A single case of social consensus:

Lifting the veil on child abuse

State Minister Nimet Çubukçu should be commended for reacting quickly to the unexpected release, pending trial, of child abuse suspect Hüseyin Üzmez.

Üzmez went to trial and was found guilty

Mehmet Ali Birand

That in which Üzmez trusts

By YILDIRIM TÜRKER

The face of the entire society is contorted in disgust. As one, we are all watching the "heroic rapist" performance by Vakit newspaper writer Hüseyin Üzmez.

Many older but notable features on Turkish society: 

THE COST OF LIFE IN ISTANBUL

By Ozi

Autumn in İstanbul….. In those days the weather is too much changeable in İstanbul but generally is hot..

After a difficult and long lectures in school I am Taksim. ‘Taksim’ is mean water-distribution center, which was used by Sultan Mahmut I in 1732.Its in area which is most beautiful, most crowded place where different kind of people in it.

American girls have boyfriends; Turkish girls have fiancés

I often wonder how my mother managed to successfully raise three boys and two girls back in the 1950s and 1960s. It seems it would be an even more daunting challenge now. Although single-parenting is more common now, the task is hard. All responsible parents want to support their children, but they often don’t know how.

Human rights luxury for mentally disabled in Turkey: survey

Despite positive developments, Turkey’s mental hospitals and rehabilitation centers still fail to meet international human rights standards, a new study has revealed. According to the survey, conducted

First woman on banknote ‘snub’ to secular Turkey | World news | The Guardian

Turkey’s central bank has been criticised by secularists for choosing a previously obscure Ottoman writer as the first woman to adorn the country’s bank notes."

Male theologians to be briefed on menstruation

The all-male executive board of the country’s top religious body will meet with gynecologists in the coming days to discuss female menstruation. The Religious Affairs Directorate’s Higher Committee of

Results of 2007 Survey on Religious and Secular Attitudes

By Gyro

Here are some results of a survey conducted by Prof. Yılmaz Esmer of Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi on August 18, 2007 and co-sponsored by daily Milliyet. The answers were grouped in terms of the political preference of the subjects; those that vote for the ruling pro-Islamic AKP; ultra-nationalist MHP which is indistinguishable these days from AKP on many social issues; and the social-democrat

TURKISH AND KURDISH YOUTHS CLASH IN WESTERN TURKEY – Eurasia Daily Monitor

[Thanks God, only in a small town and it was a temporary situation due to a specific quarrel]

By Gareth Jenkins

On September 30 simmering ethnic tensions between Turks and Kurds in the town of Altinova in the western province of Balikesir erupted into violence as stores, automobiles, homes, and workplaces belonging to ethnic Kurds were attacked after a Kurdish youth drove a truck into a group of ethnic Turks, killing two and seriously injuring six others."

Is Ramadan turning into Christmas?

During the holy month of Ramadan, municipalities compete with each other with festivals and events organized. Almost all hotels and restaurants come up with “iftar” menus. Shopping centers celebrate

A Bayram morning

Today I want to re-publish a slightly revised article that I wrote earlier about my feelings as a young boy, over 40 plus years ago, about the religious holidays. *** Waking up early in the morning and attending the Bayram prayer at the small village mosque together with the elders was something I very much aspired to when I was a small kid. Was I a religious boy? It probably had more to do with communal psychology. Those were difficult times during which the only toys we had were wooden rifles. A community, smaller in size in a bicommunal state that faces constant threats, humiliation and oppression, unavoidably develops an inward looking character and strengthens solidarity amongst its

Turks have no friends but Turks

CÜNEYT ÜLSEVER