admin, Author at Erkan's Field Diary

HTS people are advised to read The Deceivers

January 11, 2010 by admin

I Hope That The Human Terrain Teams Read The Deceivers by John Masters: An Anthropological Novel

from Ethnography.com by Tony

One of my favorite all-time historical novels is The Deceivers by John Masters. Published in 1952, the protagonist William Savage is an administrator in a remote district for the British East Indian Company. The book is set in 1825. Savage speaks four Indian languages, and has spent 19 years in the colonial service. As a colonial administrator, he is ?the law? in his district. But to do this, he lives in an Indian village, embedded in Indian cultures and languages. No garrisoned ?Forward Operating Base? with a VCR, pool table, video games, or other comforts of home for him!

Turkey is not heading towards civilian fascism…

January 11, 2010January 10, 2010 by admin

As the military tutelage is under heavy assault, another wave of counter-attack comes from the pro-military circles. That definitely does not mean anyone suspecting of a possible civilian fascism era is pro-military. But hegemonic issues are complicated and thus it is hard to detect who is who in these hegemonic struggles. A sincerely concerned columnist’s ideas may easily be manipulated. Like Şerif Mardin’s ideas on “neighborhood pressure” before, some sincere ideas seems to be manipulated these days. My brief ideas for the moment:

1. It is a normalization baby.In many fronts. Turkey’s leadership was so distanced from the ordinary citizens. A total separation of worlds. Now it looks a bit similar. Is this good? I don’t know. But arrogant materially westernized but mentally oriental and distanced Turkish elites are replaced arrogant materially local and mentally local and seemingly less distanced elites.This annoys circles associated with older elites. These maybe sincerely democratic in thought but class counts. Social class reflexes rise unconsciously as the transformation of elites continue…

2. Just having a larger historical perspective: Was there any time in Turkish Republican that is better than now? This strongly worded “civilian fascism” always existed if one has to admit its existence. But there was always a military tutelage to this civilian fascism. (As if military tutelage was possible without civilian backing). Now the latter is gone (I am still not sure about that, too), civilians can enter into intelligible communication about democratization. Now that some parties will not call the Army for help!

Who will stop the Edirne lynchers?

January 10, 2010January 10, 2010 by admin

In the last two weeks, there have been at least three incidents of communal lynching attempts in Turkey. Lynchers are frustrated and but coward people. They act only after they feel they will not be punished. Security forces in these incidents prove the theory that they are late to react… Today same group of lynchers … Read more

“Bono’s filesharing hypocrisy…E-reader market… Nexus and more…

January 9, 2010 by admin

More on Bono’s filesharing hypocrisy: Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

Public Knowledge founder Gigi Sohn tackles Bono’s recent NYT op-ed, in which the rock star suggested we follow China’s lead on net-filtering technology to limit the scourge of file sharing. Ms. Sohn writes: But the most absurd thing about Bono’s endorsement of draconian copyright enforcement is that it undermines just about everything else he professes to stand for. Look at the activities and goals of One, the nonprofit organization Bono co-founded. One is “committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.” It “campaign[s] for better development policies, more effective aid and trade reform. We also support greater democracy, accountability and transparency to ensure policies to beat poverty are implemented effectively.” Among the specific issues One works on are the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDs and malaria, increasing access to quality education and ensuring trade policies that “create economic growth and opportunities for the poorest people.”

Europe’s agenda: Snow

January 8, 2010 by admin

An ambulance man walks away from the fire station in Hartley Wintney, in Hampshire, a village 40 miles west of London. Soldiers helped rescue stranded drivers Wednesday as Britain’s most brutal winter in decades caused chaos for travellers, and bitterly cold temperatures cloaked much of Europe.(AFP/Adrian Dennis)

Read more

“Keeping Turkey out of Europe

January 9, 2010January 8, 2010 by admin

Egemen Bağış, the chief negotiator, talks at Bahçeşehir U today after a protest by a group of leftist anti-EU students…

A positive signal from Germany, a supportive article from the Guardian (Keeping Turkey out of Europe), but a negative sign in Van Rompuy ‘s debut and a group anti-EU college students makes a fuss in Istanbul. A funny intervention by a Bulgarian minister against Turkey who is criticised in the end by his own government… A roundup.

More than 7.5 mln tourists in İstanbul last year…

January 7, 2010 by admin

German Merian magazine has a feature on Istanbul. Nice photos thru Hürriyet.

Eski Kafa: New-Age Old-Fashioned

from Istanbul Eats

Quiet time at Eski Kafa -- photo by Yigal Schleifer
An ironic wink and nudge come with the restaurant name Eski Kafa, which is also a Turkish term for ?old fashioned to the hilt.? This little eatery, with its Zen lodge décor and signage boasting ?all natural? ?organic? and ?without hormones? is also decidedly new age ? to the hilt.

