When we set off for Yerevan on a scheduled midnight Armavia flight this Thursday, we saw something we had not seen since long ago on a flight between İstanbul and Yerevan. Instead of men and women carrying several bags, probably goods to be sold in Armenia, as is customary on these biweekly scheduled fights, there were a number of journalists from the Turkish press.
I thought after yesterday’s speech Mr. Erdoğan would not talk back immediately, and i spent the day out without recognizing today’s speech until the evening. Well, Mr. Erdoğan gives "1 week" to correct the false news disseminated by Doğan group dailies. Mr. Doğan replied back in Kanal D to declare that his media will not be an obedient media in sum. I found Mr. Doğan a little bit scared. But only a little bit. He has a giant media empire, his journalists occupy many Press institutions, his daughter is the head of powerful businessman association, TUSIAD. Although he said last night "all state institutions belong to AKP, they can finish us easily, we know that things do not work like that. A leftist TV channel, Hayat TV was closed nearly all summer and no body could help that but DMG is not a small marginal media group and dynamics of politics is much more complicated. Never politically correct Mr. Erdoğan waited for more than 2 years to attack back, and only after the Constitutional Court case, he felt more secure to start the battle.
Mr. Erdoğan claimed that Mr. Doğan visited him and requested some privileges for the Hilton Hotel site located in near the super valuable Taksim square. (In tonight’s interview at Kanal D, Aydın Doğan said "of course, we always have requests from the government, we do lots of business and we have needs to discuss] When he was rejected, DMG dailies began to attack. DMG is known to request some sort of airwave rights for CNN Turk. That is also refused. After tens of TV channels, anti-trust laws do not allow him for more airwave but Mr. Doğan wants more basically. Anyway, we will see new files to be opened in the next few days. In the mean time, in today’s papers Abdullah Gül’s visit to Armeania and the "battle" news competed in headlines. DMG’s flagship Hürriyet replied back. Milliyet also. [circulation report of dailies are given in the end]
DMG’s newly acquired furiously anti-AKP Vatan columnists charged their weapons like the ones above:
After a corruption case whose details given below, DMG papers and CHP started a new wave of attack against AKP and its leadership. As usual Milliyet leads the accusations. As far as I remember PM Tayyip Erdoğan uttered the name of "Aydın Doğan" for the first time and he accused him of not having moral … Read more
Map showing the Turkish areas that were inhabited by Armenians in 1915. Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has made a historic trip to Armenia to watch a football match and try to tackle decades of animosity between the estranged neighbours.
(AFP Graphic)
President Abdullah Gül is traveling to Armenia for a historic visit; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is off to Syria for Middle East talks; direct negotiations are taking place between leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, and the foreign minister of Turkey’s neighbor and former rival Greece declares herself hopeful that the two sides will eventually reach a settlement; and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently visited Turkey.
Can Soccer Heal Turkey-Armenia Rift? – TIME
Issues dividing Armenia, Turkey
The Ergenekon case is still shaking Turkey. Most recently, the visit paid on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) by Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi to retired generals Şener Eruygur and Hurşit Tolon, who are being held in Kandıra Prison in connection with the case, has added a new dimension to the issue.
Turkey’s national soccer team coach Fatih Terim talks during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. Turkey will play Armenia in a World Cup qualifier in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sept. 6.
(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)
* A Clash song.
Latif Demirci. 2 September 2008 Hürriyet VIA
RT Erdoğan: "you are attending the game in Erivan, ok?
A. Gül: "oh I don’t know. Would that be right?
As President Abdullah Gül continues to consider whether to accept an invitation from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to go to Yerevan to watch a World Cup qualifying game between the national teams of the two countries, debates have intensified over the possible consequences of his Yerevan visit.
Turkey’s new Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, center, is flanked by President Abdullah Gul, right, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, during the Victory Day reception in Ankara, Turkey, late Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. The celebrations marking an 86-year-old victory over Greece which was considered crucial in Turkish Independence War which led to the foundation of modern Turkish republic.
(AP Photo)
Today, telecommunications technology, globalization and increased education have transformed Turkey and provided it a level of transparency, leading many people to not be convinced by demagogic rhetoric.
Turkey is trying to tread a fine line of diplomacy between Russia and the West. As an American ally, Turkey has trained and partially equipped the Georgian armed forces under American guidance that aimed to encircle growing Russian power in the Caucasus.
BY NASUHI GUNGOR
STAR- We should be watching developments in the Caucasus more closely. Yesterday Russia officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in response to requests from the two breakaway Georgian provinces, according to President Dmitry Medvedev. Considering the developments beginning with Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia earlier this month, this latest move might not seem surprising. But in terms of the bigger picture, one can say that through its recognition Russia took a risky step in a thorny area."
Now is the time for Turkey to eliminate obstacles and to continue on its path to European Union accession, said the EU enlargement commissioner in an article he wrote for Turkish daily Milliyet,
Mehmet Ali Birand
Believe it or not, from time to time people actually ask me for my opinion on things, rather than me just spouting out unsolicited words into the electronic ether and hoping that someone may spot them and correct my mistakes.
As such, this evening I’ll be doing the talking head thing on the BBC World Service’s World Have Your Say, trying to come up with a coherent theory about Russia’s current plans and how the rest of the world should respond. (Likely argument? Russia’s being childish and throwing a tantrum, and there’s usually two responses to tantrums: smack them or ignore them. Unfortunately, neither option’s really possible in this case.) Any suggestions much appreciated.
Blogospheres are vibrating in the aftermath of the war in the Caucasus. The need to understand and debate is huge, as spin doctors have been manipulating the news on both sides
Access to YouTube, a popular video sharing Web site banned in early May by a controversial court decision for broadcasting videos deemed insulting to the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was reinstated on Saturday night."
Documents seized in a police raid on the house of an executive of a TV station as part of the ongoing Ergenekon operation have revealed that a secret and illicit military intelligence unit known as JITEM was engaged in several illegal acts, including drug and human smuggling and arms trade with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)….
If things continue like this, Turkey-US relations will have tense moments. Mr. Bidden is good for Mr. Obama but not for Turkey. Or is it really the case?
An anti-Turkish vice president according to Hürriyet. He is known to defend Armenian, Greek, Cyprus lobby theses. But Foreign Policy experts state that Turkey is already changing is foreign policy attitudes and there won’t much new tension btw Turkey and US….
It is impossible to expect that Ankara will welcome Barack Obama’s decision to appoint Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.
Though the Third National Program declared last Monday by government spokesperson and State Minister Cemil Cicek raised hopes among the pro-EU intellectuals of Turkey, many are skeptical about the program’s prospects….
Is the third national program viable?
What will the outcome of the Ergenekon case be? This question alone is sufficient to explain the hopes and worries about the future of Turkey.
The older brother of one of the main suspects in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink was detained by police yesterday. Osman Hayal was detained for being in Istanbul when a teenage nationalist
The lead suspect in the Malatya massacre case denied any connection with retired Maj. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who was arrested in relation to the Ergenekon case, in a trial at Malatya’s Third Court