Turkish judiciary

"Our generals? selectivity of security threats

by
Turkey's new Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, center, is flanked ...

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)

 

Our generals used an updated terminology in which even Habermas was quoted but continued to maintain 1930s rhetoric.  What I feel is that those anti-postmodernist, pro-status quo Turkish scholars might now be providing service to our generals. Better than nothing (!)

Some journalists like Ruşen Çakır read between the lines and provide a more positive outlook. But of course Mr. Çakır has shown signs of anti-Ergenekon case during summer. So it is your choice. I still liked some of his commentaries in NTV and I believe at the least the Chief of Staff- though classified as an hawk- will prefer not to explicitly intervene in politics.

 As I noted before, I believe, as long as civil political authority is powerful, whatever rhetoric the military has, politics will be not be interfered…

Our generals’ selectivity of security threats

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.

Read more

"Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia

by

Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia

By nosemonkey

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.

The Caucasus war viewed through Europe’s blogs

By Ole Skambraks

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

NEXT NEWS IS WRONG. YOUTUBE STATED TODAY THAT THE BAN CONTINUES; Erkan now believes only a YouTube generation can save Turkey. So far, I haven’t heard a single person who defends the ban. Only after the system does not support any more those unique cases who goes to court for a ban and of course those backward-minded judges who support the unique cases…As you can see if these were particular, exceptional cases there would not be a ban. There is something more systemic.

 

YouTube returns after three-month ban

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."

Read more

JITEM Linked To Human and Arms Trafficking…

by

Ergenekon divides Kurdish politicans, too.

Ergenekon Investigation: Military Unit Linked To Human and Arms Trafficking

By Jenny White on Jitem

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)….

Read more

"Ergenekon: worries and hopes

by

 last week something like a minor judiciary coup happened within judiciary circles. I realize today that I have not emphasized that enough. A prosecutor from Ankara ordered the search of Ergenekon’s Istanbul based prosecutor’s headquarters. The claim was that Ankara prosecutor believed there was illegal phone listening happening in Istanbul prosecutor’s office. So  like an ambush, some officials visited the Istanbul office, then began to  have a look who was being listened.  This is a giant scandal. Some officials were found to be listing those who was being listened. This is a scandal. This is a judiciary intervention to an ongoing trial by another section of Turkish judiciary. I hear that some bureaucrats in Ankara are very anxious because of the Ergenekon trial.

I hear that there are already new ‘understandings’ after the AKP closure case.  One shouldn’t be very hopeful any more (!).

Ergenekon: worries and hopes

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.

Elder brother caught in Dink case

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

Ergenekon questions in Malatya massacre case

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

Read more

"853 Websites Banned in Turkey

by

FT.com / World – Turkish bloggers censure the censors

By Alex Barker in Ankara and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York

Turkish bloggers are closing their websites to protest against courts banning dozens of mainstream sites for carrying content deemed “immoral” or insulting to Turkey’s founding father."

853 Websites Banned in Turkey

By Jenny White

There are currently 853 Web sites banned in Turkey, including video-sharing site YouTube and dailymotion.com, placing Turkey in the league of countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, famous for restricting freedom of speech.

Web sites are most often banned on grounds that they insult the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, contain vulgarity, enable gambling or promote suicide. Many sites have also been banned for crimes covered under the Internet Security Law. But a number of sites are banned for no apparent reason. The latest Web site to be banned was gundemonline.com, which was blocked by Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court without any justification. VIA

Read more

"What did you do for the EU today?

by

This is a column title by İsmet Berkan but it well portrays my state of affairs; sort of. For the last few days, I am satisfied with the pace of writing and unfortunately these lonely office hours in evenings do not help. I would prefer a crowded and noisy office to this silent and being-alone office. I am glad this damn summer is ending. and here comes a round up mostly on Turkey’s fantasies with all-track diplomacy…

Read more

"Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest

by

News

View of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. EFE/Emilio Naranjo. found in Chinese Director Zhang Yimou Presents Dazzling Opening Ceremony at The Olympic Games

 I was not aware of this campaign as my life was disrupted by Yahoo! But probably I would not hear it on time. As usual, there is also a blogger community which is reclusive in some sense and I am an outsider. I realized this in a recent Turkish blogging awards stuff. I heard about the competition when the list of candidates were released. I compared mine and others in many categories and could not know why I wasn’t there. Most of blogs are in Turkish of course and blog networks are based on some sort of friendship networks. If you are not in it, then you are out. This is the same for many issues (like cinema circles) and not different in new media stuff. Otherwise, mine is known, too but only needed when they need a sample for ‘English language’ blogs:) Still the campaign is good though ‘authorities’ will only be happy to see more closed websites (!)

Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest

Erick Schonfeld

It doesn’t take much to get your Website banned in Turkey. Pretty much any complaint to a lower court can get a Website blocked in the country. Websites including YouTube, DailyMotion, Alibaba, Slide.com, and some WordPress blogs have all been banned, usually because of some purported slight to the Turkish government or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.”

148 Turkish websites in protest against government ban

This week 148 153 (the number is rising) Turkish websites are shut down as a protest against the government ban. The Turkish government blocks YouTube since January this year. And in the last few weeks various other international websites like DailyMotion are also blocked. The 148 website as listed here show this text at their frontpage:
Bu siteye erişim kendi kararıyla engellenmiştir

Read more

When Erkan was working to re-active the blog, another wave of Ergenekon arrests happened!

by

Keith Haring, Untitled, 1983 VIA

Read more