in a lifeboat being tested at the Tuzla shipyards.
Yet another tragedy
Fire … fell again in the hearts of nine mothers … a landmine planted by separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, terrorists on a road near the Acemoğlu bridge at the Kemah township in the eastern Anatolian city of Erzincan, claimed the life of nine soldiers, including two senior officers. Two soldiers were reported wounded, their condition is not yet known. Terrorists, of course, cannot be expected to abide with conventions and international arrangements against land mines … They are terrorists … Their aim is to stage terrorist acts and terrorize the society. But these land mines are not produced by the terrorists … They are products of some “friendly” and
Recent sources of competitive dynamics in Turkish industry
In my last column I started analyzing the competitive strength of Turkish industries in the recent past. Today I want to continue on the same topic.
Powerful Istanbul quake could kill 90000 – report
A powerful earthquake could kill up to 90,000 people if it struck Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul, which has suffered devastating quakes in the past, a report published by the city’s municipality said on Thursday.
Material damage is estimated to be some $40 billion if there is a quake of 7.7 magnitude, with the rescue operation covering one million people, according to the report produced by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the city council."
Turkish academic receives prestigious grant
Professor Dr. Mete Soner, of Sabancı University, has been awarded the European Research Council’s (ERC) Advanced Grant for Physical Sciences and Engineering based upon his research
Pro-headscarf rectors reach the critical mass
The Supreme Education Board, or YÖK, submitted Wednesday a list for rect
or appointments in newly established universities, which consists primarily of names opposed to the headscarf ban in
Whom to believe?
A group of scientists led by famous geophysicists Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Naci Görür, Celal Şengör and Gülay Altay argue that a 170-kilometer-long fault line under İstanbul will certainly shift one day.
Residents of Istanbul fatalist about the earthquake
A lack of preparation for a possible earthquake reflects the fatalistic attitude of ordinary people nine years after tens of thousands died in a quake in northwestern Turkey. While many continue to
[CROSS READER] Remembering victims of the Marmara earthquake
Sunday was the ninth anniversary of the 1999 Marmara earthquake, which killed 17,000 and left thousands homeless.
Hazelnut train brings hope, misery to seasonal workers
Malatya is famous for its apricots, Gaziantep for its pistachios, Gemlik for olives, Giresun for hazelnuts and Adana for cotton, and all of these crops are picked by seasonal laborers, mainly from eastern and southeastern Anatolia.
Increasing bread prices prompt homemakers to let the dough rise at home
The price of bread has recently increased in Turkey as a result of a decline in wheat and barley production arising from a drought that has afflicted the country for the past several years. In big cities such as İstanbul and Ankara a 300-gram loaf of bread sells for YKr 75-80, up from YKr 50 three months ago. Families on a tight budget have started to feel pressure from price hikes on basic commodities, including bread and milk.
‘Turkish cuisine is not all about recipes, but of traditions too’
Turkey has a very rich and profound food culture, which is not all about recipes. Instead it is a whole consisting of several pieces such as an exclusive table etiquette including serving the elders first, distributing food to the needy at celebrations and feasts and collective work during funerals and death anniversaries, according to expert Tijen İnaltong.
Shopping malls challenging popularity of traditional bazaars
Bazaars, part of the Ottoman legacy, are facing a direct threat posed by the proliferation of large shopping malls.
Stopping Alevi-Sunni tension
Last week, President Abdullah Gül participated in ceremonies held in Hacıbektaş. Everything went well. No one paid attention to a small group that wanted to protest the president’s speech.
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