erkan

Here Comes the Pain- Part II. Former military chiefs are questioned Today

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Oh God, even an ordinary sergeant feels and acts like a God in the barracks and now I wonder what these Chiefs feel. Falling from heaven? While Western accomplices like Gareth Jenkins (a great critique of Mr. Jenkins’ report –Between Fact And Fantasy:- that questions the Ergenekon Trial can be found here in Turkish) works hard to spread pro-Ergenekon viewpoints abroad, judiciary process continues and today we reach another top point:

Oramiral Özden ÖrnekOrgeneral Aytaç YalmanOrgeneral İbrahim Fırtına

Questioning of former military chiefs in Ergenekon trial begins

Hurriyet Daily News
The accusation said no hard evidence has been found to directly link the top commanders to the Ergenekon gang, but the coup journals show that the

Turkey braces for commander’s testimony in plot probe (AlertNet)

Source: Reuters By Thomas Grove ISTANBUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Three retired military commanders were expected to testify this weekend at an in-camera investigation into a plot to overthrow Turkey’s Islamist-inspired

there is too much pain for the Ergenekon gang. Arbitrarily I named part I here:) A huge roundup follows:

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Anthropology and the Individual (A Material Culture Perspective)

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In announcing this newly published volume,  Anthropology and the Individual, edited by one of the prolific anthropologists, Daniel Miller, I would like to congratulate a friend of mine, Magda Craciun who has just received her PhD degree! Dr. Craciun conducted her fieldwork in Istanbul among fake brand clothing producers and she contributed a chapter based on her fieldwork to this volume. Here is the table of contents:

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Introducing Turkish Cybersphere (1)

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I have been saving material about Turkish websites or blogs or e-discussions for a while. Let me offer them to my readers. This is by no means a comprehensive list. But of course I will do my best to find whatever I can find.

As I have recently noted, Turks like to have good productive discussions in Friendfeed. In one of the most recent one, people discuss Google Public DNS. (In Turkish)

Mavi Boncuk offered us 10 Best Blogs from Turkey. I don’t know what criteria they used but some deserve to be in the best list for sure. These are all in Turkish:

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"Scandal at WAN-IFRA / WEF Congress

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Doğan Media Group (DMG), who is involved in WAN-IFRA leadership, shaped the meeting report concerning Turkey. Basically, by accomplicing this notarious, tax evading Media Conglomeration, WAN-IFRA loses its credibility… DMG brought the war to a new front, like some pro-Establishment people bringing the war against the civilian government in credible Western media organizations…

Scandal at WAN-IFRA / WEF Congress in Hyderabad

by YAVUZ BAYDAR

Hyderabad — I spent the last three days in Hyderabad, India, trying to talk some sense into the entire leadership of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA) and World Editors Forum (WEF).

Dogan Media Group Has No Right to Speak About Media Freedom in Turkey

By Fatih ALTAYLI

Dogan Group newspapers reported the WAN?s and IFRA?s harsh critics about media freedom in Turkey. I have no objection about the statement of the WAN and the IFRA.”

What is (not) freedom of the press?

by BÜLENT KENEŞ

Hyderabad ? The Hürriyet newspaper?s chief columnist, Oktay Ekşi, who is adept in creating appellations for people whose ideas he does not like, described a group of journalists, including me, as ?virtue fighters? in his column yesterday.

Three Turkish Media Groups Attack WAN-IFRA Report Slamming Government Pressure, Particularly The Massive Dogan Fine

Where do WAN-IFRA and Doğan group stand vis-à-vis freedom of the press?

by BÜLENT KENEŞ

Hyderabad — Consider a media group that controls about 60 percent of the media sector in a country and that categorically sides with militaristic and antidemocratic practices with its publications and broadcasts

Doğan group?s India attack

by ABDULHAMİT BİLİCİ
HYDERABAD — It is very interesting to talk about postmodern topics such as the future of newspapers and Internet media in a secluded part of a city that has witnessed the most colorful and mysterious events in history.

other journalism news:

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Late night Google Wave wavings

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Google Wave has some potential for group debates. Still there is much to discover and there is much to be done by Google. But I feel like, as a group of friends tonight, we have had a good conversational space there for the first time.  In the mean time, we are not only ones to fantasize, here Turkish government has its own version of fantasy:

Turkey?s state Telecommunications authority asks Youtube to create Turkish version: ?Turkeys telecommunications authority has reportedly asked famous video-sharing website Youtube to launch its Turkish version to be unblocked in the country.?

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Minaret referendum updates

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last updated: 4 Dec 2009- 14:00

One year later:

minare

via

Vatan daily calls Sarkozy a fascist after his support for the minaret ban in Switzerland

Turkey joins Swiss minaret row – Religion : news, world | euronews

Bağış asks Muslims to abandon Swiss banks – Hurriyet

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First days of AAA meetings. Live coverage at Twitter (#AAA09)

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I haven’t been to AAA meetings for three years now but I will probably return next year. But I feel like I will get quite a coverage as anthropologist certainly discover new media…

Annual Meeting Bloggers & Tweeters:

The following twitterers and bloggers will be covering the upcoming AAA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Visit their feeds to receive up-to-date information about events, sessions, exhibits, etc.

