Turkish economy

Some stats: 26,000 Women Exposed to Violence in First Half of 2011, Protecting the environment is low priority for Turks and more…

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Significant amounts of wastewater in Turkey are discharged into the environment without being treated. Wastewater treatment plants in 15 towns will help reverse this. via 26,000 Women Exposed to Violence in First Half of 2011 from Bianet :: English According to official numbers of the Provincial Police Directorates and prosecutor offices, about 26,000 women became … Read more

A Financial Times piece on “Turkey’s contemporary art scene

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Turkey’s contemporary art scene Financial Times Galvanised by the Istanbul Biennial, which kicked off in 1987, the city has witnessed an explosion of commercial galleries ? there are now more than 200 Taner Ceylan?s ?1881? Turkey Becomes 15th Biggest Economy in the World in National Income From U.S.A.K. Blog by USAK Thursday, 25 November 2010 Journal of … Read more

Labor movement in Turkey: Special issue of European Journal of Turkish Studies

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Labor movement in Turkey from European Journal of Turkish Studies (Re)Considering the Labor Movement in Turkey [Full text] Brian Mello Turkey?s accession to the European Union and the Turkish Labor Movement [Full text] Kaan Agartan When Neoliberalism Confronts the Moral Economy of Workers: The Final Spring of Turkish Labor Unions [Full text] Mustafa G. Dogan … Read more

Historic service at Akdamar

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First ceremony in Surp Haç after 95 years from Hurriyet Dailynews Sorrow marked Sunday’s historic ceremony at Surp Haç Church in Van, as the cross which was set to be placed atop the dome of the church before the service had not yet been erected. (Photo: The Church of the Holy Cross, an Armenian church … Read more

More pain for the old regime supporters: Turkey Posts Double-Digit GDP Growth

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Turkey Posts Double-Digit GDP Growth – WSJ.com BY JOE PARKINSON ISTANBUL?Turkey’s economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 10.3% in the second quarter, underlining a rapid recovery that economists say will also get a boost from Turks’ firm support for government-backed constitutional reforms.” New Turkish judiciary set for changes within 30 days from Hurriyet Dailynews The immediate … Read more

Helene Flautre describes How the EU Has Impeded Judicial Reform in Turkey…

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Helene Flautre: How the EU Has Impeded Judicial Reform from Turkish Politics in Action by Ragan Updegraff Helen Flautre, Co-Chairwoman of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Assessing the status of accession negotiations in an op/ed published in Today’s Zaman, Helene Flautre strongly criticizes the European Council’s failure to release the results of the European Commission’s … Read more

2 million workers are expected to strike today. Strike diary will be updated all day

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Honestly, it will surprise me if the strike succeeds. I will keep an eye on what happens today. update: 6 Feb 2010. It seemed that the general strike did not really work. Worker actions remained low profile… Petrolİş started a unionisation campaign here. What we accomplished with ?Tekel resistance? by ORAL ÇALIŞLAR – RADİKAL The … Read more

AKP’s class war?

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Here comes my second most intense critic of AKP government. (here is the first one back in October 2008)

Foto: Kiralık İşçi Yasası yeniden Meclis'te
Things have changed. Now AKP has become a center-right wing party riding on wild capitalism. Although it sounds like a cliché, this is exactly what is happening. Recently, PM. Erdoğan attended a mall’s opening ceremony (why does a PM attend a mall opening is another question) and declared that “grocery stores are passé. Now it is the time of malls. Grocery store owners have to unite to survive”, something like that… I wonder if AKP leadership is doing any calculations on class politics. With all commercial-legal regulations AKP government is playing against small-scale businesses. They were never good at with workers and now they also abandon those businesses. Is this a rational calculation? I have heard more and more complaints from ordinary people who voted for AKP. Macro-economic developments might be doing all right but micro-economic woes grow. I do not believe AKP can still win with playing cultural and political politics. Yesterday, PM Erdoğan was lamenting: Youth memorize the top song lists in Western countries but do not know our cultural values, stuff. I do not belive this cultural populism will always work…