İstanbul hosts 7.5 mln tourists last year
Today’s Zaman
More than 7 million tourists visited İstanbul, the capital of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, last year, according to official figures.

Mala min mala te ye*

January 7, 2010 by admin

* My house is your house

Former DTP Chair Ahmet Türk is having troubles to find a place to rent. After banished from politics by the Constitutional Court, Mr. Türk decided to leave the place he was living because of neighbours and move to a new apartment. Apparently, his contract for the new apartment was cancelled before he could even more there because of a military official living in the same building. In the mean time, a group of intellectuals started a campaign in favor of Mr. Türk. “My house is your house… “

T. Boellstorff: Coming of Age in Second Life

January 6, 2010 by admin

I recently finished reading Tom Boellstorff’s Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. As an anthropologist Prof. Boellstroff added another site to the Archive of anthropology. It surely became a must-read in the growing anthropological literature on cybercultures. My major concern is what he repeatedly insists (also in the quotation … Read more

“‘Wise men’ discuss EU’s 2020 strategy

January 6, 2010 by admin

‘Wise men’ discuss EU’s 2020 strategy

from EurActiv.com

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero hosted a meeting with prominent EU ‘wise men’ in Madrid yesterday (5 January) to discuss Europe’s economic and social strategy for the next decade. EurActiv Spain reports.

Deserved buzz for Flashforward

January 6, 2010January 6, 2010 by admin

Just finished watching the first 10 episodes of Flashforward. A Serial that got quite a buzz around me. Most of the people got an interest in it because of its relatedness (thru producers and casting) to the TV Series Lost. Well, Lost remains to be one of my all time TV series favorite. Flashforward remains … Read more

30 years ago, London Calling appeared!

January 6, 2010 by admin

I have discovered Punk after being a metal fan. The Clash is always there as an idol. As you might guess, I favored Sex Pistols mostly but who can’t respect The Clash? Thirty years ago today, The Clash released the greatest album ever made, London Calling, in the United States. IN 30th anniversary of The … Read more

On conference organizing and more

January 5, 2010 by admin

A nice post on conference organizing, another look at Copenhagen summit and activism, some more interesting posts and images…

Thoughts on conference organizing

from Culture Matters by gregdowney

There have been a couple of interesting posts I?ve run across in my attempts to find out what happened at the 2009 AAA conference (see especially Lorenz?s run-down at antropologi.info). These discussions of conferences in general have encouraged me to write something about my own experiences organizing and attending conferences over the past year (see also, Lorenz?s What?s the point of anthropology conferences?, Kerim?s What?s Your Favorite Anthropology Conference? and Strong?s How to attend a conference in a couple hours). I thought I?d add a different perspective; that of the amateur, I?ll-never-do-it-again (dis-)organizer.

Oh boy, so JİTEM never existed…

January 5, 2010January 4, 2010 by admin

Turkish army continues embarrass itself. In a recent official statement they denied the existence of JİTEM. This intelligence unit formed within Turkish Gendarmerie had been effectively used in fight against PKK and notarious with illegal practices… Any suprise? Today, Star daily published some photos and documents about the existence of this intelligence unit…

A rotten year for the military

by ÖMER TAŞPINAR

Not surprisingly, as far as Western coverage of Turkish politics goes, it was once again The Economist that offered the most convincing verdict on how 2009 will be remembered in Turkey. Here is the opening salvo from last week?s article: ?It has been a rotten year for Turkey?s generals.,

General Staff statement lacks credibility

by FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK

The General Staff continues to draw criticism for a statement it made regarding the apprehension of seven military officers who were caught tailing Kadir Kayan, a judge at the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court.

Numerous military documents prove JİTEM’s existence
Today’s Zaman
JİTEM is also thought to be an instrumental arm of the terrorist Ergenekon organization, which is charged with plotting against the government.

HTS people are advised to read The Deceivers

I Hope That The Human Terrain Teams Read The Deceivers by John Masters: An Anthropological Novel

Like this:

Turkey is not heading towards civilian fascism…

Like this:

Who will stop the Edirne lynchers?

Like this:

Europe’s agenda: Snow

Like this:

“Keeping Turkey out of Europe

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More than 7.5 mln tourists in İstanbul last year…

Eski Kafa: New-Age Old-Fashioned

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Mala min mala te ye*

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T. Boellstorff: Coming of Age in Second Life

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“‘Wise men’ discuss EU’s 2020 strategy

‘Wise men’ discuss EU’s 2020 strategy

Like this:

Deserved buzz for Flashforward

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30 years ago, London Calling appeared!

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On conference organizing and more

Thoughts on conference organizing

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Oh boy, so JİTEM never existed…

A rotten year for the military

General Staff statement lacks credibility

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