Tweeters (#AAA09)

Blogs

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Wednesday evening habitus post

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I am auditing our Media MA course on research methodologies at the back seat, participating sometimes, losing myself in the web or thoughts in other times. My friends wait me for a card-playing session and I have half an hour more to go. It is not necessary to be here in the class, but i actually like it to audit. Nice theoretical discussion, a nice group of students and Halil hoca is a playful lecturer.

For more than 10 days, I have the hype mode but sometimes I fell hard like this afternoon. Now I recover again. Too much work to do but in general I am productice. I am getting back at my usual reading pace, working on some vital issues like necessary documentation to become an Assistant Professor. Anyway, still good news from Beşiktaş follow and a bunch of unrelated stuff I have come accros to towards the end of this post….

Fuck You SIDA!

Aids awareness campaign from Barcelona Spain with a very obvious but also very strong tagline ?Fuck You SIDA? (Fuck You Aids).
The organisation Federació d?Associacions Coordinadora Gai-Lesbiana says: Hate this disease and fight it with the use of condoms.FOUND IN Fuck You SIDA!

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Another spring day in Istanbul in the middle of winter

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I took these photos a few days ago when Istanbul was still under fog but spring like days continue and today is not an exception (for spring days but not for foggy days). My god, spring days bring such a pressure of unrealized potentialities and I better sit indoors and wait for the end of these beautiful days. Today is not different. Trying to have a super productive day at the office now while -still- I cannot help having some self-pity. I now start a new category: Istanbul news. A news round in chaotic bundle follows…

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Swiss minaret crisis. Less reaction than expected?

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Maybe because I was busy with my all daily stuff, I missed it, but in classes and in corridor talks Swiss minaret referendum was not in the agenda at all. Students made fun of Switzerland mostly in passing. It is portrayed as a parochial country (!) in the middle of Europe. Many columnists added the case as another case of growing intolerance in Europe; Erdoğan gave the expected reaction and Egemen Bağış, our chief EU negotiator made my day: He used the issue for pragmatic purposes. “Rich Muslims should transfer their money from Swiss banks to Turkish banks who are ready for investment.

Conflict over mosques in Europe – Policy issues and trends by Stefano Allievi

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers ...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Erdogan criticized a ban on the building of new minarets in Switzerland. A Swiss ban on minarets could violate fundamental liberties, Europe’s top human-rights watchdog said Monday in an indication that the heavily criticized vote could be overturned. The referendum was approved by 57.5 percent of the population Sunday, forcing the government to declare illegal the building of any new minarets in Switzerland.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Muslim Reactions to Swiss Vote: Turkey’s Erdogan Says Minaret Ban is Sign of Fascism – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International

Turkey angry over Swiss ban on minarets – The National Newspaper

Mosques in Switzerland, churches in Turkey

by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ

This last referendum in Switzerland on the banning of minarets was inherently racist, and its result is quite humiliating for both the Swiss people and Muslims living there.

Minaret controversy in Switzerland – Wikipedia

As of the date of the vote, there were four minarets in Switzerland, attached to mosques in ….. Swiss voters back ban on minarets in referendum Reuters, …

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Newsweek finally does some journalistic work on Turkey…

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Newsweek seems to have stepped aside for the moment from what I would call Çağaptay effect. For a few years, Mr. Çağaptay with his secularist-Kemalist crusader ideology seemed to have dominated Newsweek’s look at Turkish politics. Now there appear two articles that discuss Turkey’s new foreign policy and its architect, Ahmet Davutoğlu. Finally, an innovative work…

Burhan Ozbilici / AP
Parliamentary Briefing: Davutoglu addresses lawmakers on plans to improve Turkey’s relations with Armenia and
Azerbaijan.

Meet the Man Shaping Turkey’s New Diplomacy

What you need to know about the person shaping Turkey’s muscular new foreign policy.

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"EU's Lisbon Treaty comes into force

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EU’s Lisbon Treaty comes into force

and more from the European agenda…

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While Turkish authorities attempt to increase control on Internet, they will face European court on YouTube ban!

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Someone should advise the government about the nature of web. In fact, the ruling party invests more on the web campaigns than all other ones. But in case of governmentality issues related to web, I haven’t seen any innovative ideas so far… Despite AKP’s great attempts on democratization, nothing happens on the Web scene. Unfortunately, it is quiet conservative when it comes to Web.

There have recently been two news about what Turkish authorities are up to: to create a Google rival and to start an email surveillance from the birth (all news below). While they play with these idiotic plans, a group of Turkish internet users had a creative idea and decided to take to YouTube ban to ECHR. Congratulations! I will try to get news about those users soon.

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Twitter hashtag #AAA09 for AAA meetings…

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Twitterers can use hashtag #AAA09

Blogging or Tweeting the AAA Annual Meeting?

from American Anthropological Association by Brian

If you plan on blogging or tweeting the upcoming AAA annual meeting in Philadelphia, please email Brian Estes (bestes AT aaanet DOT org) with your name (optional) and a link to your site or twitter feed. In the interest of providing the most comprehensive meeting coverage possible?particularly for those who are unable to attend?we would be happy to link to your content, including session write-ups, event photos and more.Twitterers can use hashtag #AAA09 when posting meeting related content.

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New book: The Anthropology of News and Journalism: Global Perspectives

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Such a nice volume on the The Anthropology of News and Journalism has recently been released. Contributors are great scholars from the area of media anthropology. I could not get it yet, but it is in my immediate reading list ,of course…