Erdoğan seems to have taken a softer stand on the Armenian Genocide issue. As Turkey’s impact on Washington seems to be at a low point, another aggressive statement by Erdoğan would lead to a permanent loss. After all domestic policies he leads, he is definitely not sincere but just a sinister tactician. What surprises audiences is that … Read more
I saw the news that U.S.-based Poynter Institute Launches ?NewsU Turkiye? Program for Journalism with Medya Derneği in Turkey. Their press meeting will be in 2 days. In the old days I had cooperated with Medya Derneği despite his intense affiliations pro-government media circles. However, after Gezi Resistance, I came to conclusion that this association is … Read more
This piece was written more than a month ago for a monthly magazine. For some reasons, maybe because of my sloppy style, it wasn’t published. It still has some validity so here it is: AKP?s Social Media Strategies and Counter-Moves AKP?s Social Media Strategies and Counter-Moves This essay is an attempt to outline … Read more
First of all, I have to strongly declare that as long as elections go through a transparent process and vote counting occurs without a major irregularity, I am ready to accept and congratulate whatever results AKP gets. If the citizens of Turkey predominantly prefer to continue with AKP leadership, I respect this decision. I had … Read more
* ilk bölümde ekonominin belirleyiciliğini vurgulamıştım. belki bu seçimlerde az da olsa etkili olacak bir boyut ise hayat tarzına müdahale konusu olacak. daha önce özellikle CHP?nin vurmaya çalıştığı ama pek de başarılı olamadığı bir alanda- çünkü CHP somut gelişmelerden çok kaygı politikalarına dayanıyordu- kendiliğinden bir başarı gelebilir. AKP iktidarı son yıllarda artık o kadar olağan … Read more
* Son bir yıl içinde epey prim kaybeden siyasilerden biri de Abdullah Gül olsa gerek. Internet Kanunu ve HSYK düzenlemeleriyle safını ilan etmiş oldu. Tabi ki siyaset topyeküncü değil, tarzıyla belki Erdoğan?dan hep farklı bir konumlanma içinde olacak ama daha geniş bir açıdan bu iki yoldaş aynı siyasetin parçaları olmuş oldular. Hatta bazı bakımlardan Abdullah … Read more
Twitter usulü sistematik olmayan bir gözlemler listelemesi: * En çok karşılaştığım durumlardan biri AKP?nin alternatifi olmaması argümanı. Kerhen de olsa bu partiye destek verenler diğer partilerin de farklı olmadığını söylüyor. Özellikle orta yaş grubunda ikna edici bir argüman. Daha gençler ise geçmiş üzerine yapılan kurgularla beslendiğinden yaşadıklarından çok duydukları üzerine aynı söyleme ikna oluyor. * … Read more
Facebook continues to have a negative relationship with activist news service Ötekilerin Postası who provides activist news with a radical left and pro-Kurdish perpestive. Today, it announced from its Twitter account its Facebok page was closed again and it listed the not much reasonable reasons to close down its pages or cases of censorship… Because of … Read more
During the day, Burhan Kuzu, an AKP deputy who happens to be a professor on constitutional law, tweeted that a list that contains around 2 thousand high level bureaucrats’ names have been given to PM Erdoğan. Supposedly these people are followers of Fethullah Gülen and will be eliminated from the state bureaucracy. Mr. Kuzu is … Read more
Fethullah Gülen movement [FGM] is now the biggest school of Islamic circles that follow Said Nursi‘s teachings. FGM was known to support center right parties. With the collapse of center right in Turkey as AKP did rise to power, FGM and AKP allied to challenge their common enemy: Turkish Army. In the mean time, AKP … Read more
Yurttaş Gazeteciliği/ Vatandaş Haberciliği üzerine kafa yorarken elimizdeki çevrimiçi araçlar ve mobil cihazların artmasıyla bir süredir özellikle bizzat habere konu olacak enformasyonu üretebilme çabalarını vurguluyoruz. Birkaç haftadır açıkça süren gerilim ise ortalama vatandaşın bizzat müdahil olabileceği alanlarda sürmüyor. Tabi ki daha az imkanlar olsa da buralardan da enformasyon üretilebilir. Ama sanırım vatandaş gazetecileri bu dönemde … Read more
After Occupy Gezi, there comes the second blow… For the last 4 days, AKP’s plan to eliminate prep schools has been challenged in Twitter not by Gezi protesters but by Fethullah Gülen movement sympathizers. Private prep school network all over Turkey is one of the major recruitment hub for the Gülen movement (Cemaat). As the … Read more
At Star TV news on NSA‘s hack on Google&Yahoo – 11/01/2013 At Deutsche Welle: (11/02/2013) Facebook censorship of Turkish political party and at Ulusal Kanal (10/31/2013) Sosyal medyanın Türk toplumuna etkisi
A recent article in Dutch newspaper accuses the rector of Islamic University of Rotterdam, Ahmet Akgündüz, of spreading intolerance, anti-western beliefs etc. And he is also quoted today in our social media circles of blaming Occupy Gezi activists as “mosque enemies, communist union leaders, pro-Asad people who murders Muslims, Alevites etc.” Before he disappeared from … Read more
A literally crying person might make you think they have such a compassion for all but it seems that most of Turkey’s leaders do that as a political rhetorical weapon and not compassionate at all towards citizens in opposition. I would naively expect much more understanding and compassion for opposing citizens instead of increasing police … Read more