There has been a worker strike which had gained momentum and gradually media coverage: TEKEL has been privatized and the new owner will probably fire most of the workers. Workers will get compensation but most want to continue to work and they strike. It is not a new story and not always workers are right and TEKEL workers’ action is partially manipulated by anti-AKP circles. However, there is a pattern of AKP’s anti-labor politics. AKP is just too pro-corporate. I am not even anti-capitalist but this level of pro-corporate politics will turn masses against AKP and its possible democratisation moves…

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We want it all: Turkey will ask for the return of the bones of Saint Nicholas..

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Turkey to become 16th Largest World Economy in 2014 from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M Mavi Boncuk| Turkey was the 8th fastest growing economy during 1994-2009 time frame at an average annual rate of 6.2% and Real GDP growth was 250% and will make Turkey the 16th Largest World Economy by 2014 with 1.13 trillion dollar … Read more

Finally an official EU center in Istanbul, Fitch increases Turkey's ratings, Dutch MPs cancel trip

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The new EU Center in Beşiktaş. DHA photo
The new EU Center in Beşiktaş. DHA photo.
The EU Center will be jointly facilitated by the Turkish Ministry of State?s EU General Secretariat and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality?s EU Affairs Department. VIA

jennywhiteistanbulmetrotaksim2.jpg

Istanbul Metro Station, Taksim: Turkish Conquest of Constantinople. Photo by Jenny White

(click here for the full NY Times article). FOUND IN: Ottomania: The Empire Strikes Back
Dutch MPs cancel trip to Turkey | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Disappointment in Turkey over cancelled trip

Turkish MPs are disappointed the Dutch parliament has cancelled a fact-finding mission about the country’s wishes to join the European Union, the NRC reports on Thursday.

Wilders and Turkey?s anti-democratization camp

by KLAUS JURGENS

Foresight analysis measures the potential impacts of foreign and domestic policy actions. For the purpose of writing this column I have chosen a number of Dutch and Turkish actors as part of a simulation exercise, and without meaning it to be derogatory in any way, have put them into a grid system of four adjacent boxes.

BB+ for Turkey

from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M

ASSETS
* Thanks to economic growth and tight fiscal policy, since the 2001 financial crisis, public sector debt has come down to manageable levels..
* Reforms and restructuring have strengthened the banking sector.
* Economic growth rests on more solid foundations, driven by a dynamic private sector, productivity gains, and higher value-added production.
* The prospect of economic convergence with the European Union, demographic dynamism, and the country’s pivotal regional position tend to enhance the Turkish market’s attractiveness.
WEAKNESSES
* With its extensive external financing needs, the highest of all emerging countries, Turkey remains very dependent on capital markets.
* The sharp rise of foreign currency debt in the private sector has increased its exposure to exchange rate risk.
* The antagonism between the government and militant Kemalists remains a recurring source of instability.

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"What does the military?s surprise visit mean?

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What does the military’s surprise visit mean? by İRFAN YILDIRIM

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.

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Good news in Turkish foreign policy decisions, Armenia, Cyprus

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Turkey's national soccer team coach Fatih Terim talks during ...

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)

 

President Abdullah Gül decided to attend the national game in Erivan this Saturday. On the other hand, negotiations re-started in Cyprus. This time more optimism than ever….There may not be substantive developments in near future but symbolically these are giant steps…

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"Treatment of Widows and Divorced Women

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In the following text, you will find a huge round up on Turkish society. I highlighted Jenny White’s emphasis on a particular section of Turkish women but there is also stuff on the threat of a new earthquake in Istanbul, Tuzla disasters, Turkish academia and in the mean time Istanbul is burning with heat and humidity. Boy, I am doing my best to ignore the evil weather!

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